by Casey Lane
Kai dropped his gaze. “Sorry.”
“S’alright. I’m a bear.”
“Cool,” both boys echoed in unison.
She shook her head with a laugh. “Come on in. Wren should be back any minute. He went for a run with my brother.”
The man ducked as he entered and Isa had this sudden irrational fear that her furniture might crumble beneath him. She pushed the thought away as she ushered him into the living room, gesturing to the sofa, which seemed like the sturdiest furnishing at her disposal.
“Can I take your jacket?”
“Thank you,” he said, shucking off the oversized coat, revealing a t-shirt and a long-sleeved button-down flannel.
“Aren’t you warm?” she asked.
“Nah, I’m fine,” he said, waving her off as he settled on the sofa.
“Can I get you a drink?” she asked, suddenly unsure how to behave in her own house.
“Do you have any chocolate milk?”
Isa wasn’t sure why she was surprised at this point. “There’s five kids in this house. We’ve always got chocolate milk. Kai, will you get our guest a drink.”
Kai nodded. “Sure.”
Quinn followed behind the boy noting, “I didn’t know bears drank milk, did you?”
Kai scoffed. “Totally.”
Isa stifled a laugh. There was the sound of footsteps on the stairs, and then Tristin and Neoma were leaning down from the sixth step, trying to sneak a peek at the man without actually showing themselves.
“Girls, get down here. Don’t be rude.”
Tristin entered first, dragging Neoma behind her. They’d clearly been playing dress up. Neoma was still sporting a purple feather boa, and a garish shade of bright red lipstick that clashed with her lime green dress and Tristin wore a white sun hat and a long strand of fake pearls over her red sundress.
“Is that you, Neoma? Why you’re practically a grown up. I haven’t seen you since you were a baby.” Neoma blushed, looking away with a smile. “Still a shy one. What about you. Who are you?”
Tristin walked right up to the man and thrust out her hand. “I’m Tristin.”
Oggie laughed again, engulfing her tiny hand in his. “Nice to meet you.”
The front door opened and closed and then Wren was entering the room. He was drenched in sweat and smelled like the woods. “Oggie, man, glad you’re here.” Wren shook the man’s hand. “I trust introductions have been made.”
“Aye.”
Wren gestured to Rhys, who stood, hovering in the doorway. “This is Isa’s brother, Rhys. He’s the pack’s future left hand.”
There was no way her brother could see the look exchanged between Wren and the bear, but Isa did. At Wren’s words, Oggie stood with effort, walking to Rhys with his hand extended. “Oh, well, this is an honor. Pleased to meet you, Rhys.”
Isa wanted to cry at the way Rhys stood a little straighter, shaking the man’s hand firmly. Wren had done that. With one gesture, Wren had solidified Rhys’s place in the pack, something she hadn’t managed in six years.
For the next twenty minutes, Isa and the children made small talk with Oggie while Wren and Rhys took their showers. She learned that Oggie and Cain had met as teens when Oggie was traveling through Europe hunting something called the Black Shuck, which Oggie likened to a hellhound, only not as nice.
When Wren returned, he took the chair beside her, reaching for her hand and intertwining their fingers, before launching into everything that had happened over the last five days. When he finished, he said, “Oggie, I hope you can help us.”
The older man scrubbed a hand over his beard and Isa tried not to smile. It was the same thing Wren did when he was stressed. “Well, the thing of it is, I can only tell you what I’ve learned over the years from your mother. She may hate Cain, but she’s still loyal to a fault. You know that.”
Wren deflated against the back of the chair, but Isa sat forward. “Anything you can tell us might help.”
“Well, I can tell you that it was a birthmark on Neoma’s hip that made your mother call for Cain the day you found Neoma.”
Wren frowned. “I’ve never seen a birthmark on Neoma.”
“No, you wouldn’t, would you. Your father had the witch hide it.”
“Hide it? Why?” Isa asked.
Oggie looked at the children before turning back to Wren. “There are things I know for sure, and things that are pure speculation but I’ve had my suspicions for some time now.”
Wren swallowed hard. “Which are?”
