“It’s been brought to my attention that you removed my daughter’s magic. I would like it reinstated immediately.”

“Daughter?” Elizabeth questions.

“Yes, daughter. As you can see, her demon side sometimes prevails over her witch nature and you cannot hold her liable for that. It is not her fault that her soul differs from yours.”

“There are rules,” Elizabeth says.

“I believe I am above your rules, and as an extension of myself, so is Blair.”

“No, we can’t let this stand,” Elizabeth says, rising. It’s then that she’s levitating in the air and right in front of my father’s face.

“I wasn’t asking, Elizabeth,” he says calmly into her face. I watch as the witch swallows, eyes wide as she looks deep into the devil’s gaze.

“Okay,” Elizabeth says. Hadiza and Nimue walk down from their dais and stand before us. All of their hands touch my arm as they chant. It’s like the caged ball of magic is released like a bomb in my chest. My father holds me steady as my magic returns to me.

Nimue looks at my father hungrily and he smirks at her. “Watch your wandering eye, Nimue, I believe you’ve met Lilith.” She immediately looks away and returns to her chair.

“I’d like it to be known that any infractions brought to the council about my daughter will now be brought directly to me. Do we understand?” he asks. The witches look extremely put out. I had never really thought about nepotism before, but currently I’m a huge fan.

My father holds out his hand and I take it. He portals us—not back to the formal dining room but what looks to be his private library.

“Will I be able to portal?” I ask him.

“I don’t see why not,” he says. He picks a book off the shelf and his palm glides along the front before he opens the text and begins to read. “I think that I can do similarly what I did for Mara, basically making it so that your body is still yours, but corporeal enough to contain the demon inside of you. Once we know it’s safe is really when more of your abilities as a demon will become usable.”

Another question has been weighing on me. “Why my mom?”

“She was powerful. I thought that reproducing with a strong supernatural ability would increase the odds.”

“Why, though?”

“Is it not most creatures’ innate desire to reproduce, to continue their legacy?”

“I killed her,” I tell him, his brown eyes looking at mine.

“I know, and I destroyed her soul when she got here.”

I nod my head. He’s a hard man to read, very logical and direct with how he handles situations. Even if I’m still hurt, it’s clear that he cares and violence is his way of showing that. I can appreciate that.