Court the Fire (Son of Rain #3)

by Michelle Irwin

  Everything about her seemed both foreign and familiar at the same time. The honey-gold hair that curled in hundreds of ringlets as tight as springs and the soft sky-blue eyes were vivid reminders of a time from childhood I could barely remember and only saw regularly in photographs. At least, before Dad had destroyed them all.

  It was the little things that made me pause as I sat across from her. Her heart-shaped face and sharp chin were almost identical to Louise’s. I couldn’t dismiss the similarities offhand. The more I thought about it, the less likely it seemed that a fae doppelganger would freely admit they were fae. Evie was right when she’d said Fiona had actually made it harder for me to trust her by telling us what she was.

  That fact was, in a weird way, part of what had me almost trusting her.

  “Thank you for coming,” Fiona said as she turned to me after the long quiet. “I must apologize for the way you discovered this truth. Truly, I did not mean to cause you any anguish or distress. Though, I do wonder whether it was bound to happen regardless.”

  With a soft grunt, I indicated that she should proceed.

  “It might be difficult to believe, but I never wanted to leave you. It was never my choice. For so long, I searched for you and your siblings when you were young. I tried so many avenues, some I never would have considered under any other circumstances.

  “A few months before Ethan’s twelfth birthday, I found you. At that stage, the chance for a reunion was an impossibility. Your father had spent so much time instilling his hatred into the three of you. The three of you were already soldiers and there was evidence that you would not pause to consider what I had to say before ending my life. Although a reunion would have been worth the risk to my life, I did not wish for that guilt to rest on your heads if you were to discover the truth.”

  It was impossible to ignore the facts that were clear in her statements. The timing matched with my early sanctification. Had one of her guards been the fae who had killed my Nana Jacobs? It was a question I would confront her with eventually, but first, I needed to hear the story she had to tell. My curiosity had been aroused by the truths she’d told me and was too strong to ignore. In a quiet tone, she proceeded to tell me the history of her union with and subsequent split from my father.

  As she spoke, I grew hypnotized. The actual words washed over me in a blur. Memories, long-buried and tarnished around the edges, filled my mind and the past appeared to play out on repeat in front of me. Vague recollections of watching the woman in front of me move around a small kitchen, singing as her vivid blue wings fluttered in time with her movements. Each time I tried to grasp hold of an image, it flittered away.

  Maybe she really was telling the truth.

  But how could I have forgotten that?

  CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

  “FOR MONTHS, I searched in vain. Troy used every available resource within the Rain to keep you protected and hidden from me. Eventually, with a price on my head, I had no choice but to stop. Almost six years after I had left, I returned to court completely defeated. My mother welcomed me home with open arms and I saw, too late, that a lifeline had existed for me all along, if only I had been brave enough to look for it. Even now, I must wonder what different lives you might have led, if only I had been willing to reach out to my family as soon as Louise was revealed to be a true fledgling. Perhaps things might have been better for you three.”

  By the time Fiona was nearing the end of her tale, I was reeling but almost certain of the truth. So much of what she said fit with what I knew to be true—too much—even though some of it contradicted what I’d been told.

  “If only I had been wiser and more willing to doubt the strength of the power of love to fix everything,” Fiona said as she finished her story. “I could have avoided the torment Louise faced and I could have saved you from a life filled with death.”

  “You can’t think like that,” I said. Part of me hated that she doubted in the strength of love. It was the very thing I counted on to get Evie and me through everything we’d been through, and everything we still had in front of us. “You made the decision that you thought was right at the time.”

  “You don’t hate me for it?” she asked. The emotion in her eyes wasn’t faked or forced; it was raw and honest, and it fucking hurt to see. Even if what she’d said was a lie, which I actually doubted after the memories she’d inspired within me, she represented someone important to me. I needed her to be strong, not defeated.

  “I . . .” I paused. I wanted to say, “Of course not” just to keep her happy, but I didn’t want to lie. “I don’t know,” I admitted.

  Fiona dropped her head into her hands, but in the seconds before that, I saw her hope drain from her features, and I wanted to reach for her hand to let her know that I could never hate her.

  How can you hate your moth—

  I couldn’t finish the thought. Even though I was less inclined to doubt her words than I had been before, I couldn’t freely use the “M” word to describe her.

  “I’m sorry,” I said instead. “I wish I could offer more than that, but I can’t yet. I just don’t know how I feel about anything right now. It’s going to take some time to process what you’ve told me. All I know for certain is that I want to know the truth about what was done to Lou. I had to deal with her nightmares for far too long. They were real memories of actual injuries she sustained during the time she was missing. I know she was hurt when we were young. If it wasn’t by your kind, it must have been the Rain.”

  “I cannot be certain who caused her injury, but of one thing I am sure,” Fiona said.

  “What’s that?” Evie asked as she squeezed my hand to remind me of her support.

  “Louise’s magic has been bound. Only a fae or a very powerful mage would have the ability to do that.”

  A fae or a very powerful mage. The words struck my mind like a branding iron. Had Dad turned to an enemy to “fix” Louise? I turned over the words again and again as Evie pushed the conversation forward to Fiona’s daughter—to Mackenzie.

