How did he answer that question?

How did Jack put that on the shoulders of someone so young? The failure, the struggle, both long before and long after Annika lived. It had been a lifetime since he'd heard that name, and hearing it spoken by her hurt. He had long since made peace with it, accepted that he couldn't change the past and undo his own mistakes. But even still, a scar could ache if disturbed just right.

For a moment, Jack didn't seem so old and world-weary.

"He was... Someone very important. That book was something he treasured, and it absorbed enough power to take on a life of its own," Jack explained. "He was a sorcerer, his magic was of right and wrong, and as far as the book is concerned, things have not been set right in a long time."

He sighed and stood up. "It wants me dead, an eye for an eye."

The windows filled with light that passed through the house, and the damn book appeared in the entrance. The door flew open, more swords appearing.

Jack extended a hand, and he made a weapon of his own. A long spear.

"Annika, go."

Jack had wronged many people in his life. Annika had been caught in the crossfire before, so what her father had to say was nothing new. But how he said it, the remorse and regret? That was new.

Annika shifted to comfort her father when the door opened, and he pushed her away. Annika stared at the book, upset that this Reza had tried to trick her just to get his revenge.

”No. I’m not leaving you.” Annika came to stand by her father, her small hands balled into fists. ”Hey! I don’t know how sentient you are, or if you just have the last remnants of a man wronged in there, but I’m not letting you kill my dad. He may be a lot of things, but he chose to protect and raise me. So whatever memory you’re holding onto, it’s time to let it go because he is not the same man. So if you want my dad, you have to go through me.”

Annika glared at the book, something she had found so fascinating earlier, and a shadow bow formed in her hand, with a full quiver of arrows on her back. She strung one but didn’t point it at the book. She may be fiercely trying to protect her father, but she still had hope that whatever was left of Reza had some intelligence.