“I just need to eat.” I smiled broadly as I looked over the steaming dishes. “And this smells fantastic.”
Verin grunted and started filling my plate but his mother continued to watch me skeptically.
Chapter Twenty-Five
Verin and I decided not to wait until morning to visit my parents. Pyrosvesti, their private island, was located in the Mediterranean Sea while the Azure Kingdom was in the Pacific Ocean, setting Pyrosvesti roughly 13 hours ahead of us. This meant that while we had just finished dinner, my parents should just be finishing their breakfast. I contacted my dad first to make sure it was all right and give him a head's up on the reason for our visit.
He had cryptically said, “Good. We need to talk to you too.”
Verin returned my traveling stone—its work with him was done—and I was about to use it to take us to the island when I realized that I'd have to take us to another realm first. I didn't want to go to Kyanite for obvious reasons but where else could we go? It would only be a few seconds. Something came to mind and I took Verin's hand.
My love, that's not a good idea.
He won't even know we're there.
But what if he does?
He won't,I insisted.
We came through the Veil and out onto a hill. Below us, a gleaming city with golden streets and gates of pearl spread out like a languishing god. Verin's eyes widened but before he could ask me anything, I took us through the Veil once more.
We appeared in the living room of my parents' treehouse—a massive banyan tree with several levels of living space. My father's workroom was in the basement, among the roots of the tree, but I was meeting him upstairs so I could visit with my mother as well. The spacious living room curved around the trunk of the banyan and spread out across its relatively straight branches. When we arrived, my mother was outside, on the balcony that spanned the length of the room, leaning against the wooden railing while she gazed toward the ocean. Her beautiful black wings were folded serenely behind her, the longest feathers bent against the floor while the cape of her golden hair hung in gleaming waves between them.
“Where were we?” Verin asked. “What planet did you just take me to?”
“Angelus.” My gaze skittered away from his.
“Lucifer's world?” Verin asked in surprise.
“I couldn't think of another place to go.”
Verin frowned.
“Elaria,” my father's gruff voice came from my left.
I turned toward him with a confused frown; his tone had sounded disapproving.
“Dad,” I said brightly anyway and went to hug him.
I was a beloved only child and my father couldn't help but hug me back warmly. However, once I stepped out of that hug, he set an unusually cool stare on me. Then he transferred that stare to Verin.
“Mr. Scorcher,” Verin said in the same tone my father had used with me.
“King Verin. I'd like to say that it's nice to meet you but it really isn't.”
“Dad, what the hell?”
“The mere fact that you can ask me that shows how bad the spell has gotten.” My father grabbed my chin and turned my head side-to-side as if he could see the magic through my skin. He softened his tone to add, “Ellie-phant, you need to let me take you to Vivian.”
I jerked my chin away from him. “I'm fine, Dad.”
“You're not fine!” My mother snapped as she swept into the room, her wings lifted as if entering a battle. In a sweeter tone, she said to Verin, “It's lovely to meet you at last, King Verin. Welcome to our home.”
“Thank you, Mrs. Scorcher.” Verin inclined his head to her.
“It's Tanager,” my dad snapped. “Sirens keep their surnames so they can pass them on to their children since most fathers don't survive the mating.”
Verin grunted, conveying both irritation and acceptance. “I wasn't aware. My apologies, Mrs. Tanager.”
