My father taps his pen against the desk. "It was that ornament causing the fires?"

"Yes," I say. "It's infused with ice magic, so it drew heat towards it. That's why the fires looked so animated. They were heading towards the shard."

My father rubs sleep from his eyes. "I see. This is all settled then? No more ghost business?"

"It's not like Emmeline is going to apologise," I retort. "And it's not like you'll make her."

I can't read my father's expression. I'm not going to let him slither out from under my gaze though. He might not insist that Emmeline apologise, but I'll sure as hell make sure he knows what I think about that.

He breaks my gaze and sighs. "Lily," he says. "You deserve an apology from your stepmother. But she did not do it out of spite. She's always felt guilty about marrying me. Your mother's death shattered her too. They were friends, after all."

She couldn't stand the guilt, so she made it my fault. That's what he's saying. That deep inside, Emmeline thought my mother's ghost was here to haunt her.

"Where did you get that shard?" I ask my father.

"It was a gift. A rather ugly thing, I thought, so I put it in the basement. Adriel always was a strange one, but I didn't want to offend him by getting rid of it."

I start. "Big Boss gave you the shard?"

"Yes, at the memorial. He approached me to talk. It was a bit of an awkward affair, but he gave me the gift, and it was more progress than we'd made in years."

I make sure my gaze never leaves my father's face. "Why did you two fight?"

"It was nothing, Lily. Just a misunderstanding."

A misunderstanding. It looks like I've misunderstood many things in my life. I can't trust anyone.

"All you need to do is give me the one answer," I say, acid lacing my words. "I'm not asking you to love me. I'm not asking you to spend time with me, or be respectful to my mother's memory. All I'm asking for is the truth."

My father jerks back like I've slapped him. He blinks, then is silent for a moment. He reaches for the bottom drawer of the desk, and brings out a framed portrait. From the honey-blonde hair and pink cheeks, I can tell it's my mother. He traces the outline of her face, sadness softening his eyes. He smiles gently, then finally looks up to me.

"Your mother was so much better at expressing her feelings than I was," he admits. "It came so easily to her. I never knew what to say to people. It was easier for me to hide away in my office with my papers. I know I wasn't the best father to you, Lily, but it wasn't because I didn't love you. Throwing myself into my work was how I got through the grief. And I know you think my marrying Emmeline meant I wasn't loyal to your mother, but that was far from the truth. Emmeline was grieving her too, and she understood. I needed a friend. But I chose your mother all those years ago, and I would always choose her. Emmeline knew that." He puts the frame down, and the hint of a smile plays on his lips. "My parenting inadequacies did not go unnoticed. That was where Adriel came in."

I look at him, confused. "What does Big Boss have to do with any of that?"

"Adriel wanted to adopt you."

I almost tumble off my chair. "What?!"

"After your mother died. He and his wife were childless, and he must have thought they could offer you a better life than I could. When he suggested it, I took it as him saying I was a bad father. I was offended."

It takes a while for this to sink in. Big Boss wanted to adopt me when I was little. Big Boss gave my father a broken shard of the Orb of Ariadne. Who was this man?

Behind his desk, my father seems to be struggling with something. "Lily...I was....what I was meaning to say is..." He clears his throat. "I'm sorry if I haven't met your expectations of a father. I would like to fix that, if you would let me. I know you have your own friends to keep you company, but I would like to see you as well. Perhaps next year you could attend your mother's memorial?" He watches hopefully for my answer.

I turn it over in my mind. I don't expect us to be the best of buddies, but he is my dad.

"I'll try," I say.

After all, if he can try, I can too.

*

It takes Onyx an entire week to speak to me again. Then one day, out of nowhere, he sticks his paws on my skirt and climbs into my lap, purring gently. I was harsh on you, Lily. I do not want to lose you.

"I know, cat," I sigh. "I know."

He yawns, then gets into a sleeping position. But it still does not change the fact that we have a demon on the loose, not to mention our old friend Scion.

We're back in Zilitron after solving the mystery of the so-called ghost. There's been no news of demon attacks, and believe me, we've been keeping an eye out. Onyx believes the demon and Scion are hiding while they replenish their energy. As for who let them out, he has no idea, apparently.

"We'll handle them," I say. "There's information out there that will help us. Someone let them out of the orb, and I'm going to find out who." I smirk. "By the way, look what I found in my old room."

It's a child's drawing of a house with the words "OnYx Is A sTuPiD cAt" scribbled over the top.

"I remember the day I wrote that. You got all art critic on me when I drew that picture for school."

I was simply telling the truth. A square with a triangle on top is not a house.

"I was five."

You needed to learn to see the world around you.

"I put a crayon in your food bowl that day." I smirk. "Did you eat it?"

Please. It was bright orange. Camouflage was not a strength of yours either.

I scowl.

Then something clicks. "You were the one who put the red chilli in Emmeline's wine!"

Onyx's tone is smug. They never suspected I was the mastermind behind that one.

"I got grounded for a week for that! I should murder you..."

When the others hear that Onyx has cheered up, they crowd into my quarters for a catch up. Addy is a little late because her mother wanted to fill her in on the Ivy situation. Things aren't going so well on that front, so Addy might end up going to the Forest of Sorrows to see what she can do.

When we're all here, Ruby pulls us into a gossip circle. "I've figured out Big Boss's deal," she announces.

"Oh wow," Addy says. "That was quick, Ruby."

"Tell us what you found," Maya prods.

Ruby lowers her voice. "Big Boss is..."

We all lean forward.

"...a werewolf."

The room erupts.

"Ruby!"

"For the Dark Witch's sake..."

"How does that explain anything?!"

"He's always looked a bit wolfy, don't you think?" Ruby continues, as if we'd all just congratulated her on her brilliant theory. "It would explain why he always disappears and never says where he's going. He's probably going to Wolfsbane Wood to transform."

The others continue to reason with Ruby, but I promptly check out of the madness. Big Boss might not be off eating children and howling at the moon, but he's definitely up to something.

There are things being hidden from me - important things. I'm going to make it by business to find them.

*

Where The Sun Makes A Dent
KADREA

Dionysus watches the night sky with eyes that have no end. She is coming, he knows that now. He greets the knowledge with relief. When she comes all will be destroyed, and there will be peace. Peace, he has learned, is not a living thing. It is a spirit that one prays to.

He would welcome the peace. It is time. Calamities have happened. Stars have whispered. Storms have died. And he is here, like a memory that cannot fade.

He watches the child pace in bursts of green mist.

"Did you find it?"

The spy laughs quietly. "Of course I did. I told you I would, didn't I?"

"I don't trust humans."

"For someone who does not like humans, you have remained on our planet for an embarrassingly long time."

Scion clicks his teeth with impatience. "It was neither my choice to come here, nor to stay. I intended only to scope this planet out. I was far from home, and I was not expecting to find anything familiar here. Yet I found a Phaedrean energy signature - three signatures, in fact. I moved my ship closer, but this planet pulled me down. I crashed and was stranded. The Orb of Ariadne is my way home."

The spy nods. She has been told all this, Dionysus knows. She only wished to agitate the child.

"How did you find it?" the child demands.

The spy's hair twists out of the dark. It is like the blue of a summer dusk, or the ocean. Her skin glitters dark gold.

"When in doubt, follow the cat," Queen Irine says.

END OF EPISODE TWO

(Episode Three coming up next!)