Oggie shifted his weight forward, dropping his elbows to his knees and clasping his hands together. “What do you know of the fae?”
There was an excited gasp from Tristin whose hand shot up. When nobody acknowledged it, she waved it around. Oggie chuckled, but Isa sighed. “Yes, Tristin?”
“The fae world is separated into three realms and two factions: the dark and the light fae. All fae blood is magical, and the fae used to be our friends until the witches started hunting them so they could use their blood in spells. The fae closed the door between our worlds eight years ago, but nobody knows why, but it’s probably cause of the witches.”
Oggie nodded. “Smart girl.”
“What are you saying, Oggie?” Wren asked.
“About seven years ago, your father came to me with a business proposal. Said he’d come into a product and he wanted to sell it. He knew my work gave me connections all over the globe, and he wanted me to help him set up a supply chain. When I asked him what this product was, he was sketchy, but when I told him I wasn’t risking my reputation on fantasy, he told me he’d come into possession of some pure fae blood and had a line on how to get more.”
“That’s a crime,” Quinn whispered.
Oggie nodded, voice grave. “Aye. I told him he was crazy. That even possessing fae blood was a crime and a capital offense. If we were caught, it would be a death sentence. He said it was worth the risk, and that the blood he had was not just fae blood but the blood of a fae royal. Witches would pay him anything he asked for even just a drop, he said. I tried to reason with him. I even went to your mother. I thought she could reason with him. But I was wrong.”
Isa could feel Wren’s palm damp against her own, smell his dread and anger, but she didn’t know how to comfort him. “What happened?” she asked.
“A year later, I heard through a friend that Cain was making a name for himself in the underground. He wasn’t just selling fae blood; he was selling rare ingredients, even bodies. He’d used this fae blood to barter with magic dealers overseas for items rarely seen over here. Dried dragon scales. Basilisk venom. Witches were paying your father top dollar for him to negotiate on their behalf. I confronted him, but he denied everything. I knew he was lying. So we parted ways. I couldn’t spend my days fighting monsters and my nights drinking with one.”
Isa sensed the truth in Oggie’s story. It was too similar to the rumors she’d heard from Alex. She’d told Wren what she’d heard, but it wasn’t the same as hearing it confirmed. “Did you hear anything else after that?”
“This I heard from your mother, so this I can tell you is fact. Things came to a head when you were overseas. Your mother didn’t know about your father’s secret life as an underground dealer, so she couldn’t know he had Dylan running product, acting as a go-between. But then Dylan met a girl; a witch named Ruby. Alis didn’t trust the girl from the start, but Cain said she just hated witches. But your mother was right; she just didn’t know it at the time. Ruby was a blood junkie. That’s how they met. She turned Dylan into a junkie too. Had him so twisted up over her, that he started stealing from your father’s customers just to get his next hit. And then one day he got greedy and shorted the wrong people.”
“What happened?”
Oggie sighed. “Cain’s customers demanded satisfaction. They gave your father an ultimatum. Magna or Dylan.”
Wren squeezed Isa’s hand. “What about them?”
“They told him
to make a decision. One of them had to die.”
Wren rubbed the back of his neck. “And my father chose Magna?”
“Your father refused to choose. So they chose for him. Dylan was in the wind, so they killed Magna. Your father was so distraught; he confessed everything to Alis. Everything except where he got the blood.”
“What does this have to do with Neoma?”
“Well, this is where the speculation comes in. It seems to me; it’s an awfully big coincidence that you found an elemental in the woods alone and a year later your father suddenly comes into pure fae blood.”
“You think Neoma is a pureblood?” Wren asked, voice raw.
“You think Neoma is fae royalty?” Tristin whispered, looking at Neoma with wide eyes.
“That mark your mother found…Every fae born will eventually bear the mark of their tribe. It dictates their status. Nobody knows more about the fae than your mother. She studied them for years before the Grove revoked access to the books on real magic.”
Isa tried to wrap her head around it. “But, hiding a pureblood is a crime. Why would anybody risk that?”
Wren sat quietly for so long, Isa wondered if he’d gone into shock. “My father would risk it if he saw the bigger picture. If he realized what he could get from her.”
