Irritation builds up in my chest that this woman thinks she can make decisions on Theo’s behalf. “That is not for you to determine. Tell me,” I command. “Now.”
Her shoulders slump, and she indicates a bench further up the dock. “Then may we sit?”
I stifle my impatience and nod. “Go ahead.”
The way she tries to skirt around my body, avoiding contact, would be amusing if I were not burning with frustration.
She has secret information about mypulu.
As she sits, Larissa exhales a shaky breath, the trail of steam vanishing into the night.
“So this is the truth of it. My brother is a thoroughly unlikeable man, and has been so all his life. Going back twenty years, he was rude, crude, and arrogant. I avoided him as much as I could, but that was not possible for the young women that worked at our estate.”
She swallows, looking sickly.
“I believe he raped, or at least sexually assaulted several of them over the years. Our parents paid them off. But there was one girl, a sweet little thing, who’d come to do a work internship when she was sixteen. The child was a northerner, and this was her only path into an academy. Thomas became obsessed with the girl. I was already away at college, so didn’t see much of it. I just know she was badly abused by him. One morning, over the summer break, I found her clutching her stomach, pale and vomiting. She was pregnant with Thomas’s child.”
She looks up at me. “You must guess where this is going.”
I think I do, but I indicate for her to continue.
“I helped her escape. I was at an academy in the British Isles, so took her with me, secretly of course. I was only nineteen, and pretty clueless, but I had money, so found her an apartment close to my campus, and there she stayed until after the baby was born. In my naive state, I thought mother and child could live happily ever after. But she ran, abandoning the baby at a hospital in London. My friend Annabelle had just got engaged to Kevin Wilson, so the very next day, Annabelle and Kevin went and sought out the baby, eventually adopting her.”
“Theo,” I whisper.
“Theo,” she confirms.
“Theo is your niece.”
“She is. With a devil for a father. He must never, never know of her existence….he’s twisted. I dread to think…” Larissa clutches her stomach. “Oh Gods, Alexis. He’s so evil.”
“And Theo’s mother?” I ask, gently.
“I have no idea. I decided to leave her alone, hoping she could find some peace.”
I place a hand on the grieving woman’s shoulder.
She turns her tear-stained face to me. “If the Conclave realizes who she is, it will be bad. Very bad. She’s my flesh and blood. I don’t know how to help her.”
My gryphon lets out a low, mournful thrum. There’s more I need to know.
“Tell me the name of Theo’s mother.”
“Her name was Opal Mowbray.”
Opal? Opal Mowbray?
My mind spins then settles.
“It’s late, Larissa. We should get back to our quarters. Shall I walk with you?”
“I only wish I could fly with you, Alexis. Will you tell me about it?”
“Flying?”
“Shifting. How? Have you always?”
“There may come a time when I can tell you more, but not today.”
