Page 55 of Empire of Dark

He shook his head and reached out, grabbing my arm and looking closely at my skin where I’d been sawing away with the knife. Only little pink streaks remained on my skin, quickly fading.

That was all the evidence anything sharp had been against my skin.

What was normal to me still flummoxed him and it seemed like the perfect opportunity to broach the topic that had been at the forefront of my mind since he deposited me in the tub last night.

I’d had a chance to find Venetia early today in the library to apologize and explain why I’d inadvertently cancelled ourshopping session the other day. True to teenage form, she’d rolled her eyes, said it was fine and then abruptly left.

Which meant it was decidedlynotfine.

I would have to double down on gaining her trust. And for that, I would need Damen’s blessing.

While his thumb was running across my skin, I cleared my throat. “Your daughter.”

He dropped my wrist like a hot skillet and looked up at me. “What about her?”

“I like Venetia. I like her a lot and she seems truly lonely here. I would like to work with her. That is what I did at the Academy—I worked with all young sorts. She is younger than the usual Academy students, but only by a few years.”

“What exactly did you do at the Academy?”

“My official title was ‘Genius Interpreter.’”

He laughed. “That is an actual title?”

“Ridiculous as it sounds, it was the best option. So many of the Academy students are geniuses—they all have the potential to be the best of the best—but they have no idea how the rest of the world works. They’ve spent their youths locked in training or developing their powers or were simply squirreled away from society. I translate the world to them, and teach them how to function normally. Sometimes it’s a manners course. Sometimes it’s a body signals course. Sometimes I need to work on their basic combat skills before they advance into the advanced fighting with our specialized instructors. Sometimes they just need someone to listen to them. And sometimes I have to teach them the basics that they missed out on with their education—like it is for Venetia.”

“You sound like a glorified social worker.”

“That is probably exactly what I am, except that title would never fly at the Academy.” I tore off a bite of bread and ate it.“Egos are thick and abundant at that place. Everyone comes in thinking they are the future of the panthenites.”

“Not everyone can be.”

“Exactly.”

He looked at me, took a deep breath, then shook his head. “I cannot allow it. I cannot let you near her. I cannot chance her hurting you.”

“Except this.” I pointed toward my bare arm where I had been sawing at my skin. “She won’t hurt me. She cannot.”

“You think you can withstand lava spewing from the ground and looking to swallow you whole?”

I shrugged. “I’ve never tried lava, but boiling water has been poured onto me to no avail.”

“How about half of a castle crumbling onto you?”

I stilled, my eyes going wide on him. “Was someone injured when that part of the castle crumbled?”

“Only three of my children. One daughter I was particularly fond of.”

I gasped. “Did they survive?”

“Barely. But a number of people did die in the collapse.”

“So, she could have killed your children, but did not?”

His lips pursed, his head tilting down to glare at me. “That is not how I look upon it. She tried to kill them but failed.”

“Or she has never been taught to hold emotions and she was jealous of the attention you were giving your other children.”

His hand flipped up from the table. “They’re grown adults. They have been for decades and they were only here for a few weeks.”