Isa had to ask, “Do you really think your father was selling Neoma’s blood?”
Wren nodded, looking at Neoma with sad eyes. The girl, for her part, didn’t look any more distressed having heard the news. If anything, she seemed relieved. “Do you remember the holes in Neoma’s arms. The ones that Hadley said were the oldest scars, the ones that had been used repeatedly? My father could have been bleeding Neoma almost from the beginning and, with Magna’s help, nobody would have known…not even Neoma.”
It was Rhys who spoke then. “If Magna is our draugen, she’d probably be pretty pissed at him after she died. The draugen said Dylan tricked her, maybe she went after him, and he offered her Neoma’s blood in exchange. It’s magic, right? Maybe Dylan told her it would heal her?”
Isa picked up her phone. “I’m going to call Gen and have her close the restaurant. We need her and Hadley over here so we can find out if Neoma’s pureblood status was one of the memories that Ezri took from her.”
Wren just nodded. He looked wrecked. “Okay.”
She grabbed his hand. “Hey, she’s never going back there, okay? I promise. One way or another, this ends tonight.”
Oggie smiled. “You found a good one, boy.”
Chapter Thirty-Three
Neoma
“Neoma, do you know what we’re trying to accomplish today?”
Neoma nodded, taking a shaky breath. “You want to know if Ezri ever said anything about me being a real faery.”
Hadley smiled, cupping Neoma’s face with soft hands. Neoma closed her eyes. She liked the witch’s hands and the way she smelled like vanilla and sugar. “Normally, I wouldn’t try to guide you through this, but today I’m going to see if we can find a particular memory. Just try to remember that none of what you see is actually happening. Okay? It’s just a memory.”
“Okay.” She glanced at the others sitting in her circle. The whole house was sitting on the floor with them, even Oggie. “Is everybody going to remember with me?”
Wren squeezed her hand. “Yes, sweetie. We are all going to be right here with you.”
Neoma looked across to Tristin who smiled at her with excitement. “This isn’t going to be scary. It’s going to be cool. You get to find out where you came from.”
Kai nodded encouragingly. “Yeah, this is like your origin story. You’re like a superhero.”
Neoma smiled too. Superheroes face scary things every day. “Okay. I’m ready.”
Hadley nodded. “Everybody hold hands and close your eyes. We’re going to do this just like last time. Okay, Neoma?”
“Yes.”
“I want you to focus on your breathing. Breathe in for five seconds and breathe out for five seconds. Try it with me. Ready? In.” The room took a collective breath. “One, two, three, four, five. Out. One, two, three, four, five.”
Neoma gasped, her vision swimming before her eyes. She was no longer in the living room but running up the path to Ezri’s house.
She hadn’t heard Dylan coming this time. He’d surprised her. Her heart slammed against her ribs as she ran. She wasn’t going to make it to Ezri’s house before he caught her. Not this time. Why couldn’t he just leave her alone? She should have known he’d come for her. There was nobody home to protect her. She should have gone to Ezri’s right away but she’d found the most perfect stone, and she’d wanted to spend just a few moments feeling it’s warmth and energy. Now it was too late.
She could feel him closing in. She could hear the sound of his panting as he ran. He was so much faster than her.
Hadley’s voice interrupted, echoing in Neoma’s head. “He can’t hurt you. This is just a memory.”
Hadley’s words didn’t help. It didn’t quell the terror crushing her lungs as she ran. She shouldn’t have looked, but she couldn’t help it. She had to know how close he was. She didn’t see the root across her path, only felt herself falling. But she didn’t hit the ground. Gentle arms enfolded her, pulling her tight against the wall of the old shed, whispering, “Don’t move.”
Neoma froze in Ezri’s arms. Dylan would find them. Ezri’s caramel hair stood out against the peeling white paint. No matter how still they held, he could see them. The sun was still out.
“Forsvinne.”
Neoma didn’t understand the young witch’s word, but it carried weight, displacing the dirt and dust at her feet in its wake, just as Dylan broke through the trees, partially shifted, scanning the two houses, eyes narrowing as he looked right at the two of them. Ezri’s hand slipped over Neoma’s mouth, cutting off the whimper that escaped.
