Total pages in book: 60
Estimated words: 57143 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 286(@200wpm)___ 229(@250wpm)___ 190(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 57143 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 286(@200wpm)___ 229(@250wpm)___ 190(@300wpm)
Unfortunately, his newest intern had referred to that precise shade of mauve as “hot dog lips,” and now he could not divorce himself from it. Mentoring the youngest Baylor child came with its own annoyances.
He nodded to Lina and led his visitor to the right, where a translucent wall of frosted glass hid his office space. A nearly seamless door swung open, and Augustine paused on the side, letting Diana enter. She walked in and sat in a chair, smoothing the skirt of her elegant grey business suit with a practiced gesture. The Doberman dropped on the floor to her right. Not a concern in the world.
Augustine sat behind his desk. His office was located in the corner where two walls of blue glass met at an angle, and from his vantage point, he had a wide view of Downtown Houston. Unlike most people, he loved heights.
Diana glanced at a sign on the right wall, a quote without attribution. Trust Not Too Much in Appearances.
“Virgil,” she said.
It appeared that House Harrison believed in a classical education. “It’s a reminder,” he said.
“To you or to your visitors?”
“To me. We do our best to convince our visitors that we are trustworthy.”
“Is that why you chose a modern aesthetic for the building?”
He nodded. “Most people who want to hire an illusion mage come to us unsure what they might find. Consciously or subconsciously, they expect to be deceived. Our business requires trust, so we keep the interior simple, almost austere. Long unbroken walls, concrete floors, and transparent glass leave little room for illusions. People find it reassuring.”
“I see.”
She wasn’t giving him very much to work with.
“Are you truly trustworthy, Prime Montgomery?”
Augustine leaned back in his chair. “That depends on your definition of trust. Will I keep everything you tell me confidential, and will I do everything in my ability to help you if we reach an agreement? Yes.”
“In that case, would you mind answering a question before we begin?”
His guess was proving accurate. Nothing about this visit would be boring. “That depends on the question.”
Diana gave him a small smile, but her eyes remained watchful.
“I know that Arabella Baylor visits this office twice a week, and she hasn’t told her mother or her sister, Catalina, about it.”
Diana’s gaze turned direct and unblinking. She likely felt protective toward the Baylors. He wasn’t obligated to explain, but good business relationships relied on trust. And it was a reasonable question. Catalina, Arabella’s sister, was the Head of the House. Anything hidden from the Head of the House usually wasn’t good.
Augustine reached into his desk, took out a folder, and offered it to her.
Diana glanced at the contents. “Internship agreement signed by Nevada Rogan? Arabella’s oldest sister gave her permission for this?”
“My sister graduated from Donovan High.” Normally he had a knee-jerk reaction to avoid speaking about his family, but for some reason it didn’t trigger in her presence.
Diana’s eyebrows rose. “Donovan? Not Heritage?”
Of the two high schools catering to the magically gifted, Heritage was far more prestigious. If you were a scion of a House, you went to Heritage, while Donovan took the rest.
“Yes. She attended under an assumed name.”
And an assumed persona. If Verena’s former classmates ever met her off school grounds, they wouldn’t recognize her. Except for Arabella, none of them had any idea what his sister truly looked like.
“The principal and the senior staff were aware of who she was,” he continued. “My sister wanted it that way, and I acquiesced.”
“Arabella also attended Donovan,” Diana said.
“Yes. They are friends.”
The strangest friendship that sprouted from a bizarre crisis. It made sense. Both children had been held back a year, both were the oldest students in their graduating class at 19, and now both were doing the transitional post-graduation program designed to pad their college applications because neither qualified for the school of their choice without it.
The old him would have never expected his sister to be held back or struggle with her academics. He would’ve expected Verena to blaze to the Valedictorian spot and have her pick of schools the way Seraphina had.
A familiar cold vise squeezed his throat. Losing a sibling fundamentally altered his expectations for his remaining sister, brother, and the cousin he had taken in. He was less of a brother now and more of a parent, and he went from expecting traditional success and academic excellence to celebrating minute signs that they were slowly but steadily moving past the horror that almost destroyed their family.
Diana was waiting for him to elaborate.
“They’re both enrolled in Path to College. It is a gap year program that offers AP courses, which makes students more attractive to college admission departments. Both Arabella and Verena are taking House Business Administration, which requires one hundred and sixty hours of an internship with a business owned by a House other than your family.”