Chapter 10
“We may have a problem.”
“Dante?”
Cornelius breathed in deeply. “I went to talk to him about the ritual, and he does know more than he should.”
“He’s a Seer. It’s to be expected. You knew this when you brought him here, Cornelius, and I thought you understood what it meant.”
“As he can’t See you…”
“There’s enough he can See.”
“Yes, and he said after the ritual there won’t be a Council.”
“From the beginning you knew what would happen.”
“Obviously I didn’t want to tell him that, Titus. I thought it would cause more problems. We need…”
“We?”
“Between the two of us…”
“Cornelius, you were the one who drew him into this. Told me he was the solution to our problem. Now it turns out he might actually be more of an issue than Leonora.”
“He’s here for Anne, Titus.”
Titus stared at Cornelius. “Why?”
“Dreams, apparently. From the beginning Anne was the reason he came to Glimmerbrook. He didn’t tell me much about what he’d Seen, but he did say he believed Anne was his soulmate.”
Hence Anne bringing up soulmates when they were talking.
“Anne won’t choose him.”
“Unless she does.”
“It’s not going to happen. What we need to do is focus on Dante, and the mess you created by bringing him to my door.”
“Titus…”
“You’re the one who needs to clean it up. Having him here for the ritual would be best, but if that’s not possible deal with him.”
“Deal with him?”
“Yes, Cornelius. Find a way to make it so he can’t talk to anyone else. I want this solved before the full moon, and I honestly don’t care how you do it, as long as it’s done.”
“A little help would be appreciated.”
“Then ask someone else. I have too much to do.”
“Too much to do to keep Dante from getting too close to Anne?”
“She will never pick someone else over everything we’ve been working toward.”
Words that were easy to say, but Titus didn’t believe them. If Cornelius failed it would be down to him to fix the problem.
“Unless they are soulmates.”
Dante was new magic, not good enough to be Anne’s soulmate, and Titus glared at Cornelius. “It isn’t possible.”
“Pretending isn’t going to change anything. He believed it when he said it, and I think he might be right. With his ability to See…”
“Anne is my sister. I know her better than anyone. You don’t need to worry about how she might feel about Dante’s death, because she doesn’t even know him.”
“They met.”
“One meeting won’t change anything.”
“You know the same way I do one meeting could change everything.”
“I’m done. Are you telling me you can’t deal with Dante? He’s too strong for you? Right now all I hear is you trying to find a way to get out of doing what needs to be done.”
“Titus, I’m trying to be logical. Dante being Anne’s soulmate…”
“He isn’t anything to her.”
“Stop acting as though it doesn’t matter.”
“We have Dante saying he’s Anne’s soulmate. It doesn’t matter.”
“Yes, it does, and I’m not willing to do anything until I know for certain what the truth actually is. The death of a soulmate… you want Anne at the ritual.”
Cornelius was right. The death of a soulmate could affect Anne, if Dante hadn’t been lying about it from the beginning. For him to have made the journey to Glimmerbrook for her it seemed like he believed what he said he’d Seen.
“Fine, then you find another way.”
“You could help, Titus.”
“We have laws against new magic for a reason, Cornelius. You were the one who went against them, believing Dante was the right person to take Leonora’s place, and you’ve been proven very wrong. Accept this is your problem to deal with.”
“Dante is the right person to take Leonora’s place. Is there a reason he needs to be in the room?”
“Yes, the only person I can take power from without any preparation is Anne, due to our blood. Anyone else either needs to be in the same room, or have a specific sigil on.”
“Show me the sigil.”
“It’s dark magic, Cornelius, and too strong for you to use.”
“Titus…”
“No, it’s not happening.”
“Then what? Every option I come up with you tell me won’t work. Killing him before the ritual isn’t possible, in case he is Anne’s soulmate.”
“Work something out.”
“You can draw the sigil on him.”
“As though he’s going to let me get anywhere near him.”
“One way or another we need his power. Neither Leonora or Emory trust you, and it needs to be thirteen.”
“Then you need to convince him I’m not a danger to him.”
“Do you believe that’s possible?”
“Anything is possible, Cornelius. I don’t know if it’s likely, but it definitely is possible.”
“Where do I start?”
“Give him enough of the truth to get him to join us. Tell him you know about the rest of the Council. Make up a reason.”
“Yes, because telling Dante I’m working with you against the rest of the Council seems like a wonderful plan.”
“It’s for the right reasons.”
“Enough lies have been told I don’t think he’d believe me.”
“Then come up with something else. Get someone else to join you.”
“Someone else?”
“Max would stand by your side, if you asked. The Villareals are strong enough we could offer him the same as you.”
“You think I want Max Villareal working with us?”
“Come up with another idea. I don’t care. Just do it. Stop arguing with me, and solve the problem.”
“The Villareals are not a solution, Titus.”
Once they might have been, but as they were it wasn’t the best suggestion. Had Titus Seen Dante he might have chosen Maximillian over Cornelius, because he’d never have gone against those laws.
“Keep it in mind, just in case.”
“Just in case? Anyone would think you’d rather have Max working with you.”
“With what’s happened recently he was probably the better choice. You, sometimes, are too soft. I know it’s because of your family, but…”
“Dante is strong. That’s the only reason for what I did.”
“Strong enough to be a real problem, Cornelius. That’s why you need to go.” Titus pointed off the porch. “Come up with a solution, deal with Dante, and everything will be fine.”
“If I convince him to come on the night of the full moon?”
“He’ll be welcome, as your guest.”
“You could…”
“No, Cornelius. I will not be the one to clean this up for you.”
“Titus…”
“Last time I helped, but this time you need to find a way to undo the damage. We wouldn’t be in this position if it wasn’t for you.”
“I did what I thought was best for the ritual.”
“Unfortunately, for all of us, you were wrong.”
“Dante…”
“Please go. There’s still a lot to be done before the ritual.”
“I will get him here on the night of the full moon.”
“As long as the problem is solved I don’t care how you do it.”
“You meant what you said.”
“Of course.”
“Titus, I’m not a fool – I need your word if I bring Dante here on the night of the ritual…”
“You have it, Cornelius. If you manage to convince him to come then he’ll be welcome. That doesn’t change what will happen to him.”
“Unless…”
“I mean it. Leave. Now.”