Page 97 of A Winding Wave of Magic
“She didn’t get everything,” Jonathan said gently. “Unfortunately, that means my father knows a bit too. And now, because of the deaths of the original members, some Councilmembers fear the Secret has been lost for good if they can’t find you. Cass, Penny’s protection is growing weaker; it can’t last forever now that she’s gone. They are going to find you, one way or another, so you need to make the decision about your future now, not in another year or two.”
Worry and urgency creased Jonathan’s forehead. I didn’t know what to say—while I had intended on going to Ireland, it had been less about my strange “inheritance,” and more because I wanted to know about my grandmother’s past. The mystery of her origins. And what she had left behind.
“I’m sorry,” he said gently. “I know this isn’t what we planned.”
“No, it’s not. You said I had years to decide. Not months.” I frowned. “And you just said I’m not ready for that kind of scrutiny.”
“You’re not, but you can be. You’re smart to go to Ireland now—it will be relatively safe there, and you’ll learn what you can. If you don’t have a ticket yet, I’ll have it arranged.”
“You don’t waste time, do you?” My tone was sharper than I intended, but that same feeling of helplessness that had overcome my life three months earlier was back.
I knew Jonathan wasn’t the direct cause of it, but I had worked hard to find control, even if it was quarantined to the far corners of the library. Now I was back in the dark and about to reach blindly into it. Who knew what insidious creatures might grab my hand?
“It won’t be like before. You’ll get proper training from Caitlin and Robbie. You won’t be alone, Cass.”
Sympathy flooded my thoughts. Along with surprise at my fear, and some probing, searching for more. I looked down and realized that Jonathan had touched his knee to mine. On purpose.
“If you want to know what I’m thinking, you can just ask, you know,” I said. Is this what everyone felt when a seer was around? It was annoying.
Jonathan sighed and pulled his knee away. “I’m sorry, but you were gone, and I needed to bring you back. I need to move fast with all of this, and so do you. The Assembly has already begun its search.”
I narrowed my eyes. “And how do you know all of this, if you’re not in the Assembly?”
“It’s my business to know. For Penny’s sake and yours, if nothing more. Let’s just leave it at that, shall we?”
“No, we shall not!” I said. “Jonathan, I deserve to know what part you play in all of this. You want me to follow you blindly, but it’s not going to happen.”
His green eyes zeroed onto mine, pupils dilated the way a cat’s might when it focuses on prey. The hairs on my forearm rose again, and I had to fight to maintain contact.
“Cassandra,” he said, voice as low as a lion’s purr. “Do you trust me?”
The question hung in the air for a moment, as if the apartment itself knew that my answer would change the direction of my life from this moment on. I thought of the shadowed man, Jonathan’s father. I thought of all the secrets that Jonathan acquired and kept to himself.
But I also thought of how he had saved my life more than once. The way he had stood by me as the ashes of my childhood fell through the trees. And I thought of his touch against my cheek near the reservoir.
The fragile wall of self-reliance I had built for myself began to crumble again.
“Yes,” I breathed. “I trust you.”
In part because I had no other choice.
“Then, please. I’m asking you to let it be. If I can give you the answers you need, I will. I promise.”
I sighed, and released my hands from the fists they had been making, flattening my palms out onto my knees. “Okay. But,what do theywant? This Secret? Do you even know what it is?”
Jonathan’s gaze flitted around the room like he thought he might catch something. “Cass, I didn’t want to ask in February, but now I must. Did Penny ever send you anything? A package? Ever ask you to guard something?”
I bit my lip. “I—yes. She sent me a box the day before she died. She asked me to protect it, to keep it to myself. It was a secret.”
As soon as the word “secret” erupted from my tongue, I clapped both hands over my mouth as if to stop anything further from coming out. Gran’s letter. Her command.Secret, I thought.No, I wasn’t supposed to tell.
Jonathan looked slightly abashed. “I’m sorry I had to do that,” he said. “I know you weren’t supposed to say anything.”
I gaped. “That was you?”
“I told you, procuring secrets is a talent of mine.” The corner of his mouth turned up. “They listen to me, sort of like how I can summon other forms of energy. I only have to ask the right questions.” He shook his head. “Caitlin will need to teach you better shielding. In the meantime, rest assured that I already suspected it was the recipe box in the will. I just needed confirmation.”
Before I could ask him justhowhe had managed to force the truth from my throat, he stood and picked up our glasses to get us more tea. The ice crackled as the tea trickled over it, and when he returned, I accepted mine gratefully, gulping down the cool liquid to avoid saying anything else I might regret.
