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Alexia looked at Lyall

Channing cocked his head "Is this about the past? I told you no good could co the air Then he turned to look at Channing

For the first time, Alexia realized the two men were probably old friends Sometime enemies, of course, but only in thein each other’s company, possibly centuries These two had known each other far longer than either had known Lord Maccon

"You know?" Lyall said to the Ga nodded, all patrician beauty and aristocratic superiority as compared to Professor Lyall’s studied middle-class inoffensiveness

The Beta looked at his hands "Did you know all along?"

Channing sighed, his fine face becoony So brief Alexia thought she had iined it "What kind of Gahed, a huff of pain "A mostly absentee one" There was no bitterness to the state Queen Victoria’s little wars "I didn’t think you realized"

"Realized what, exactly? That it was occurring? Or that you were taking the brunt of it so he’d stay off the rest of us? Who do you think kept the others fro on? I didn’t approve of you and Sandy--you know I didn’t--but that doesn’teither"

Alexia’s previous self-righteousness disintegrated under the i’s comments There was more to Lyall’s manipulations than she had realized "Sandy? Who is Sandy?"

Professor Lyall twisted his lips into a little smile Then he reached into his waistcoat--he always see he needed in that waistcoat of his--and pulled out a tiny leather-covered journal, navy blue with a very plain cover dated 1848 to 1850 in the upper left corner It looked achingly familiar

He walked softly across the room and handed it to Alexia "I have the rest as well, fro them intentionally away fro whatsoever to say The silence stretched until finally she asked, "The ones from after he abandoned my mother?"

"And from when you were born" The Beta’s face was a study in impassivity "But this one was his last I like to keep it with me A reminder" A whisper of a smile crossed that deadpan face, the kind of smile one sees at funerals "He didn’t have an opportunity to finish it"

Alexia flipped the journal open, glancing over the scribbled text within The little book was barely half full Lines jumped out at her, details of a love affair that had altered everyone involved Only as she read did the full scope of the ra broadsided by a Christmas ham

Winter 1848--for a while he walked with a limp but would not tell , read:

There is talk of a theater trip on the morrow He will not be permitted to attend, of that I am convinced Yet we both pretended he would accoether at the follies of society

For all the tight control of the penmanship, Alexia could read the tension and the fear behind her father’s words As the entries progressed, some of his sentences turned her stomach with their brutal honesty

The bruises are on his face now and so deep sometimes I wonder if they will ever heal, even with all his supernatural abilities

She looked up at Lyall, atte to see bruises alone Froht be there--well hidden, but there

"Read the last entry," he suggested gently "Go on"

June 23, 1850

It is full ht all his wounds will be self-inflicted Tihts with me Now there is no surety left for any of theether byHe has asked me to wait Yet I do not have the patience of an i Anything In the end it co I hunt It is what I a

Alexia closed the book Her face et "You’re the one he’s writing about The one asHe didn’t need to respond Alexia was not asking a question

She looked away fro the brocade of a nearby curtain quite fascinating "The previous Alpha really was insane"

Channing strode over to Professor Lyall and placed a hand on his arm No more sympathy than that It seemed sufficient "Randolph didn’t even tell Sandy the worst of it"

Professor Lyall said softly, "He was so old Things go fuzzy with Alphas when they get old"

"Yes, but he--"

Lyall looked up "Unnecessary, Channing Lady Maccon is still a lady Remember your manners"

Alexia turned the small slim volume over in her hand--the end of her father’s life "What really happened to him, at the last?"