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“Marvelous.” Adina looked smug. “I guess that’s all you need from me, then?”
“Well, no, actually.” Min sat forward in her chair eagerly. “There are a few loose ends that still need to be tied up. I mean, what exactly was us fake dating meant to achieve?”
Adina sat back in her chair, a tiny smile playing on her lips. “I’m not sure I understand your question, my dear.”
“Well,” Min said, “it seems to both of us now, that our fake dating was always supposed to turn into real dating. I mean, we both knew, didn’t we Ethan, in our hearts that day we first met, that we were fated to be together, and when you appeared at the Westerly, I had this sense… Almost like you knew me, and the bookshop, and… and what’s more, Gingerbread really liked you.”
Adina nodded. “Cats do tend to be drawn to me.”
“No, no, it was more than that,” Min said, rubbing her forehead in frustration. It occurred to her that Adina was behaving just like Gingerbread. Obfuscating. “Can I show you something? It’s just a hunch, but I think you may be able to explain how my father came to have this book in his possession.”
Carefully, Min took the book out of her bag and laid it on the desk.
Adina looked at the cover and smiled. “Ah, Verigo te Muto Draconis.” She leaned forward and reverently stroked the cover, then turned the pages, her face thoughtful. “I always knew your father would find it in the end.”
Min’s glasses nearly fell off as her eyebrows lifted. “You knew my dad?”
Adina’s smile broadened. “I did.”
“How?”
Adina sat back in her chair. “Very well, now that you have found this, I’m willing to tell you the full story. But it must remain strictly between us. You understand me, my dears. Things are changing in Motham, but there are still malevolent eyes and ears that would like to bring us down.”
“Bring who down?”
“LOMAH—the League of Monsters and Humans. Your father and I were founding members.”
Min let out a little gasp and groped for Ethan’s hand.
Adina continued, “I studied at university with your father, and when he came back to Motham I was instrumental in him getting the old building that now houses the Westerly. It was my first brokering job, an easy one, because of course the humans didn’t want it, ugly tumbledown old thing that it was back then. After your sweet mom died, your father needed a cause to throw himself into, so we set up the league together.”
“How come I never knew any of this?”
“It was very hush hush my dear. Very undercover. You were too young to understand, though your father’s intention was to tell you one day. But once the wall came down, things started to change in Motham, and so we slowed down our activities.”
“Do you mean, The Hole In The Wall?”
“Yes, The Hole In The Wall was LOMAH’s first big project.”
Min’s jaw dropped. “You and Dad did that?”
“A group of dedicated activists, to be precise.” Looking at their startled faces, Adina huffed a little laugh. “What? You think it just blew down? It took hours and hours of tunnelling under the foundations to make that part of the wall unstable enough for us to push it down one night.” Adina turned her gaze on Ethan. “Your father Clifton provided funds on the quiet, but he distanced himself for fear of reprisals.”
“Good gods,” Ethan muttered.
“The League was powerful in those days, and funded by monsters with money and humans with a conscience. It’s less active now the hole has opened up and there are more trading opportunities. Though believe me, we still have plenty of work to do. But getting back to your father, Min. His shame about his links to Colonel Westwind sent him on a quest. He had heard from a fortune teller that the Westwind family were once close consorts of dragons, and maybe even dragon’s mates. Not surprisingly, he could not get that thought out of his head. It became something of an obsession for him.”
“The day of his death, he contacted me to tell me he had an exciting lead. He’d been tipped off about a cave in the Wasteland where an old dragon had lived as a hermit for many years. She’d just died, and her stash was up for grabs. And that was the last I heard from him…” Adina’s face momentarily clouded. “And then came the tragic news of his accident.”
Min was frowning so hard she was getting a headache. “But… if you’re such an old friend of my father, why have I never met you? You weren’t even at the funeral…”
“I was at the funeral.” Adina looked hurt. “I would not fail to send off such a dear old friend. But I was not detectable to human eyes. I couldn’t afford anyone knowing about my double life.” She added casually, “Besides, I knew you had Gingerbread to look after you.”
“Gingerbread!” Damn it, Min knew that cat had a special bond with Adina.
“Yes. My familial. Or he was. I chose to free him from his duties after your mother died. I figured you and your father needed him more than I did. Seems I was right.”
Min stared at her, round eyed. “Are you… a witch?”