“Neomaaaa...” he taunted. “I can smell you. I can hear your heart beating. I can hear two hearts beating. Is that you, Ezri? You can’t hide her from me forever, little sister. I’m doing her a favor. Do you hear me, Neoma? I’m doing you a favor. I know you don’t want me to take you back to her.”
Neoma’s mouth tasted like copper, tongue sticking to the roof of her mouth as she tried to quell the shaking in her limbs. Ezri was shaking too. Dylan was getting closer. Neoma buried her feet in the dirt, wrapping her hands around Ezri’s. The older girl understood immediately, threading their fingers together as she added her power to Neoma’s, and they did their best to mask their scent and their heartbeats from the wolf.
Neoma pulled that power up through the souls of her feet, while Ezri whispered a spell in her family’s native tongue. When Neoma opened her eyes, Dylan was right in front of her, back to her, staring at his father’s house just next door. “Where are you, you little bitch?” he muttered to himself.
Ezri kept whispering, and Neoma did her best to supply her with the energy needed to complete the spell.
Dylan kicked a crushed tin can in front of him. “I’ll find you!” he shouted.
Neoma smiled. He didn’t know where they were. He was blind to them. He stormed off in an angry huff. Only when they were sure he was gone, did Ezri take Neoma’s hand and lead her inside.
The moment Neoma was inside, she relaxed. This was the only place she was ever truly safe.
“It’s never going to stop, is it? He’s going to keep taking my blood.”
“Not if you tell Wren.”
“I can’t. If I tell, she’ll come for me. She told me she’d kill him. She’d kill the girls. She just wants me.”
Ezri didn’t ask who she was; she knew all about the monster in the horned mask. Neoma didn’t like to talk about her. She knew the demon was in her head, always listening, always waiting for an opening to talk to her. She had to keep her mind quiet, keep the things she loved hidden from the monster.
“Tell me the stories about the Valkyrie again.”
Ezri sighed, crawling onto her bed and patting
the spot beside her on the comforter. “How about I tell you a different story? A story about the fae.”
“Faeries?”
“Yes. But you can’t tell anybody else this story, okay? Not Dylan, not Cain. They can never know this story.”
“Why?”
“Because if they heard this story, they’d know that the one my mother told them eight years ago was a lie and they might get angry.”
“Okay.”
Ezri stretched her legs out and plopped a pillow in her lap. Neoma laid her head on the pillow. Closing her eyes as Ezri stroked her forehead. “There’s a world that exists just beyond ours, a world that consists of three realms and two ruling classes. The Seelie: the light fae, and the Unseelie: the dark fae. The two classes have warred since the beginning of time, fighting to rule the three realms.
“Years ago, a fierce warrior named Cathal Morganach of the Ohrenthral clan, took the throne and for a time peace reigned in the three realms. The Seelie King was a just and fair king and his bride, Sorcia, was not only fair of face but fair of heart, equally loved by their people.
“But the Queen had a twin sister, Etain, who shared her fair face but not her pure heart. Etain’s heart was black as night, filled with envy, coveting everything her sister had. But Sorcia could not see her sister’s black heart. She loved her sister as fiercely as her sister hated her. Etain lived within the castle walls, enjoying all the spoils her sister provided. The finest fabrics. Jewelry. Decadent foods. But still, she wanted more. She wanted it all. She wanted to be Queen.”
Neoma shivered. Ezri looked down at her and smiled. “This isn’t a happy story.”
“Keep going,” Neoma begged.
Ezri nodded, letting her eyes drift closed. “Within the castle walls, lived a man named Amandan. Amandan was a trickster, a dark fae living among the Seelie as the court’s fool. But Amandan was no fool; he was a monster in disguise. A monster with a beautiful face and lightning in his hands. A monster who could kill with a simple touch. Amandan was known for his expensive gloves, made of the finest black leather, and embroidered with threads of pure gold. The others at court mercilessly teased him for his vanity, not one realizing those gloves were the only barrier between them and the gruesome death of his touch.
