Page 107 of Oracles Always Win

Myheart started pounding. “Uh…Whois it?Doyou know?”

“Yourgrandfather.”

Iwrapped my arms around my stomach. “I… um…”

Davinapatted my shoulder. “Hey.Thereis no rush.Itdoesn’t have to be tonight.Orever, actually.Ijust thoughtIshould let you know.”Sheglanced to the left.Wasthat where the ghost was?Istared at the space but didn’t see anything unusual.Thenshe nodded, more like she was confirming things with the ghost than talking to me. “Yeah.Norush.”

Iknew most people would love to have a conversation with dead relatives, but not me.Nottonight.Ijust couldn’t.Theselast few days had been too much.WasIbeing selfish?Probably.Iswallowed to clear my guilt.Itdidn’t work.

Itwasn’t likeIdidn’t have questions for him.Iwanted to know if the purple in his hair meant he’d had a fated mate of his own once upon a time.Iwanted to know if he knew why my mother would curse me.Iwanted to know why he hadn’t told me about magic.Butit was more thanIcould handle tonight after everything else.

“Um… would he mind waiting?Ijust…”

“Ofcourse, love,” she said. “Fornow, he just wants you to know he’s proud of you.”

“Thankyou.”Inodded and forced myself to smile in the direction she’d been looking.Theplace where the ghost of my grandfather was apparently hanging out waiting to talk with me. “I’msorry.”

“It’sokay,”Davinasaid.Shepatted my hand. “Heunderstands.Inthe meantime,I’llget him to tell me what else was stolen from his suite.It’llbe good to have a list to check against what’s been recovered.”

Thenshe, and presumably my grandfather’s ghost, got up and wandered into the crowd of other visitors again.Gagestalked toward me and wrapped me in his arms.

“Whatdid she want?” he demanded.

Iswallowed hard. “Uh…Mygrandfather wanted to talk.”

“Isee.”Hedidn’t sound surprised. “Anddid you?”

“No.”Ishook my head. “Doyou thinkIwas wrong to say no?Itisn’t thatIdon’t ever want to talk to him, butIjust…Idon’t know.Ican’t do it now.Nottoday.”

“Thereis no hurry, love.”

Justas he finished speaking,Teaguecleared his throat.Ihadn’t noticed him coming up to us.Gagedropped his chin when he saw who’d joined us.

“I’mso sorry, my friend,” my demon said. “Ishould never have asked you to healJakewhen your magic was so depleted.Ihope you can eventually forgive me.”Ididn’t know what had happened, but it was obviousGageroyally messed up because of me.

Teague’scheeks darkened. “Iunderstand why you did it.”

“Itstill isn’t right,”Gagesaid.

“No,”Teagueagreed.

“I’llunderstand if you want to move on,”Gagesaid.

Teagueshook his head, then he metGage’sgaze steadily. “No.Idon’t want that.You’remy family, and families make mistakes.WasIhurt by what happened?Yes, butI’vealready healed.Physically, at least.”

“Iwon’t betray your trust like that again,”Gagesaid. “Ipromise.”

Aflutter of magic swirled through the air atGage’spromise.Thatwasn’t the first timeI’dnoticed that fluttering sensation when he promised something.Obviously, a demon’s promise held more weight than most.Iguessed that made sense; a promise was a type of contract.

“Thankyou.”Thedeath mage nodded his acceptance. “Butthat isn’t whyIapproached you.Ioverheard what you were saying… about there not being a hurry, andIthought it’d be a good time to sayGageis right.”

“Iam often right, but what amIright about this time?”Gagewinked at me, showing he was joking.

Teaguerolled his eyes, but his mouth curled in a small grin. “Ican see the bond between you,” he said quietly. “Idon’t tell many people about my ability, butGageknows.”

Gagenodded.Ididn’t say anything.I’dask questions later.

“Well, just in case you were wondering, whatever you did earlier, it entwined your lives.”