I readthe paragraph over and over, unable to believe what I was reading.
“I knew what you were the moment I saw you.”
I snapped my head up to find Cato standing beside me once more, his long robes stilling as if he had just luscelered in. His eyes flashed black, silver specks dotting the dark expanse. “You have the eyes of a dream-walker, Princess.”
So his whole emotional episode when I revealed myself to him and my father was what? All for show? A way to keep his secret identity hidden?
“My father doesn’t know this about you?” I asked, but I was confident he didn’t or he’d probably order Cato to do something about my mother. At the thought of her and her words to me, my stomach sank.
“I’m not a dark angel then.”
“No. You have the power of a Throne, stolen from my brethren and given to you through Lilith’s blood.”
“She killed the other Thrones?”
The small frown that had appeared before returned, along with haunted eyes. “Yes. I’m the last Throne left.”
He knew more loss than I could comprehend. Was that why he always seemed so detached? Did he purposefully withhold himself from connection, or was that a Throne trait?
“My mom knew, didn’t she?”
Cato blinked, neither confirming nor denying, but he didn’t need to.
Why else ask me to tell Cato to mentor me? The whole dark angel thing was another lie. She might’ve read the book. It might’ve even said that they were taken away for their sinful natures. But she told me what I wanted to hear, something vile enough to satisfy my suspicion. Not what she was hiding.
“Do you know mother’s secrets?”
“Yes.”
The word echoed like a hammer against a nail in an empty room.
“Tell me.”
Cato straightened, lifting his head and gazing down at me with a severe expression. “If I am to mentor you, if you want to see your mom again in any capacity, then you must follow our creed.”
“Your creed?”
“One word could shorten a lifespan. One action could destroy a kingdom. We observe to know, not to change. I will not teach you the ins and outs of dream-walking until you understand that. We keep time. We do not alter it.”
“How does that have anything to do with her secrets?”
“That’s what you must find out.”
I planned to. But more than that, I planned to ignore the creed. If I could change the past and save my mom, I would.
Chapter
Ten
Lucille
Before I left the library, Cato gave me his book and told me to read the rest of the chapter before bed, then practice. That was after he gave me strict instructions not to lose, damage, or give the book to anyone else. Too astonished that he was letting me take it out of the library in the first place, I readily agreed. Tomorrow morning, I was to meet him before training and discuss my reading and attempted dream-walking.
I stored those details away for later and slowly walked back to my rooms. Snow pounded against the castle’s gothic windows. The winter storm covered the view of Hoar Hollow in the distance and even the evergreens that sat closer to the castle. The sight should’ve satisfied me. My father was in pain. But I wasn’t as cruel and heartless as him.
I passed a couple castle staff, giving them fake smiles, and rounded the corner to my hall. Rune barreled into me, knocking me back. Her shadow tail coiled with energy, her head bumping into my stomach for pets. “Careful, beastie.”
She nudged me again, and I planted my feet to keep from falling.Snorting, I scratched behind her ears, her shadow fur snaking around my fingers as if to hold me hostage.
