“Are the two extra guardians—helpers, whatever—really that important?” Asher asked from his station in the kitchen.
“If that’s wrong, then the whole prophecy is wrong. It can’t be about Kiema; if it was, she would have twelve lines.”
“Are your interpretations wrong, possibly?” Atlas asked, his brow furrowed.
I snorted. “I highly doubt it. Like I said, this is what I’ve been training for my entire life.”
“Yes. But were you taught the prophecy, or did you interpret it yourself? It could be that you were given bad information.” He tipped his head to the side.
I bit back the snarl that wanted to rise from my throat. “My father taught it to me. He was never wrong.”
That statement sat on the air like a bomb had just gone off.
“Well, you, out of all of us, would be the only one to have a good father. And before you climb up my ass, I’m not saying your father was bad. I’m saying we don’t have that experience,” Xander said, waved his hand to indicate everyone at the table.
Even Lukas nodded.
“Anything my father said, I got secondary—hell, sometimes tertiary—confirmation of the information. But my father was a lying asshole who didn’t know what the truth was, let alone have a personal relationship with the idea of speaking it,” Ransom said.
“You said the Raven of the Nights prophecy came from Iashira. Do you know what book it’s found in?” Saint asked.
I nodded. “Yes, of course. The Ancient Nature of the Lost Ones. But it disappeared a couple weeks ago. No one has been able to find it. Fuck, no one has even heard about it since it was stolen.”
We all turned to see Asher choking and spewing water.
Scarlet slid from Xander’s lap and hurried over to the drowning twin. She rubbed a hand over his back, waited until he settled. “You good, Papa Bear?”
Everyone at the table chuckled.
Asher glared at all of us before wrapping his arms around his mate. “I’m good whenever you’re in my arms.”
Saint burst into laughter. “Scarlet, we need to have a chat sometime soon. I’ve got some things I need to tell you about your Papa Bear.”
Asher flipped the other man off behind Scarlet’s back. He turned to look at me. “We have your book, Kord.”
For the second time in almost as many minutes, I felt like my world had been upended. “You have The Ancient Nature of—”
“The Lost Ones, yes. We procured it from the Museum of Natural History Olon where it was on display,” Atlas said.
Taryk’s mouth twitched at the corner.
I glared at both of them. “You stole it, you mean.”
“Procured fits better. We intend to give it back once we’re done. More loan than even procurement,” Taryk said, scratching at his chin. He shrugged before looking back at me.
“Please tell me you’ve been keeping it in a stable climate with low humidity out of the sunlight?” I could feel my chest getting tight, a burn building behind my eyes.
“Actually, it’s the perfect size for making one of my jacks level in the garage,” Asher said.
I felt my belly squeeze and my butt clench.
Scarlet jabbed her mate in the belly. She turned to me quickly. “He’s joking, Kord.”
I squeezed my eyes shut against the threat of tears. Thinking about that priceless book being used as a jack stand almost crushed my soul.
“It’s in a climate-controlled safe, Kord. Would you like to see it?” Taryk said, probably taking pity on me.
I nodded, my eyes still clenched. I didn’t trust myself to speak yet. I was plotting my revenge against Asher.
“While T’s getting the book, why don’t you tell us more about your dad?” Kiema asked from beside me.
A smile pulled at my mouth at the thought of my dad. I opened my eyes, looked at my mate. “He was the greatest man I’ve ever known. I actually see pieces and parts of him in all of you.” I looked to all the men around the table. Made sure to include Asher in it. “My dad was a joker like Asher, although he had a more appropriate sense of humor.”
The whole group laughed at that.
Asher gave a bow, a cocky grin on his face. “Appropriate just isn’t my style.”
Another round of laughter.
“My dad was smart, so fucking smart. He was fluent in ten languages, could read probably eight more. He did most of the original translations for the library under his father’s watchful eye.”
“How old was he when he started doing that?” Atlas asked, a look of wonder on his face.
Lukas rolled his eyes.
“Gramps said Dad started helping when he was about ten. Somewhere around that age, anyway.”
“Did your dad have any magic?” Kiema asked, a soft smile on her face.
“Yeah. He was an Allspeak. One of the last ones.”
“I understand the word parts. I don’t know how they fit together,” Atlas said, a furrow in his brow.
“Oh,” I chuckled, a little embarrassed. “He was able to listen and fully understand any spoken language in the universe. It’s also why he was so good at acquiring languages.”
“Could he also speak these other languages as well?”
“Only as long as he was talking to that other person. After he left the new language speaker, he wouldn’t be able to repeat it in any cogent manner. Hence why he only knew so few languages in the grand scheme of things.”
“Yeah, so few. The lazy bastard,” Xander said with a chuckle.
My lips quirked.
Taryk walked back in, the ancient book cradled in his hands.
I winced when I saw his bare skin against the cover. I hurried him over to deposit the book on the table. Asking Asher for a clean knife, I wrapped the tip of the knife in paper. Using that to open the book and turn the pages, I was again overcome with the need to cry or jump up and down like a schoolgirl.
“So, where is the prophecy supposed to be?” Saint asked, pulling me back on track.
I shook myself. “Right. Prophecy. I’ve never actually seen it, only heard stories. If you’re all okay with it, I’d like to study this manuscript in its entirety. Get it committed to memory.” The pages were absolutely incredible, I got swept away looking at them.
The entire group was silent. It was the lack of sound from any of them that brought my head up.
“What?” I looked around the table at each face.
“You’re going to memorize the whole thing?” Xander asked, his eyes wide.
“Well, yes. What else am I supposed to do with it?” I studied everyone’s faces. Varying expressions of interest, disinterest, and jealousy—the last on Atlas’ face—greeted me.
“I don’t think they know you have an eidetic memory, Kord,” Kiema said.
“Oooh. That makes a lot more sense,” Saint said with a nod.
“How did you all think I did my research after I changed back from my animal form?” I asked Ransom.
He shrugged. “I thought you looked in your family’s spellbooks.”
I chuckled. “Those are spells, not general knowledge.”
He shrugged again, unconcerned with the difference.
These heathens!
“Back to the prophecy, guv? I’d like to sleep at some point in the next couple of hours,” Lukas said.