Page 47 of Let Go My Gargoyle
“Not something I’d be proud of, but to each his own,” Delilah muttered.
Trennon moved closer to Sofia, and Griffin did not release his grip around her shoulders.
“May I?” Trennon asked, lifting his hand to Sofia’s face. She hesitated but nodded, and he touched her hair. “Just like Cerci’s.” And then he frowned. “How come I never knew about you? Cerci would not have kept something like this from me.”
“Actually, she didn’t want you to know either,” Sofia said.
“Really? Why not?”
She shrugged and gave the room an all-encompassing wave. “She wasn’t interested in all this. She wanted to live a quiet, simple life, and she suspected she could not have that if her daughter was aware that she was a reeve’s heir.”
“Huh,” Trennon said.
“In fact, I might not have ever known about you if…” Griffin felt her tremble again.
“I’m gonna go out on a limb and say your son had something to do with this,” Delilah noted.
“Darius?”
“Yep,” Delilah said.
“I don’t understand.”
This was it. It was time for Sofia to tell them what she knew. But instead of admitting the truth, she turned to Griffin and said, “Now he has Penelope and is still threatening to kill my mother.”
Griffin scrubbed his hand over his face. He understood how frightened Sofia must be, but the only way they were going to be able to save Penelope—and her mother—was if shetold them what she knew.
“He left a note,” she said.
“Who?” Delilah said. “Darius?”
“Yes.”
“Where?”
Sofia pointed at the kitchen counter.
“What?” Antoinette burst out. “He was in my house? That’s impossible.”
Sofia glanced around. When she spotted Ketu, she said, “That’s what I was reading when you came downstairs.”
“It’s in the trash,” he said, and Antoinette leaped up and hurried to the pantry. A few moments later, she returned to the living room holding a tattered, food-splattered piece of paper and read the words scribbled onto it.
“I need access to the reeve’s laptop. You will get it for me. Figure out the password, write it down on a piece of paper, tape it to the computer, and place it under the cushions in that box in the gazebo. Tonight, after everyone has retired. You know what will happen if you do not.
“This is about his coupe,” she concluded.
“Sounds like it,” Ketu agreed.
“At least he isn’t still manufacturing drugs,” Delilah pointed out.
“This isn’t any better,” Antoinette protested.
Oliver, who had remained quietly in the background, spoke up. “There is a great deal going on here, clearly; however, one thing takes precedence, in my opinion, and that is the safe return of the Daughter of Light.”
“Also known asmydaughter,” Sofia snapped. “So yes, now that this is all out in the open—”
“Oh, there are still a ton of questions,” Delilah piped up.
