by Fleur Smith
When Fiona and Aiden returned, they brought a surprise with them. Fiona hung back as Aiden offered me a thermos. With one glance at the item, long before he could speak the words to confirm it, I knew what he was suggesting, and I knew it was going to have to be Clay’s choice.
“We were hoping you would agree to return to New York with us,” Fiona said, looking everywhere but at Clay, even though I was certain her request was more for him than for me. “If you wish to offer no further assistance once you have learned all of the details, I give my solemn oath to return you to here and attempt no further contact.”
“You’re hoping that we will help though, aren’t you?” I asked.
“I cannot deny that,” she murmured. “The truth is the thought of my sweet Mackenzie at the mercy of that man—”
“That man is my father,” Clay said, cutting her off.
“And how would he be treating me right now if I was in her place?” I asked.
Clay closed his eyes, no doubt at the images that assaulted him at my words. He knew as well as I did that even if the Rain were keeping Mackenzie alive, they wouldn’t exactly be hospitable toward a fae. It was likely that she was suffering. Clay probably knew better than any of us how badly.
I grabbed the thermos from Aiden and held it tightly. “Whatever’s in here—”
“It’s chicken noodle soup,” Aiden interrupted with a grin—no doubt he considered it hilarious that he’d recreated my first taste of fae food for this trip.
I cast him an evil glare—it wasn’t exactly the time for inside jokes or running commentary—before continuing. “Whatever’s in here will be enchanted,” I explained to Clay. “It will mean you’ll be able to see the fae world and travel with fae via the fairy rings.”
Clay leaned against me and whispered in my ear. “I don’t know about this.”
“The effects are only temporary,” I assured him. “They usually last between six and twelve hours. I spent ten months living on the stuff, and there’s nothing wrong with it—in fact, I’d still say it’s the best food I’ve ever tasted.”
The look on Clay’s face showed he wasn’t convinced, so I unscrewed the lid on the thermos and, after checking that it wasn’t too hot, took a mouthful. Almost instantly, the wooziness of the enchantment struck as my vision adjusted to the fae influence in the room. My stomach churned and a breeze brushed my hair across my face. A rustling sound drew my eyes to Aiden, and I saw that he was flexing his wings deliberately to get my attention. He gave me a small grin when he understood I could see them again. The sight was still as surreal as ever—maybe even more so after so many years and so many months of relative normalcy with Clay.
“See,” I said, holding the thermos out to Clay with my eyes screwed shut again as I tried to accustom myself to the unusual sensation. It had been so long since I’d had any fae food that I wasn’t as used to the effects as I once was. “After the initial kick, there’s nothing to worry about.”
Taking a few deep breaths, I opened my eyes to see Clay taking a sip as well.
I gasped at the sight of him, because his aura was completely different to any I’d ever seen. Instead of being nonexistent like most human’s, Clay’s aura burst around his face in a manner I’d only ever seen on a fae. It was muted, but unmistakable. He didn’t have the wings of the fae, but he wasn’t completely human either.
“Do you see?” Aiden questioned quietly.
I nodded, speechless at the sight in front of me.
“See what?” Clay forced through clenched teeth as he closed his eyes—no doubt experiencing similar reactions to the fae food that I had. He squeezed his eyes tightly closed as if in pain, and I longed for the last of the dizziness to pass so that I could help him.
“Your aura,” I said. “It’s positively glowing.” It wasn’t quite as vibrant as the colors that burst from Fiona and Aiden, but it was definitely there.
Clay lurched forward, dropping the thermos to the ground as he cried out in pain. His aura burst out evenly from his body, burning brighter than before. It pulsated around him, wider and wider until it was only slightly less pronounced than Aiden’s. Dropping the thermos and grabbing at his head, he fell to his knees with a cry of agony. I followed him to the ground, afraid to touch him in case I made his pain worse.
“What’s happening?” I asked him.
“It hurts!” he groaned in agony through labored breaths. “It wasn’t supposed to hurt!”
“What have you done to him?” I asked Aiden sharply.
“Nothing . . . I don’t know . . .” Aiden said uncertainly before glancing sideways at Fiona who had rushed forward when Clay fell but had stopped herself at the last moment.
Clay rocked forward, clutching at his head with his hands. “Goddamn it!” he shouted hoarsely, causing my heart to leap.
I wanted to shout and scream at the fae to fix whatever had gone wrong. Adapting to the enchantments had never been painful for me—nauseating, yes; dizzying, without a doubt; but never, ever painful.
“I’m sorry,” I said repeatedly to Clay instead. He was hurting because I’d persuaded him to listen to Aiden and Fiona. If his pain didn’t stop soon, I would never forgive myself.
After a moment, Clay’s rocking stopped, and he slowly drew his hands away from his face. He opened his eyes and gasped quietly. From the awe on his face, I could guess exactly what he was seeing. The almost flame-like flickering orange and red aura that surrounded my body was certain to be mesmerizing for him—just as the bright aura that radiated from him was to me.
