“How else would he have gotten them?” Ty asked.
“I think he may have been given them.”
“Given them? By a witch?” Ty asked, his brows shooting up in disbelief.
“Yes, by an Occidens witch who somehow knew about the amulet, and took them from her Coven, and told him about it. Maybe someone with a soft spot for daemons who wasn’t on good terms with the rest of the Occidens witches,” Ena said, hoping he would catch on to her hinting.
“Hold on… You think mymothergave Petyr the books when she was banished?” Ty asked in shock.
“I don’t know… It’s just a theory,” Ena said, shrugging. “But it would make sense.”
“Yeah, it would,” Ty said. He seemed to agree, but he clenched his jaw as he looked away, as if that knowledge only made his feelings of resentment towards her worse.
Ena reached out to grab his hand. “Look, I’m angry, too, Ty. There’s so much I wasn’t told. So much that was hidden from me, just like you. Would it have been nice to be trusted with all the complexities of our world? Yes. Does it infuriate me that others have decided for me that I didn’t have a right to know about these things? That daemons didn’t have a right to choose who they served, and witches didn’t have a right to socialize with them? Absolutely fucking yes. But Ty, you can’t let your anger guide you.”
Ty sighed, rubbing his brow and releasing some of his tension, but she could tell it was hard for him to let go of it completely. “And what do you think should guide me instead? Because anger sure as shit comes easiest,” he said bitterly.
“Hope,” she replied.
Ty looked up, seeming surprised by that answer. “Hope?” he asked.
“Yes,” she said. “Hope for a different future, like you described to me the other day. Hope that we can forge a new path where witches and daemons are free to worship Gaia and Iblis as they please and are able to live together once more.”
Ty smiled then, a small one, before reaching out to cup the side of her face with his hand. She brought her hand up too and placed it atop his. It was large, and warm, and she could feel all his strength and passion right there where they touched.
“You give me hope,” he said simply.
“Good,” she replied, a soft smile spreading across her face. “You give me hope too.”
Ty removed his hand somewhat reluctantly and closed the book in front of him. “Come on, I think we both could use a break from research and revelations, don’t you agree?” he asked.
“Gaia, yes,” she said, rubbing at her tired eyes.
“Good, then come with me,” he said, one side of his mouth tipping up in a sly smile. “There’s something you might like to try.”
Chapter Nineteen
Ena
EnafollowedTyoutof the Archives back towards the Great Antre.
“Where are we going?” she asked, when instead of veering towards his room, they headed towards a different section of the upper levels.
“You’ll see,” he said, winking at her mischievously.
Ena rolled her eyes at that but played along as they moved down an unknown passageway and stopped at a door. Ty knocked, and a few seconds later, Turner opened it.
“Hey,” he greeted, looking slightly concerned at their appearance. “What’s up?”
“You up for a trip to the undercaves?” Ty asked him, a roguish look in his eye.
Turner’s smile widened. “Always,” he replied. “Why? Are you thinking about…?” His eyes darted towards Ena. “Corrupting Ena with our daemonic ways?”
Ty laughed. “Unfortunately, I think that ship has sailed,” he said, looking at Ena with pride.
“What?” Ena asked, barely suppressing her own smile at their obvious giddiness. “What in Gaia’s name are you two talking about?”
“Oh, it has nothing to do with Gaia,” Turner said, his smile somehow getting wider.
