I can’t breathe. My mind spins, the sensation only getting worse when Vincentius Bauer the Third turns his icy stare on me. The family resemblance between father and son is strong. Same eyes, same dark hair. Same creamy complexion. But where Valen is lithe from his mother’s side, Vincentius is broad, his shoulders cutting an impressive angle in his clean suit. His thick mustache follows the latest fashion, while Valen prefers being cleanshaven. Magic preserves the weaver’s body perfectly. He looks like a human in his early forties, instead of a powerful weaver well over one hundred.
His voice is softer than Valen’s, silk to his son’s velvet. “Hello, Astoria. I should’ve known it was you when I found my sphinx roasted like a lamb on a spit.”
I can’t breathe, can’t think. This man ruined so much. I could be the Heir right now with Valen warming my bed. I could be planning my wedding, bickering with Rossana and Viola over dresses and the guest list. I could be living here, happy and content.
But instead of pure rage, I’m filled with an odd mixture of terror and relief. If anyone can get me to Viola without my father knowing, it’s Vincentius Bauer the Third. I’ll need to play the game and craftily manipulate him, but I can do it. For Viola, I’ll best this man.
So instead of cursing him into a horrific, slow decaying death, I beam cheekily. “Were you fond of it?”
His eyes narrow. “She was an ancient, powerful creature.”
My smile grows. “Whoopsies.”
CHAPTER 18
Vincentius’ office shows no hint of our attempted theft, but any sense of relief evaporates the moment he summons me a new chair. My stomach drops as I slowly sink down into the frilly eyesore. The legs are far too delicate and I fear that they’ll crack if I move too much. The backrest doesn’t help either. It’s too narrow and straight. My lip curls, but I stay silent.
Vincentius stares down at me from his place behind his desk. It’s like being faced with a deadly predator and it takes me a moment to shake the instinctual response to freeze. I smile at him like I haven’t spent the better part of seven years hating his guts and wishing I cursed him instead of my brother.
I keep my voice light and playful, easing into this game we’re playing. “I have to admit, I’m shocked it took you so long to return after I broke into your little museum.” My teeth flash. “Getting slow in your old age?”
His eyes narrow. “I was burying the body of my guard and cleaning up the mess you left behind.” He waves a hand and a lit cigarette appears. He takes a long draw, his gaze raking me. Smoke curls past his lips. “What do you want with the Amulet of Acerabus?”
“Who said I wanted anything? Maybe it was all to piss you off for fun.”
His lips quirk. “I’m glad you haven’t changed much since I last saw you. You’re still so fearless, like Emilia.”
“And Rossana.”
“Quite. Tell me, Astoria. Why steal it?”
I attempt to ease into my chair, legs crossing at the knee. “Technically, I didn’t steal it. I bartered for it with your son.”
“And what did you promise him for it?”
“You’ll have to ask him.”
The stare he nails me with has me squirming. A small part of me is still that child who desperately wanted to impress him. My lips thin, trying to hold onto my composure.
I wish I could lean back in the chair and stare coolly back at him. But this is Vincentius. He taught me how to weave magic like I’m threading a complex tapestry. He toasted my accomplishments at dinner, even when I surpassed his own children. He allowed Jinx into his house when my own father banished my familiar to the grounds, declaring that she was too dangerous when all Jinx did was protect me from the unjust and brutal punishments.
More than that, this man is married to the woman who loved me like a daughter, only second to Aunt Vi. The two women shared the task of raising their deceased friend’s daughter joyfully. They would titter excitedly over tea about the prospect of Valen’s and my future. And most importantly, they taught me how to bend men with a single look.
Vincentius taught me the art of magic, but Rossana taught me the art of manipulation.
My heart pangs, my throat tightening. My eyes leave the weaver before me to travel the room. This was supposed to be my family. Even after seven years and my rebuilt home with Jinx and Lucas, I’m so utterly destroyed.
He was supposed to be my father, but he’s not. He’s Vincentius Bauer the Third, the head of the Bauer family, Council of Weavers member, and he chose to take the deal the Archweaver offered him over my ascension to power.
And Ineededto ascend to Archweaver back then. Viola made it clear all my life that becoming Archweaver would mean a direct connection to the Tapestry and the power to rise above the rules of magic. It was the solution to my Dual Threads. They would no longer war. They would balance as Preservation and Transformation joined them; four threads, one soul, like all the other Archweavers and Heirs. Only then would this pain within me finally end and I would no longer be seen as an abomination to be culled.
Rossana Bauer understood this need. Viola and she would whisper softly about it in dark corners, Rossana’s perfect skin creasing as she nodded. I watched her from behind the couch, Rossana’s dark eyes meeting mine and winking, before sliding her hand over her husband’s chest to purr Viola’s plans to him. She twisted one of the most powerful weavers alive around her finger; when she’d slide her hand over his collar, he’d shiver.
It hurt to remember the shock on Viola’s face at the naming ceremony, the flash of fear that tightened her features. Then her attention snapped to Vincentius before slowly turning a dark look to his wife beside him. Rossana’s hand covered her mouth and she turned away from us.
I always wondered if Rossana was truly as blindsided as the rest of them. She witnessed my darkest times. Those times when I desperately needed the title of Heir. I would sob as hot and cold roared through me and the only thing holding me together was Vincentius’ magic shivering across my skin. Rossana’s brown eyes shone in her sheet-white face, her hands curled into claws as she held Emilia and Valen away, her magic shimmering before them and distorting their visages.
The Bauers knew I needed the title and still they abandoned me to burn.