I placed my hand on his cheek again. When I did, my aura sparked and twisted, entwining with the deep, ocean blue that surrounded him. A new light burned from our union, a flickering flame of bright blues and vivid purples.
“I’ve never seen that happen before,” I said quietly, as I glanced up at Aiden and Fiona for guidance.
“It’s because you’re linked so deeply,” Fiona murmured. “You two are meant to be.”
“Entwined auras,” Aiden said meaningfully.
Looking at him, I was about to ask whether that was what he’d meant earlier about it being too hard to fight against the draw to be with Clay, but before I could, I heard a soft chuckle beside me.
“Look at you, Evie,” Clay said. “I never thought you could be more beautiful than you already were, but I was wrong.”
When I met his gaze, I was stunned into silence. Circling around the very edge of his usually dark brown irises was a new, bright blue ring. I traced my thumb along his lower eyelids as I stared in wonder at the change.
“It looks like he’s more fae than I ever would’ve given him credit for,” Aiden said from behind me. “It was just suppressed somehow.”
Clay flinched at the words, but didn’t say anything. I rested my forehead against his and for a moment, we shared the same air. A soft smile even graced his lips, and I knew that whatever else happened we would be okay. In my peripheral vision, I could see our auras flickering out to reach for one another, twisting and dancing like fire against our skin.
“Time is pressing,” Fiona said.
I met Clay’s gaze, and he inclined his head, letting me know he was okay. We were ready to help find Mackenzie.
That’s if she’s still alive.
From the concern that glinted in his eyes, I could see Clay’s thoughts echoed my own. After standing and offering his hand to help me to my feet, his focus shifted to Fiona. “How do you know that she’s even still alive?”
“We have a way of keeping track of our loved ones,” Fiona explained. “I believe humans would refer to it as a sixth sense. It is not a precise art for most of us, and I cannot know for sure where she is or whether she is hurt, but I am certain she is alive. You can feel it too, even now. You might not be fully fae, but you have been blessed with some of our gifts—especially with our enchantments coursing through your veins. You are aware of Evelyn, are you not?”
He frowned in confusion. “Of course I am. She’s righ
t here.”
Fiona stepped closer to him. “I do not mean here.” She flourished her arms in my direction. “I mean here.” She pressed her hand against his heart. “You can feel her in there, can you not? And I would venture to guess that you always have, ever since your first meeting.”
His eyes met mine, and I could see in them that he understood what she was saying.
“Mackenzie is alive. For now,” Fiona said with certainty. “The question remains, are you willing to come with us and hear me out so that we may keep her that way?”
Clay glanced over to me and agreed. I gave him a reassuring smile to let him know that I would be there for him whatever happened. After pausing for a moment to absorb all of the changes that had happened in the last day and to say good-bye to our house, we grabbed our packed bags and followed Aiden and Fiona into the darkness outside of our door.
CHAPTER TWELVE
THE MOMENT MY mind had recovered from the brain-scramble that came from traveling through the fairy rings, I checked on Clay. Surprisingly, he had a huge grin on his face. I gave him a questioning look, and he shrugged before pointing toward the ring on the meadow.
“That was fun,” he whispered to me as we followed Aiden and Fiona out of the forest room. “I never knew the fae had such fun things.”
I tried to hide my own grin before knocking his shoulder with mine. “At least try to remember why we’re here.”
He linked his hands with mine, and again I had to marvel at the way our auras leaped out to reach for one another. “I’m sorry, I just . . . I feel really good. I don’t know what it is.”
“I think I do,” I said, stifling a chuckle as I glanced ahead at Aiden who winked back to me. “It’s the enchantment; it can affect your mood. You get used to it after a while.”
“Why would you want to?” he asked.
I smiled at him and let him be. After the emotional rollercoaster he’d been on, I was happy that he could enjoy a few moments of peace, even if it came via a synthetic cause.
Fiona led us to a sitting room in her quarters. The walls were actually the outer shell of the court; the lights of New York twinkled through the semi-transparent surface like stars. In the middle of the room, two overly stuffed sofas sat facing one another. Clay led me over to one of them before sitting. Before I had a chance to consider where it was best for me to sit, his hands found mine, and he tugged me down beside him.
The material that covered the seats was like nothing I’d ever seen before, not even during my time at the court. Colored the lightest gray, it was softer to touch than even the richest velvet. It was almost as if the fae had plucked two clouds from the sky and forced them into the shape of a sofa.
Aiden left the room as Fiona sat across from Clay and me. Despite the regality she’d exhibited as she walked and moved through the halls of the fae court, her nerves became evident the moment she was stationery. She wrung her hands together in her lap as she tried a few times to start the heavy conversation. Her wings beat out a nervous rhythm and more than once, I had to elbow Clay to stop him from staring at them. An awkward silence seemed to permeate the entirety of the room as we waited for her to continue.
