“This wasn’t here before.” My mate’s brow furrowed as he stared at the sealed door now visible in the back of the restricted area in the library.

I hummed in agreement.

We had gained access to a classified area of the library months ago. It had been sealed with an enchantment that I had asked Rathe to investigate, and thankfully, he’d known a creature who could unlock it. It had taken several tries, and once we’d broken the charm, we’d expected to be met with even a hint to the whereabouts of Luca’s father, but nothing.

After spending so long sifting through every ledger and scroll, I could tell my mate was losing hope. His usual endearingly human enthusiasm for research was dwindling like a dying flame, and I felt hopeless. I wanted nothing more in this life than to always see him happy. To please him, to give him the answers to every question in the universe should he ask it, but I couldn’t even fulfill the simple task of locating his own flesh and blood. With the plentiful resources at my fingertips, I had expected results before now, but it was as if the Fae had disappeared without a single trace. It had the stench of my father’s scheming all over it, but I wasn’t yet sure why.

It had felt like a miracle cast down by the Creators when Rathe had approached me earlier that evening—just as my duties had begun to test my will to live—telling me of this new door that had seemingly appeared overnight. I had no way of knowing what lay behind it, or why it had decided to reveal itself now, but there was a feeling deep inside my gut telling me it was too important to ignore. That if records of Luca’s father were anywhere in the palace, they would be beyond that door.

I would have staked the entire kingdom on it.

“Where did it come from? Thin air?” Luca huffed a laugh. “Do you not find it suss that we’re only noticing this door now, after eight months?”

“I learned at a young age not to question the appearance or disappearance of anything or anyone around the palace, but yes, I do.”

Luca chewed on his bottom lip, uncertainty coming off him in waves, but he seemed to dismiss it with a sigh. “How do we get inside?” he asked, twisting the handle for the third time to be sure it was still locked. “Don’t suppose a key has abracadabra’d its way into your pocket, has it?”

I rested my hand on his nape, playing with the curls there to soothe him. “I’m afraid not, pet, but we’ll find a way.”