  When Fiona reached the end of her tale about a rebellious young fae, who by all accounts was following in her mother’s footsteps, I had a lingering question. “Why do you think the Rain is involved? Maybe she just ran away like you did?”

  “My scouts saw her being forced into a fae cage.” Fiona sobbed, and the sound made me determined to help where I could. “There were too many anti-fae protections around the cage and vehicle; our guards were powerless to stop them or help her. That is why I sought you out. We are in need of an ally who will not be affected by the protections, someone who is willing to go into the Rain to find out where my daughter is being held and rescue her.”

  “I understand.” It was easy to see why she’d taken the risk to find Evie and myself.

  “Then you’ll do it?”

  “I will learn the truth about Lou,” I said, “and if that means going back into the Rain, so be it. If I can rescue your daughter in the process, then I will.”

  Fiona sagged forward in the sofa and offered me a glance so full of relief I almost couldn’t handle it. “I can’t thank you two enough.”

  I glanced between Evie and Fiona for a moment as her final words hit home. I was certain that, if Mackenzie had been picked up in New York, she would have been taken to Bayview—better known as Hell. For a phoenix, that building was literally a death trap, and there was no way I would risk Evie’s life like that, not even to help my mo—Fiona.

  “No, not the two of us,” I said. “I am not letting Evie anywhere near that place.”

  “Not letting me?” Evie’s tone was sharp, and I saw my declaration had earned her ire, but I didn’t care. She could be as pissed as she wanted, just so long as she was safe. “You assume that you have a say in the matter of whether I’m going or not.”

  “There’s nothing to have a say in,” I said. I didn’t care if taking away her choice made me chauvinist or an asshole; I couldn’t risk her life by taking her with me. I would
n’t. “You’re not going. They hunt your kind for a living, Evie. You’ll get hurt if you go within a mile of that place. I won’t have that on my conscience.”

  “So,” she replied, her tone as sharp as ever, “there’s just as much of a chance of you getting hurt.”

  “I can handle it.” I’d done it every other time I’d had to return to the place. I could endure the stress of retraining easier than I could handle Evie being within a mile of that building.

  “Meaning that I can’t?” she seethed.

  Her anger and the way the heat around her steadily rose should have been a warning to back off, but I couldn’t, not when her safety was involved. “No, meaning I know you can handle yourself, but I couldn’t cope if you were hurt.”

  “And if you never came back? Am I expected to just be fine with that and move on with my life?”

  I could see her point, even though I didn’t want to. “No, but they know me. My risk is lower.”

  “You’re as alienated from them as I am. By walking in there, you’ll be announcing that you’re back in the country and out of mourning. They’re not going to just let you walk away again after you’re done.”

  “It won’t be like that unless my family is there. No one else in the Rain will know that I shouldn’t be there. You heard Eth, it’s all forgiven when I go home. Plus, if I have the pendant, it’ll be easy. No one questions the elite.”

  “Well, if it’s going to be so easy, then you have no reason for me not to go.”

  “Evie, please?” I begged.

  “Clay, no.” She imitated my tone. “I’m coming with you. You can either accept that and work with me, or you can watch over your shoulder for me the whole time you’re there.”

  It was hopeless to continue to argue with her, but I had to try. I had to make her see the reality of what she’d be walking into if she went there. Not even a year ago, she’d been terrified at the thought of passing through an airport, and now she was willing to march into a place filled with people who would mark her for what she was the instant they saw her. “They will kill you if they suspect what you are. It’s not like the airport; they’re not idiots and buffoons. The division here in New York is filled with highly trained soldiers and Assessors.”

  “Well, then I guess we better organize a decent disguise.”

  “We can arrange something for you,” Fiona said, and I wanted to ask her where the hell her loyalty lay. “And you may stay here tonight while you work out a plan if you wish.”

  “Thank you,” Evie said. “We could use a good night’s sleep before we decide what our next step will be.”

  It was clear I wasn’t going to make any headway arguing with Evie.

  Especially if my own mo—if Fiona’s on her side.

  I needed to find another way to prove how dangerous it was to her.

  “I need to call Eth first,” I said, trying to wrestle some control back. If everything I’d learned was true, Eth deserved to know it too. Not only that, but he’d been more involved with the Rain than I had over the last few years, and would be able to give us great insight into what we could expect.

  “You know where the telephones are, Evelyn,” Fiona said.

  “If they haven’t moved, I do,” Evie replied with a soft, gentle tone. She seemed to have noticed the same thing I did, that Fiona’s admissions had taken their toll on the woman.

  I leaned forward and offered my comfort in the form of a hand resting on Fiona’s shoulder. “Try not to worry. I will get her back.”

  Evie placed her hands on my leg, offering her support to me.

  “Let’s find those phones,” I murmured to her.

  When we stood, Fiona drew herself up as well and moved to embrace Evie, who willingly accepted the offered affection. I stepped back, uncertain what to do. On the one hand, I had very few lingering doubts over the story Fiona had told. It was clearer than ever before that she was the woman who’d left twenty years ago, but beyond my promise to do what I could to rescue her daughter, I didn’t know what that meant for me.

