Next, I type in “Victor Rue.”
This proves more fruitful. Sifting through all the basic details of being born in Amontillado and what a successful entrepreneur he was when he started his own medical business, I try to find a link, but there’s nothing about his family, nothing about his roots.
After several minutes of similar searches, I give in and grab my phone.
Valdemar answers after the first ring, and I leap in without letting him speak.
“You know who ER is.”
“That didn’t take you long,” Valdemar says.
“Why didn’t you just tell me?” I snap.
“To be honest, I never looked inside the book, so I had no idea what was written in it, and it took me a while after you left to put the pieces into place.”
“What pieces?” I ask.
“Before he died, Ed was looking into his family history. He found the book on a shelf at Corvus House and was set on the trail, just like you are now, although it took him a long time to discover what he found.”
“And what did he find?” I push.
“I don’t know. He never got the chance to tell me.”
“ER is Ellison Rue.” The line goes quiet, and I can picture Valdemar scratching his chin, his eyes narrowing as he processes this. “Who the hell is Ellison Rue?” I ask.
“Victor was a very private man, and he never talked about his family, but towards the end of his life, he did mention a brother.” He pauses.
My brain whirls. “So, my mother used to have a thing with Victor’s brother before she met my dad?”
“Victor told me he’d never got over the death of his brother, who he said died unexpectedly at the age of forty-two—no age for anyone to die. By that point, Victor was remembering things from twenty years ago with such clarity, it was hard to believe his mind was being eaten away. Then he wouldn’t remember what he’d done the day before or sometimes even an hour ago.”
The phone is heavy in my hand, Valdemar’s silence too loud.
“So, my mother and Ellison were together at some point, and then he died?” I guess.
“It’s a possibility, but there’s something you should know. Something that changes things.” Valdemar waits a beat, and I become impatient.
“What?”
“Victor told me that Ellison was a Raven Hand, just like him. It isn’t unusual for the gift to run in families, especially when the siblings are twins—and Ellison Rue was Victor’s twin brother.”
CHAPTER FORTY-ONE
“Angel, are you okay?”
Valdemar’s voice fades into the background as I pull the phone from my ear and end the call. I can’t think with him on the other end of the phone, and my brain is struggling to fit this all together.
Twins.
Twins are hereditary.
Ellison Rue.
My mother appears in the kitchen. She isn’t sitting this time but standing by the table, her hands by her sides.
“Ellison Rue is my father, isn’t he?” I ask her.
I imagine tears streaming down my mother’s face. My eyes are a blur, so I don’t notice the shimmer behind her, but as I blink my own tears away, a man comes into focus, his hand on her shoulder, and I step back.
