A second behind them, Rory and Rickard step through the portal, closing it off behind them.
Rikard offers everyone a tight smile as I clear my throat. “Where are we, exactly?” I ask, and Rikard gives me a pointed look.
“No ‘thank you for not being a lying, conniving Sanctum member’?” Rikard retorts, and I scoff.
Thankfully, Rory straightens his leather jacket as his eyes meet mine. “Alcatraz,” he states, and my eyes widen as Elodie splutters.
“We’re in San Francisco?” she clarifies, and he rolls his eyes.
“Unless there's one somewhere else I don't know about,” he grumbles, making Odie sneer, aiming his finger at the demi-demon, unfazed.
“The wick at the end of your dynamite keepsgetting shorter and shorter, and when it goes boom, I’m going to be the one lighting the match,” he warns, and I gulp too, even though his threat isn’t aimed at me.
And to think I punched this man in the face.
I scrub a hand over my face as Rory lifts his hands in panic, but his mouth remains set in a thin line as he heeds the threat aimed his way.
Glancing at Elodie, I find a familiar pink hue over her cheeks, but she brushes it off as she looks around the derelict space. “How is this a magical prison? Don't they do tours here for humans?” she mutters as Rion tucks her under his arm, and Rikard hums.
“They sure do, but down here, underneath the historical landmark, it's a magical void. So enjoy the tingles of your abilities now, because they're about to disappear,” he explains, slipping his way through the group to take the lead.
I stay right on his tail, riddled with anticipation as he cuts through the hallways with a determined stride, knowing exactly where he's going, and I can't help but feel a sliver of jealousy and frustration burning deep inside me.
Rikard and Rory know more about my parents than I do. I try to recall them from when I wasyounger, when my life was easier with them around, but I fall short. It would explain the trust that seems to be there between them, but that’s just another gap in my memories I need to try to fill.
Each hallway is a replica of the last, to the point where I'm half sure we're lost, until he pauses at the end of the hall, a windowless door awaiting us. Rikard looks over his shoulder at me before he curls his hand around the doorknob and knocks.
“How is this going to work?” I ask, but he doesn't even attempt to answer as he swings the door open and steps inside.
“Governor,” he hollers, tilting his head as he moves farther into the room, revealing my mother.
Her eyes light up when they meet mine, and she rushes around the small desk to engulf me in her arms. She pins me tightly to her chest with ease as she rocks me from side to side; my arms remain limp between us. Disbelief still courses through me as I realize that she's more than simply ‘not a prisoner,’ but the actual governor.
“I’m so happy to see you, Kael,” she breathes, running her hands down my arms as she takes a step back, breathing me in, and I glare at her.
“So you're not a prisoner,” I mutter, myeyebrows furrowed in confusion, and she waves a delicate hand at me.
“Honey, would I ever look good in chains?” she muses, taking a step back and dragging her hand along her outfit, confirming she's indeed dressed nothing like a prisoner.
Instead, she's in combat clothes that I've seen enforcers wear within The Sanctum; slick pants and a matching t-shirt with a harness over the top, filled with random trinkets and weapons.
“You just left me,” I blurt, and her eyes gleam with sadness as she worries her bottom lip.
“I was trying to protect you,” she states, and I scoff.
“And I'm trying to figure out how,” I retort, acutely aware of the fact that mere moments ago, Elodie was having the same experience with her parents, and it didn't feel like this. Almost… tainted.
Elodie didn’t know much, just like me, but the reasoning behind it doesn't add up the same.
My mother leans back against her desk, encouraging everybody into the room as her gaze remains locked on mine. “Jude was always a selfish child. He definitely didn't like having to share attention with anyone else, especially you. I thoughtit would make him back off if he didn't feel he was competing for my attention.”
“He was warping my mind and controlling me,” I snap, feeling like a petulant child as my mother's eyes widen and the sound of shuffling comes from behind me. Glancing over my shoulder, I falter at the sight of my father.
His eyebrows are pinched tighter than mine, and his hairline has receded an extra inch since the last time I saw him.
“Kael…? Son, what's this about control?” he asks, and I sigh.
“Jude,” I grunt, and his lips set in a thin line.
