Deception of the Magician (Waldgrave Book 2) Read Free Page A

a glitter heart on it. Her name was Maren Delaney; the former name came from Eric’s mother, who had died when he was very young. ‘Delaney’ had been the name on a piece of mail accidentally delivered to the Mason household on the day of the birth, and Hesper, tired and delusional from all the drugs, had liked it so much that she had written it down on the birth certificate. Maren yawned and stretched her tiny arms, then settled back into her nap.
    Eric took her up to a room on the second floor to let her nap and to unpack their bags, and Hesper and Lena sat in the living room a while longer. Ava had wandered off when Maren left, and Howard excused himself to give the two friends some privacy.       
    “So. You’re looking good.” This, in fact, was an understatement. Hesper didn’t look any different than she had before the pregnancy.
    “Thanks. I’ve got three more pounds to go.” Hesper smiled and stretched out on the couch. “How are you?”
    “Good.” Lena shrugged.
    Hesper gave her a look and smiled slyly. “Just good?”
    Hesper bobbed her eyebrows suggestively, and Lena laughed. “What do you mean?”
    “Griffin moved back in, didn’t he?” Hesper pointed towards the upper floors.
    “Oh. Yeah.” Lena’s voice deflated.
    “Shut up. You’ve always had a crush on him and you know it.”
    “He’s not the way he used to be. And you shut up, because I don’t. He’s a jerk.” Lena sighed.
    Hesper rolled her eyes. “How’s everything else, then?”
    “Well, speaking of Griffin, he’s going to get back tomorrow with your mom. Apparently there’s been some trouble with the family servants, so they’ll probably both be in a  great  mood when they get here.”
    Hesper cracked a wry smile. “You’re just one big freakin’ ray of sunshine today, aren’t you? What happened?”
    Lena sank down on the couch. She had only heard what Howard had been told by Griffin, who had slated it to sound like an unfounded mutiny. “Well, you know your mom was a little high strung to begin with, right? And then there was the thing with your dad, and she’s alone in the house except for the baby, and she started drinking a little so the staff took the baby away to keep him safe. Well, your mom still maintains that your dad didn’t kill himself and that he was somehow murdered. She thinks the staff are trying to kill her and Darius Jr., and they got so fed up with her abuse that some of them walked out. Griffin disbanded the rest of the house because he’s bringing the two of them here.”
    Hesper remained quiet for a moment, a pensive look on her face, then sat forward. “I guess it was bound to happen someday. My dad was the only one keeping order there. The baby’s okay?”
    Lena stood up and started walking to the kitchen; she needed something to rip apart with her teeth. “Yeah…about him. I’m not sure what’s going to happen to him. Griffin is about ready to have her legally declared incompetent, and I think he thinks I’m going to surrogate his little brother, which isn’t going to happen.” She threw the refrigerator door open and pulled out some leftover meatloaf.
    “He wants the baby to stay here?” Hesper asked in a surprised, slightly twanging tone. “Can’t Ava take him?”
    Lena shut the refrigerator door and glared at Hesper, raising her eyebrows sarcastically. Ava couldn’t be trusted to take care of herself for more than a few hours, let alone a baby.
    “Oh…right. Well, what about Mrs. Ralston?”
    “Do you want some?” Hesper accepted the offer, having briefly forgone her vegetarian diet during her pregnancy and breastfeeding, and Lena pulled down two plates and started hacking away. “My grandfather doesn’t believe that human-borns should be allowed to raise ‘high-blooded’—his words, not mine—Silenti. So we have a competent parent who’s unacceptable, an incompetent parent who is acceptable, and me. And I am sure as hell not going to adopt the kid,