Diamond Fire (Hidden Legacy, #3.5)(34)

The courtyard exploded. Everyone shouted at once. Ramírez Venture Capital was the family’s piggy bank.

“I’ve made some bad investments!” Mikel yelled over the noise.

“You had no authority to make any investments!” Mattin Ramírez thundered. “You were supposed to sit on your ass and watch the money. That’s it. An idiot could have done it.”

“I will pay back every euro with interest!” Mikel shouted.

“How?” Ane demanded. “With more fraud?”

“There was no affair?” Maria cried out. “Why do you keep running away from me?”

“Because you drive me insane!” Mikel fired back.

Rogan leaned his elbow on the table and rested his chin on his hand, watching the chaos like it was a Saturday morning cartoon. Mrs. Rogan was rubbing her temples. Nevada leaned back out of her mother-in-law’s view and gave me a thumbs-up.

“I want a divorce!” Maria announced.

“I am not done,” I announced. “Please let me finish.”

“There can’t possibly be more,” Zorion Ramírez said.

The image on the tv blinked, replaced by Xavier at the fountain. I let his rant roll in all of its glory. When he got to the point of how he would inherit, the courtyard went completely silent. Everyone stared, horrified. The look on Xavier’s face was pure hate. I pressed pause on the remote and looked directly at him.

“Xavier, do you know why your plan won’t work?”

He cursed at me.

I pressed play. Two images appeared on the screen, side by side. Lucian and Eva. A third image, a document with the Scroll logo on it, popped up under them.

“We have obtained permission from Mattin Ramírez, who is the acting head of your family for the duration of this visit, to test your blood, which you left on my rapier. You do not share DNA with anyone in the Ramírez family. Your DNA profile, however, indicates with a 99.999998 percent certainty that these two people are your parents. You will not inherit, because you are not related to Rogan.”

The silence was deafening. Everyone was looking at Lucian and Eva.

Lucian bared his teeth while Xavier shot up to his feet. “It’s not true! Mom, tell them it’s not true!”

Eva swooned and fainted. Iker stared at her as if he didn’t know who she was.

“Almost forgot,” I said. I picked up Sealight, stepped off the porch, walked over to the children’s table and smiled at Mia Rosa. “May I see Sapphire, please?”

Mia Rosa raised her unicorn up. A bright blue jewel in the shape of a heart glittered in the stuffed toy’s forehead, the white fur around it stained with streaks of purple school glue.

“Did you try to bedazzle it?” I asked.

“The bedazzler wasn’t big enough,” Mia Rosa said. “I glued it.”

“I’m sorry, but it’s not yours.” I plucked the jewel from Sapphire’s head and fitted it back into the crown. The Sealight was whole again.

“You should probably give it back to your aunt,” I told her.

Mia Rosa, Prime Telekinetic, sighed. The tiara floated from my hands, dodging the guests with surgical precision, and came to rest gently on the table in front of Mrs. Rogan.

Behind me a table fell as Iker Ramírez threw himself at Lucian de Baldivia.





Epilogue




The wedding was beautiful.

Nevada looked like a princess with the Sealight tiara on her head, while Rogan looked like himself in a tuxedo. The powerful and magically elite of Texas had gathered in full force. The Herald had declared that an invitation to this exclusive wedding was the most coveted in the last ten years. They also snuck a mole into the wedding. I told Rivera to not bust them until after the vows were said. As the woman was gently expelled, her last post on Herald announced that Nevada’s lilac bouquet was to die for. Apparently power and wealth trumped the clashing colors.

The wedding ceremony ended, and the reception began. The guest list read like a who’s who of Texas Houses. Augustine Montgomery, Best Man, Prime. Linus Duncan, Prime. Lenora Jordan, Prime. House Harrisson, House Latimer, House Ade-Afefe, House Etterson, House, House, House . . . Even Grandmother Victoria managed to secure a temporary supervised release. She danced with Linus Duncan and had a civil conversation with Grandma Frida, both of which weirded me and Arabella out.

So many rich and powerful people gathered in one spot. Xavier would have loved it. Unfortunately for him and half a dozen other of Rogan’s relatives, their invitations had been revoked and they were even now flying back to Europe. Of the west wing, only Zorion and Teresa and Ane and Lance remained. June and her daughters were invited but declined to stay.

In the happy commotion nobody noticed me, Rivera, and several of Rogan’s soldiers walking into the kitchen, where the waitstaff and the caterers were preparing and plating the various courses for the reception. Nobody paid me any attention as I walked up to a middle-aged woman with recently bleached blond hair. She was straightening her waiter’s uniform.

“Kelly Waller?” I asked.

She glanced up, a flicker of panic in her eyes, but I had already cast my magic lure.

“Give me your gun,” I said. And she did. And then she and Jeremy followed me meekly out of the house and into a waiting armored vehicle. So ended the story of Kelly Waller, without fanfare, with a whimper, as she deserved.