Cass gave her a commiserating pat on the back, which also served as a means of ushering her through the doorway. Marabella automatically peered toward the desk where her best friend Willa was usually parked. But Willa and her fiancé Max were currently spending the week in Galveston with his parents. It was probably just as well, since Willa would have taken one look at Marabella and instantly known something was up. It was hard enough keeping all of these secrets. Having to lie to her best friend would have been the straw that broke the camel’s back.
Jean Belltower, daughter of one of the guild members, sat in Willa’s chair. Marabella didn’t know the woman very well, but she’d always seemed friendly enough. Hopefully Domino hadn’t worked her into the running-ragged part of her duties yet.
“Hi, Jean. My mom isn’t in a meeting right now, is she?”
“Nope. You can go on in.”
Steeling herself, Marabella reached for the doorknob to her mother’s office and twisted it open. Shooting Cass one last worried look, she stepped inside. Domino stood in front of the wall of bookcases, re-shelving a few of the bound volumes. Judging from her grumbles, she wasn’t pleased with the current organization.
Apparently realizing she had company, Domino shifted her narrow-eyed scrutiny from the books. A fraction of her displeasure eased when she spotted Marabella and the portfolio clenched in her hand. “You’re finished with the bid? Excellent. We’re going to start looking them over today.” She walked forward, and her attention veered to Cass.
Marabella quickly made the proper introductions. She held her breath, paranoid that her mom would see through the ruse of Cass being a new friend she’d met through Bella’s Boutique. But thankfully Domino bought the story, and even engaged Cass in polite small talk for a few minutes. The whole time Domino and Cass were chatting, Marabella ping-ponged her gaze between them, carefully gauging Cass’s expression for signs that she’d picked up any relevant clues while reading Domino. Frustration gnawed at Marabella as it became clear that Cass possessed the best poker face known to mankind. No, make that reaperkind.
Anxious to find out what Cass might have dug up, Marabella glanced at the antique wall clock suspended near the bookcases. “Wow, look at the time.”
Domino’s lips pinched in disapproval. “Marabella, that’s extremely rude and unsubtle.”
She shrugged in apology. From the corner of her eye, she noticed Cass was grinning behind her hand. After a fast rifle through her portfolio, Marabella located the bid she’d put together for the redecorating job and handed it to her mom before offering a fast, departing squeeze. Leaving a bemused Domino behind, she snatched Cass by the elbow and practically hauled her out the door.
Once they’d reached the privacy of the car, she looked at Cass expectantly. “Well?”
“For the most part, there wasn’t anything unusual about your mom’s soulprint.”
“But?” she prodded.
Cass rubbed her jaw. “Every time I tried to access a thread related to you, I ran into a block.”
“You mean like the one on me?”
“Yes.” Cass scratched her head. “Someone put a lot of work into ensuring your information is under lock and key.”
“But who could do something like that? And why?”
Cass remained quiet for a long stretch. “You said your father died before you were born. Do you know much about him?”
It took several beats for Marabella to catch on to Cass’s train of thought. “You think my father has something to do with this?”
“Remember I mentioned those threads I searched on your mom’s soulprint? Well, theoretically speaking, there should have been ones that led to your father that in essence formed a connected link. They weren’t there. Or…they were severed.”
“Severed? Can that be done?”
“Yes, by someone who has a great deal of skill. And a higher power on their side.”
She blinked, unable to follow Cass’s meaning. “Huh?”
“There are certain forces in this world that you could consider supreme beings. For instance, you’ve referred to your goddess a time or two since we first met.”
“Gaia. For many witches, she’s looked upon as being the mother of us all.”
Cass nodded. “I’m familiar with her. My brother Dominick was married to a dryad. The tree nymphs revered Gaia as their creator, as do a lot of the other earth spirits.”
Finally the fog lifted from Marabella’s brain. “By higher power, you mean deities.”
“Mm-hmm.” Cass’s gaze turned thoughtful as she rubbed her thumb across her bottom lip. “The more I think about it, it would take a being with that kind of power to authorize the level of cover up we’re dealing with here. Whoever your dad was, he had some real major connections.”
“But he was just a banker my mom met in England while she was studying abroad. I’m pretty sure the biggest connection he had was with Lloyd’s of London.” Marabella wrinkled her nose. “And I’m fairly certain they can’t be considered a deity.”
“You do realize some people aren’t entirely honest when it comes to their personal histories, right?”
“Are you implying my dad lied to my mom about who he was?”
Cass gave a noncommittal hum that spoke volumes. Slightly sick to her stomach at the prospect that her father had duped her mom for some unknown and possibly nefarious reason, Marabella started up the car and pulled out of the lot. She swallowed past the lump of uncertainty in her throat. No, she refused to believe her dad had been a dishonest man. Sure, she’d never met him, per se, but the little she’d gleaned about him the few times Domino got tipsy and sentimental enough to talk about him, there’d been genuine affection there. And then there were the exquisitely romantic love letters she’d found hidden in the bottom drawer of the French armoire in her mom’s bedroom. She’d found them by accident when she was ten years old and playing dress up with the sitter while her mom was busy at some Alliance function. Feeling the need to defend him, she recounted that fact to Cass.
Rather than look ashamed for the assumptions she’d made, Cass’s expression turned excited. “Wait, you have actual handwritten letters from him?”
“Well, I don’t. But my mom does.”
Cass pumped her fist. “Yes.”
Marabella tore her gaze from the road just long enough to peer at Cass. “Uh, want to clue me in here?”
They approached a red light and Cass swiveled in her seat to face Marabella. “There might be enough traces of DNA left on the letters to help me establish a link to your father. Odds are I’ll still run into a block, but it’s worth a try.”
“But the letters are at my mom’s house. I don’t even live there anymore.”
Cass’s smile turned cajoling. “Look at it this way. You’re her daughter. Technically, it wouldn’t be considered breaking and entering.”
Marabella groaned. “Are you sure you’re only half demon? Because it seems to me your shady, dishonest side is shining through right now.”
Cass grinned. “Yeah, guess I’m going to have to work on that too.”
Less than fifteen minutes later, Marabella was fumbling with her purse and silently reminding herself that she wasn’t really breaking and entering if she was using a key.
“Ah-ha. Got it.” Her fingers shaking from excitement and jittery nerves, she wiggled the key into the deadbolt and turned it. The lock released with an audible click, and she pushed the door open. She stepped into the marbled entry and flicked on the overhead chandelier.
A low whistle issued from Cass. “Nice digs.”
“Thanks. My mom has always taken great pride in this place.” Marabella had too, at one time, before coming to the conclusion that if she didn’t move out, she’d grow into a tired spinster who’d forever live under her mother’s shadow.