“Thank you for coming,” she said finally before concentrating on Clay. “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.”
He grunted noncommittally.
“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.”
Clay’s features softened, no doubt hearing some of the familiar facts in her own words made him see the depth of her knowledge of his history. I was saddened at the reminder that he’d endured a life filled with death and destruction from such a tender age.
“As I promised, I will tell you the whole story; however, I will understand if it becomes too much at any stage. Please do let me know if you would like me to stop at any point.”
Making a little sound to indicate she should proceed, Clay nodded. I rested my hand over his in support.
“I was telling the truth earlier when I said I fell in love with your father. After he had rescued me, I was enamored and, for the first few months, we were both deliriously happy. At the time, I was unaware that he was a member of the Rain. Neither had I been entirely honest with him. I had hidden what I was because I was worried that it would frighten him away. Instead, I did everything I could to pretend to be human.
“By the time I found out that he was not only committed to the Rain, but a high-ranking member from an elite family, I was able to fool myself that it mattered not. I rather naively believed I could ignore that part of him and simply focus on the elements that I had fallen in love with.
“Every moment of every day, I suppressed whatever fae traits I could and hoped that he would remain unaware of my true self. In truth, I believe his love blinded him as much as anything I did. In my most optimistic moments, I had even considered coming clean and telling him everything honest and real about myself. For a long time, I believed our love was strong enough to survive anything.”
Clay grabbed my hand and clasped it tightly in his own. His expression indicated he might have been beginning to understand—at least a little.
“For a long while, I believed the day I married Troy was the happiest in my life, but it was nothing compared to the day I found out that I was expecting. I had been suppressing my true nature and all of my own desires for so long that my desire for a fledgling of my own was building long before I acknowledged it.
“It was only on the day of Ethan’s birth that it occurred to me that I should have been concerned over whether our child would be human or fae. His aura was weak, and he certainly would not have survived a life in the fae court. However, it was enough to make me worried about discovery. For the first few months of his life, I monitored each new development—waiting for the one that would give away our truth.
“When nothing happened, I saw that Ethan was almost completely human and began to relax and enjoy the role of motherhood. I convinced myself that nothing could possibly go wrong in our idyllic life.”
“Until Lou?” Clay asked quietly.
Fiona smiled sadly and nodded. “When you two came along, I made the mistake of assuming you would both be like Ethan and pass as human, but almost from birth Louise was more fae than anything else. She even had a perfect set of wings, with colors so vibrant, even for a fledgling. By then, I had been alienated from my family and was unsure where to turn for help. My concern over Troy’s reaction grew. He loved you all, and I was positive he would do whatever it took to keep you safe. However, I was unwilling to risk your lives if I was incorrect. I could not do anything detrimental to any of you. For the first couple of years of your lives, I was lucky. Because Ethan was the oldest son, the one to continue the legacy, Troy doted on him. It meant that he never spent a significant length of time around you or Louise. I was able to hide her secret until you were both almost two.”
“What happened?” I asked trying to talk around my heart, which had lodged itself securely in my throat. Having spent so much time on the run, I could easily understand the constant state of stress that Fiona must have lived with. Waiting, every moment of every day, for that one thing, that one event, that would spark a chain reaction and cause her carefully constructed lie to crum
ble to the ground. It was how I’d lived my life up until finding peace with Clay in the cabin in Sweden.
Her focus fell on Clay. “Troy went into your room and found Louise on the ceiling, amusing you. Of course, he recognized the fae traits immediately then, but refused to believe that she was still his daughter. He grew convinced that a changeling had replaced his flesh and blood. I tried to correct his assumptions. However, he refused to listen to me.
“He withdrew into himself. He would come straight home from work, take you and Ethan into the study, and spend the whole evening secluded away from both Louise and myself. For close to four months, that was our life. Each day, I was barely able to speak two words to him. His attention was on you boys, and he steadfastly ignored poor Louise. We were two households sharing the same roof but never communicating.
“One day, I begged for his ear. When he relented, I told him my tale. He accepted the truth calmly without any concerns. We ended the night with him saying he loved our family more than he could express and that he would make it right somehow. That night, I went to bed so exuberant, thinking that my happily ever after was finally going to materialize without the stress I had endured until that point. With his words lighting hope in my heart, I was certain he would leave the Rain and the five of us would disappear together. When I awoke the next morning, all of you were gone. I was left with nothing—not even a note explaining why he chose to steal you all away when he had appeared to accept the truth so well only hours earlier.”
She stopped to dry the tears that were beginning to shine in her eyes. Clay squeezed my hand, and when I glanced at him, there was moisture in his eyes too.
“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. If only I had been wiser and more willing to doubt the strength of the power of love to fix everything. I could have avoided the torment Louise faced, and I could have saved you from a life filled with death.”
