Concealed (Unbound, Book 4)

Chapter Thirty-Nine

"What about this one?" I asked Calin, holding up a book I'd found in the library at the Malloy's house.

We'd come to his house everyday for the rest of the week. Maible had been spending her afternoons with Brant after school, forgetting about her lack of powers and leaving us to research unhindered. We usually spent an hour in the library and then our efforts would wane, and we would watch a movie or go out for supper. I liked when we stayed in and ate with Islene, but she was always busy and that had only occurred once.

"No." Calin shook his head. "That is a book that involves sacrifices, so I don't think we want to try a locator spell from there. Not worth it."

"Agreed." I shuddered and put the book back on the shelf. Walking over to the table we'd settled at in the middle of the room, I slumped in my chair. "This is useless. You guys have so many books and not one of them has a locator spell that works. I want to figure out who bound Maible."

"You can't visualize it?"

I pushed my lips together and shook my head. "No, I tried."

Calin stood up and came to stand behind me, rubbing my shoulders. We both looked up as the library door opened and Islene walked in, frowning. She crossed the room and sat in a chair opposite us, folding her hands on the top of the table. Exhaling, she looked up.

"What is it?" I asked, leaning forward, and Calin dropped his hands.

"My vision expanded," she said.

Calin pulled his chair closer to me and sat, putting his hand on my leg even though my foot wasn't tapping. "What did you see, Mom?"

"Maible's father has no connection to her," she said.

"What do you mean?" I asked. "They don't get along?"

Islene looked at me. "Every child has a hint of the essence which makes up their parents, like the markers in DNA. Maible and her father don't share anything together."

"So, what? Does that mean she was adopted or something?" Calin asked.

"No." Islene shook her head and looked between us. "Maible shares her mother's essence."

"So..." I gasped, and Islene nodded.

"Maible's mom had an affair?" Calin exclaimed, and Islene looked at him, nodding again.

"Maible obviously doesn't know," I said. "Does her dad?"

"No, I don't think so," Islene said. "It isn't something that has been talked about. At least, not from what I gathered from my vision. Even if he has a suspicion, I'm positive that Maible's father doesn't know that she isn't his biological child."

"Do you think whoever bound her did it to protect that secret?"

"It's likely," Islene said. "If Maible had access to her power and her father could sense it—"

"—he would realize that he isn't her father," I finished, nodding.

"Who would do that?" Calin asked.

I sighed. "I assume that whoever bound Maible did it to keep her parentage a secret. That means that they are probably her real father."

"Wow."

Calin sat back in his chair, his brow furrowed. He continued to rub my leg, his energy calm in a way that belied the confusion his expression portrayed. I leaned forward and rested my elbows on the table, holding my chin in my hands as I stared at the grains in the wood.

Who would do that to Maible?

It wasn't her fault that her mother cheated on her father.

How did they justify keeping a part of something so integral to who she was away from her in order to keep a secret?