  I wasn’t even sure what I wanted it to mean.

  After all, I was twenty-three. I didn’t need someone in my life to fill a role that had been rendered unnecessary by the passage of time, but neither did I want to be rude, especially if the separation had truly not been her choice. Putting aside the impact her announcement had on me, it had clearly been harrowing for her. It was obvious from her body language and from the way her voice had grown ever more defeated even as I’d began to believe her words.

  Fiona thanked Evie and turned to me. Instead of offering her open arms or trying to pull me into a hug like she had with Evie, she lifted her hand and cupped the side of my face before brushing her thumb over my cheekbone. Tears welled in her eyes as she said, “Thank you for listening. That is all I have hoped for and far more than I ever expected.”

  My brow dipped because the tender expression and gentle touch somehow seemed more filled with emotion than the embrace she’d shared with Evie, even though it could have been interpreted as a somewhat lesser gesture.

  “Yeah, no worries.” I took another step away, leaving her hand hovering in the space between us for a fraction of a second before she drew it back to her side.

  I grabbed Evie’s hand and led her from the room.

  “You didn’t need to be rude,” Evie admonished with a gentle tone.

  Looking back toward the door to Fiona’s suites, I grimaced. “I didn’t mean to be. I just . . .” I scrubbed the back of my neck and sighed. “Well, it’s hard. There’s just so much to get my head around. I mean, I’ve been raised all my life knowing fae are evil. That of all the creatures that walk the earth, they are among the worst because they appear so fair and yet can do such unspeakable acts. Now, well, I can see that maybe that’s not the truth, but I don’t know if I’ll ever be okay with this place, with her, with any of this.”

  “Just remember I’m here for you, whatever happens. I promise.”

  I slung my arm around her shoulder and released a sigh. “I know. To be honest, that’s the only thing that’s keeping me sane right now.”

  “Let’s go call Ethan.”

  Evie directed me to a small area where three phones, each slightly smaller than regular payphones and without the coin slots, were hidden in a small room just off the main foyer area of the court. Two fae stood guard over the room; I figured they worked in tandem to answer the phone and run messages. When they saw us coming, they discreetly departed.

  News travels fast around here.

  “Why do fae even have phones?” I asked Evie.

  She shrugged. “I never really asked. I didn’t ever need to use them, but Aiden pointed them out during the first tour he gave me.”

  Pushing the thought of her and Aiden out of my head, I dialed Eth’s private number. I hoped that he hadn’t had to ditch the number in the time since I’d last spoken to him.

  Thankfully, my luck held and he answered it on the fifth ring with a confused sounding, “Hello?”

  For a moment, I wondered what area code, or even what phone number in general, would be displayed on his screen. “Hey, it’s me.”

  A crash sounded in the background. “Shit!” It sounded like he put the phone down, or at least held it away from his body. There was a soft thump and some more rustling before he finally spoke again. “Clay, is that you?”

  It was almost a relief having the relative normalcy of talking to my brother. “No, it’s the bogeyman. Of course it’s me.”

  “What do you need me to do now?” He sounded almost resigned to the fact that I used him as nothing more than a get-out-of-jail-free card.

  “I need you to get your ass to New York.”

  “Why?” He was skeptical. “What’s in New York?”

  I figured the call hadn’t offered him the area code, or he would have worked it out already. “Your wonderful brother, that’s what.”

  He gasped. “I have another brother? ’Cause I know you sure as shit
aren’t talking about yourself throwing words like wonderful around.”

  “Fuck you too, Eth.” I laughed.

  “Seriously though, are you back in the States?”

  “Yeah. At least, for the moment.”

  “For the moment? Do you know how many favors I had to pull in to get you out last time, and now you’re back ‘for the moment’? How’d you even get back?”

  “All in good time. I just need to know how soon you can get here.”

  “I’m in Boston right now. If I leave first thing in the morning, I can be there a little after eight I guess.”

  “That sounds perfect. Where can we meet you?”

  “Where are you? And is Evie with you now?” He didn’t ask whether she’d be coming to our reunion, probably because he understood that if she was in New York, she was going to be at my side.

  “Central Park, near the East Meadow, and yes.”

  “Well, the Bayview is out then. It’s far too dangerous for her to be anywhere near there.”

  His statement reminded me of Evie’s desire to help find the truth about Lou and to help rescue Mackenzie. “Agreed.”

  “Give me a sec.” He was away from the phone for a second before getting back on the line. “There’s a Starbucks on the corner of 96th and Madison. I’ll meet you there.”

  I wondered whether I should feel guilty dumping the information I’d discovered on him before I’d had time to process it myself, but decided that he had just as much right to know as I did. So did Lou, but that would be a bridge we’d have to cross later. I had no idea how she’d ever be able to come to terms with the things I’d learned. “Sounds good.”

  After I’d disconnected the call, Evie gave me a smile. “That sounds like it was a positive call.”

  “As positive as we can expect for now, I guess. I just hope he doesn’t react badly to the information.”

  I could see the “like you did” behind Evie’s eyes, but it was a testament to how much she wanted to keep the peace that she didn’t voice it.