Page 31 of Lower World

Page List

Font Size:

“I do not know.” With a sigh, he plopped down next to me. Since he wasn’t trying to impress the other two fools, he looked almost normal. And much younger, especially after he stabbed his fingers through his hair, mussing it up. “Your father died and took that information with him.”

“You talk about him like he meant something to you.”

“He was my friend, Brooklyn.” The ghost of a smile tickled his mouth, but it was gone before it formed. “I was there that day. When you were born.”

“You were obviously there the day he died, too.” Unwilling to let emotions screw with my head and turn me into a dumbass, as was proven by Johnathan, I clenched my jaw. “What stopped you from helping him? You were scared to break a nail? Is that it?”

“You know nothing,” he snarled at me, but I was past the point of being afraid of him. If he wanted me dead, I would’ve been out in that hallway. “Isaiah and Frederic were too strong to be bested. I fought with him, but we just couldn’t win that battle. They had help. They offered him lenience if he told them where your mother was. He chose death. They offered me my place on the council if I kept my mouth shut, so I agreed. Don’t look at me that way. Your father was already dead, and being one of the Council was the perfect position to make sure you lived.”

“You said they had help. From who?”

“You are your father’s daughter.” Samir beamed at me proudly, and all of a sudden there was not enough air in the room for me to breathe. “The witches helped them take down your father.”

“We will get back to the witches. What do you mean take him down? Take him down from what?” Braced for another bomb, I kept my unblinking gaze on him in case he tried lying.

“With help from the witches, Isaiah and Frederic, planted false memories on a large scale, Brooklyn. Half of the witches died after performing that spell because their lifeforce was too drained to keep them in the land of the living.” Samir was getting comfy on his own pillow, and the entire thing struck me as very odd.

Then the truth slapped me upside the head.

“You were expecting me.” He handed me a crystal flute that he filled with dark liquid. I smacked it out of his hand. It spilled all over his sleeping pants and both our pillows. “You wanted me here so you could tell your side of the story.”

“And you are as smart as your mother.” Samir saluted me with his own glass, chugging it down in one gulp. “Let us hope you’re just as cunning.”

That didn’t sound ominous at all.

19

“No wonder Dominic didn’t lose his shit when I said I’d be coming here.” Samir chuckled at my grumbling.

“He did send a word telling me to watch for your safety.” Pretending to pour another drink, he eyed me sideways. I made a note to ask the shifter when he had the time to send a word and how. “I believed he was doing me a favor by keeping you safe. I’m starting to see I might have been mistaken.” My face turning red was all the confirmation he needed, so he just offered a nod.

“You were saying?” My hand circled in front of his face impatiently. “Get back on the subject. This was not a social call.”

“Alright, alright. Let me see …” He lifted his gaze to the ceiling, and his irises glossed over. “It was a very long time ago,” Samir muttered, more to himself than me.

“It couldn’t be that long, Samir. I’m not as ancient as you, or did you forget that part?”

“Ah, thank you.” He waved off the confusion clouding my face. “The witches cast the spell to hide a few things Isaiah and Frederic didn’t want anyone else to remember. Only the Four of us knew the truth.”

“Four? You mean my father was the fourth one?”

“No, your father was dead when the spell was cast. Noah was the fourth one. I believe you met him the night of the attack, no?”

Met him? I fought that dipshit when he waved my father’s dagger in my face. To Samir, I gave a dip of my chin only. I’d wait to see what he had to tell me before I spilled everything I knew. I still couldn’t wrap my mind around the development of him and Dominic working together.

“The spell.” The reminder was countered by a narrowed look on his face.

“The spell was cast after they killed your father, so no one could contradict what they set into motion. Before then, there was no council, Brooklyn. There was no Syndicate.”

“What are you saying, Samir? Can you just spit it out? It’s freaking me out.”

“Your father led the Atua as the only leader, Brooklyn. Those were the good days for our kind. I used to be his advisor and closest friend. But Isaiah, Frederic, and Noah were with us too. He never saw them plotting against him. Neither did I, for that matter.”

I was too stunned to do anything but stare open-mouthed.

“You must never repeat this to anyone, child. If they catch an inkling that you know, nothing will stop them from getting their hands on you. They cast the spell making everyone believe the Syndicate has always been our way and that the Council ruled from the beginning. In reality, it’s been only a few centuries. After your father’s death.”

“So, my memories are altered too? Because it doesn’t feel to me like I’ve been alive that long.”