Half-Blooded | The Dark Child Prophecy Series [✔️]

Chapter 23: Let It Go

"We haven't had much time to really prepare yet. But I think we may be going back to Italy before she's here," Luce said from behind me as I continued to look through all of the old magic tomes on the bookshelf within our family den on the third floor.

"You have plenty of time to decide where you want to be," my father answered. "When you were young, we were in between Italy and here. But, that was while we were still trying to get Eris onto the throne."

"That's true. Things are much more settled down now."

I sighed quietly to myself as I finally found the book Jenny had instructed we look into. Papa and Luce had been talking about her and their coming baby girl for twenty minutes. I listened to paper being moved as Papa began to flip through one of Adrian's collections of voodoo magic. I didn't know if our search would be worth our time. Adrian was secretive and often hid his most treasured possessions. We would be lucky if he had left his research in the coven house rather than his home in Seattle.

The upstairs family den was much smaller than the library, but it was still filled with memories and antiques. Expensive artwork hung on the walls and collectibles from the previous three centuries filled every flat surface. The walls were painted a rich shade of teal with black and white wooden furniture. Padded leather armchairs sat against one wall, surrounded by bookshelves, and a large black couch faced them. It was cozy and screamed my mother's taste in décor.

"You'll figure it out. I have no doubt. You two were always the levelheaded ones of your generation. I'm honestly surprised you've waited this long to start a family," Papa answered my brother.

"I wasn't the hold-up," Luce chuckled. "She was. And I'm okay with that. When all of the commotion went down after you passed and the way we handled it, how AJ handled it, there just wasn't a good time to consider a family. It's taken a long time for us to come back from that. Now has finally felt like the perfect time."

I glanced over my shoulder, my eyebrows rising in surprise. Was Luce going to tell our father all of the dark and dangerous stories from what happened for the year following his death? I had never really heard him or Jenny discuss the event since I had been a little girl.

"Your brother mentioned that there'd been some upset," my father said, not alluding to what he knew from Adrian's side of the story.

Dinner had been awkward the night before. My mother and Marcus weren't sure how to react to my father being back. AJ and Luce had done most of the talking, but not to one another. Their twenty-year feud was back again, and Jenny wasn't there to get in the middle and shut it down. And because of that, Luce had been careful not to discuss spells, to keep Papa and AJ from discussing the balance of magic and nature.

Jason and I had also been cautious not to talk too much. I was able to tell the effects of my father's words to him: deterred. My father had put Jason off when he called him a lycan. From the way Jason reacted to the word, it was the equivalent of calling me a half-blood as an insult.

"Serenity, how has it been working with Eris on the political side?" Papa asked as I turned around to face them. "Your mother said you've been helping with coven leaders around the world."

I pulled the heavy spell book to my chest, smiling uneasily. "It's great. I've learned a lot from Eris and Grandmother. And Mum and Marc have also set a good example. Plus I enjoy traveling with the cousins."

"And your studies?"

I bit down on my bottom lip as I sat in the vacant armchair and put the book in my lap. I had expected that question last night. "I didn't study the arts like AJ, Luce, and Jenny did. But I know enough and it's easy to pick up, for me, anyways."