Goodness! He’d been silent as a mouse. Where had he come from? “Papa!” Poppy touched a hand to her heart. “You just took ten years off my life.”
He gestured to his study door. “It sounds as though we have much to discuss.”
That much was apparent. Poppy agreed with a nod and then opened the study door. Laurel and Papa followed her into the viscount’s private domain which smelled like pipe tobacco and the faintest hint of mahogany. Growing up, the study had always felt so warm and comforting, but now, she was trembling in her slippers.
As Papa closed the door behind him, he said, “I’d wondered where that letter from the Whartons went.” He gestured to the two chairs in front of his desk. “Please.”
Poppy gulped, almost too afraid to sit, but her weakened knees helped her decide to do so anyway. Laurel quietly slid into the other seat. Both of them stared at their father as he found his own overstuffed chair behind the desk and settled into it with a world-weary sigh.
“So,” he finally said, “who would like to begin?”
Laurel glanced in Poppy’s direction, clearly expecting her to say something. After all, Poppy was the oldest, and this truth-telling had been her idea.
Still, her mind was awhirl from the last few minutes. What exactly did their father already know? She had already decided to be honest with him, to tell him the truth…but, now, with him looking at her expectantly and the fact that he knewsomething, she found her bravery slipping a bit. Best to get it out before she lost every ounce of her courage.
Poppy cleared her throat and blurted out, “We’re witches.”
Papa’s jaw stiffened and a muscle in his throat twitched, but he didn’t seem surprised by that revelation. In fact, his voice was steady when he asked, “And just how did you come by that information?”
“You knew,” Laurel accused. “You already knew.”
Papa’s gaze flicked from Poppy to Laurel and he nodded his head once. “I’ve always known. Your mother was a witch as was her mother before her.” Then his jaw tightened once more. “But I was promised that the two of you would not be subjected to that world. That you’d have no magical powers and would live normal lives.”
“Who decides what’s normal?” Poppy asked before thinking the better of her words.
Papa’s eyes narrowed on her and she felt his disapproval in her soul. Laurel’s fears echoed in her mind. Would their father hate them and cast them from their home with nothing but the clothes on their backs? “How do you know any of this? Was it that Galbraith fellow?”
Alec?“Captain Galbraith?” What did he have to do with any of this?
“You have not been the same since he and your cousin were here,” Papa said.
It was lowering to realize Papa had noticed a change in her. Had she been so obviously mopey to everyone at The Chase?
“Didhetell you something?” Papa continued. “Did he—”
“No.” Poppy shook her head. Alec had helped her find answers, but he hadn’t been responsible for restoring her abilities. Why would Papa—
“Then who?” their father demanded.
“Aunt Alora,” Laurel said, swiping at a fresh tear on her cheek. “The night before she died.”
“Dear God,” Papa breathed out. “You’ve known for over ayearand you’ve said nothing until now?”
Laurel nodded. “She said we should never tell you.”
He leaned back in his chair as though he’d been coshed over the head. “Blasted woman gave me her word she’d never tell you.”
“Why didn’tyoutell us?” Poppy asked, her bravery returning just a bit. “Why would you keep something like this from us?”
He didn’t look the slightest bit remorseful. “Your mother and I wanted the two of you to lead normal lives.”
There was that word again. “Normal.” Poppy scoffed. “And neither of you ever thought that keeping part of our souls from us wasfarfrom normal?”
“Part of your souls?” Irritation laced her father’s voice. “I hardly think—”
Poppy pushed out of her seat and glared at the man. How could he not see that his decisions about their magic had affected them? “That night when she gave us back our magic, when it washed over us, for the first time in our lives, we felt whole.”
Papa’s mouth fell open, and he looked truly surprised. “She gave your magic back to you?”
