Rhys waved a hand. “Just some leads I’ve been trying to follow regarding Ava’s background. We still don’t know how she’s Irina. According to everything we know about her, she can’t be.”

This was far more interesting than old manuscripts. Malachi shoved the box to the side. “I know it would be unheard of, but could an Irin have fathered her?”

“No.” Rhys seemed sure, but Malachi kept pressing.

“But is it possible? I know she is her mother’s daughter. I’ve seen the pictures of them together, but could her father—”

“No.”

“Some Grigori victims survive, Rhys. And biologically speaking—”

“Malachi, I’m telling you no.”

“Maybe artificial insemina—”

“That’s not possible either.” Then he cocked his head. “Well, I suppose it might be possible for an Irin male to… hmm… But in Ava’s case”—he looked back at Malachi—“no.”

Malachi let out a frustrated breath. “How can you be so sure? I know we’re not meant to touch human women, but we’re not perfect, either. You’re saying it’s not even possible that some Irin and Ava’s mother—”

“I’m saying in this case, it’s not possible.”

He glared at Rhys. “How can you know for sure?”

“Because—” He lowered his voice. “Because there was a paternity test, Malachi.”

He frowned. “A what?”

“A paternity test. To prove Jasper Reed was Ava’s father. She doesn’t know about it. The records were sealed, and her father and mother never wanted her to know.”

Malachi felt a flare of anger. “Why would he question it?”

Rhys sighed. “Reed regretted it, but there was a time when Ava was a baby, and his manager… His career had already taken off. He’d been successful before, but he was starting to attract worldwide attention. Awards were coming in. And—to be completely honest—Jasper Reed has always been a bit of a mess. Some of the media suspect he’s bipolar. Some say he struggles with depression. He takes cocktails of drugs. There’s no doubt he’s incredibly talented, but I don’t know how smart he is. His manager at the time convinced him that Ava’s mother might be lying about the baby. Convinced him to ask for a paternity test. Her mother objected; it went to the courts. There’s a record of it, though I had to dig to find it.”

“There’s a record,” he repeated, furious at Ava’s biological father on her behalf. According to everything he could find out from Leo, the only support Ava had received from her father was financial in nature. Jasper Reed hadn’t held her when she cried or protected her in any way. Those jobs had belonged to Ava’s mother, and later, nannies and other household staff.

“Reed’s an ass, but the test proved he is her biological father. And Lena is her mother. They’re human, Malachi.”

“But she’s not.”

“Well, no. Clearly not.” Rhys took a deep breath. “We have no idea.”

Malachi frowned. “So what were you talking about earlier? Why were you looking at the foster-care system in California?”

Rhys frowned at the screen, then snapped the laptop closed. “It’s probably nothing, but I’m trying to find out more information about Ava’s parents. Her mother is fairly easy. Easily traceable history for over one hundred years. Her father, however…”

“What?” There it was again, that stirring in his gut. The awareness that there was something beneath the surface that he needed to find. It wasn’t unlike the feeling he had when looking at a blank piece of paper or clay tablet where he knew words had been. There was something on the edge of his mind that told him Jasper Reed, Ava’s do-nothing father, was the key to her identity.

“He’s a black hole, Malachi. He grew up in the foster-care system, but that’s as much as I can find.” Rhys crossed his arms. “And I can find a lot. But for him? Nothing. No records at all. It’s as if the man didn’t exist until he started waiting tables at a beach bar in Santa Monica when he was eighteen. No mother. No father. I can’t even find a record of the last foster home he was in.”

“No one just appears out of nowhere, Rhys.”

“You’re right.” He crossed his arms. “And Irina aren’t born to human parents. Irin magic always stems from the female line. And there are no human Irina, Malachi. Except…” He leaned forward. “There are.”

They fell silent as three scribes walked past, arguing in French.

“Does the council know about her?” Malachi asked Rhys when they had passed.

“No. I’ve been trying to keep it as quiet as I can while I dig through the online archives. I have a friend in Los Angeles who’s been making local inquiries for me. I’ve asked him to be discreet.”

“Is it just me? Why do I feel like the fewer people who know about her, the better?”

“It’s not just you.” Rhys leaned back but kept his voice low. “Because if there’s a way for some human women to become Irina, then that changes everything, doesn’t it?”

“It might not be just Ava.”

Rhys nodded. “Ava told you, and you told me and Leo before you… died, that Jaron had helped others with ‘her condition.’ Had helped other humans who heard voices. Malachi, if that’s correct, then—”