A Dangerous Deceit in Faerywood Falls

by Blythe Baker

  “Yeah, well, that makes one of us…” Bliss said, giving me an annoyed look. “I gotta go ask what Mom wants done with these. There’s probably three dozen different kinds of fabric in here, and goodness knows that she’s a borderline hoarder right now…”

  She traipsed past me out into the hall.

  “Mom! Where are you?” she called, wandering away from the storage room.

  I smiled after her, stacking the plant pots near the door so I wouldn’t forget them.

  I turned, wiping the sweat from my forehead. It felt good to be able to do some physical work. Aunt Candace didn’t want me doing much of anything, what with almost drowning yesterday, but I insisted, saying that it helped me to feel like I was a normal human being again.

  I felt good about what had happened that morning. I’d set all the things right that I was capable of setting right. I’d given Alessa her power back, and hopefully helped young Niccolo recover from his nightmares about fox shifters.

  I’d made up with Lucan, and the person who had killed the hunter had been found and…dealt with.

  All things considered, things were good again.

  I spent the few moments I had alone thinking about how both Lucan and Cain had come to my aid in times of need. They both had gone out of their way to help me when I needed help most. They both had willingly done so, and wanted to see that I was safe.

  Athena, who was healing nicely and now becoming restless in her bandages, had asked me point blank which of the two of them I liked better, or who I might choose if I had to.

  I told her I didn’t know. There was still a lot about each man that I didn’t know. Cain, for one, could be hundreds of years older than I was, if not thousands. He also drank human blood to survive.

  Dr. Valerio, though, while still resembling a human most times and able to walk in the sunlight had secrets of his own, including a son that he’d forgotten to mention in the times I’d spoken with him. Did that mean a wife? Or at least an ex?

  I told Athena I needed to get to know them more before I committed to any kind of answer to her question. For now, I said, I was content to just admire them from afar.

  Yes, well, they both certainly seem to be doing whatever they can to get closer to you, she said to me. You best be on your guard.

  I shifted some boxes on the shelf in front of me, the tops getting dustier the further I went back.

  At the back of the shelf, in the darkest recesses, I saw a name written in black marker on the corner of a smaller box than the rest.

  My heart skipped a beat.

  It was my name.

  Frowning, I reached back on the shelf and pulled the box forward.

  It looked like it hadn’t been touched in years. Dust sat on top in a thick, grey layer, and cobwebs hung from the corners, broken when I pulled it away from its resting place.

  My heart began to beat quickly. What was this doing here?

  I pulled open the box, and found only a few things inside. The hand-drawn pictures on top were probably done by me when I was young. My mom and aunt had always written to each other a lot, so it seemed likely Mom had mailed some of my “artwork” to Aunt Candace years ago. That was probably also where the photos came from, pictures of my mom and me when I was an infant. But there was something else…a baby blanket nestled at the very bottom of the box.

  An angry, dark stain on the fabric caused me to draw it out into the light.

  The blanket itself was pale green, but was made of a material softer than silk. It wasn’t wrinkled, despite years being stuck inside the box, and rippled like water when I unfolded it.

  An umber splatter stained one side of the blanket, and with my stomach clenching, I realized it must have been blood.

  A chill ran through my body as I stared down at the blanket. It was as if something in me recognized it. Was this the blanket that I was found in as an infant, when I was discovered at the edge of the forest? Somehow, I knew that it was.

  I touched the soft fabric, trying desperately to remember something, anything. I willed my fragile mind to recall any detail.

  I had always assumed that one or both of my biological parents were dead, but it was completely different to see evidence likely proving an indeed violent end.

  I heard Bliss say something down the hall, and my heart jumped. I quickly closed the box back up and pushed it to the back of the shelf.

  I wanted the blanket, though. I turned around and shoved it hastily into one of the flower pots, covering it so Bliss wouldn’t see it.

  Aunt Candace might recognize it too, if she saw it.

  Aunt Candace…she had this blanket all along, and yet…she never told me about it. Had she forgotten it? Or had she been too afraid to show it to me, thinking it would upset me?”

  “Mom insists on keeping the fabric,” Bliss said, walking back into the storage room. “Because why wouldn’t she?”

  I jumped, before realizing Bliss wasn’t talking about the hidden baby blanket but the bags of mismatching fabric scraps she had wanted to get rid of.

  “Ah,” I said, my heart in my throat.

  “You okay?” Bliss said, stopping to look more closely at me. “You look really pale all of a sudden.”

  “I’m fine,” I said, knowing full well that I was lying.

  “Yesterday’s catching up with you, huh?” Bliss asked. “No big deal. Come on, let’s go put you down in front of a movie or something. I can deal with the storage room on my own.”

  I didn’t fight her. I scooped up the flower pots in my arms and let her lead me downstairs to her room. After pressing a cold water bottle into my hand and throwing a thick fleece blanket around me, she left me to watch a movie by myself.

  I frowned, thinking of the baby blanket tucked away in the flower pot sitting on the desk beside the door.

  That blood on the blanket…it was old, sure, but what if I could use it in a DNA test or something? That would be better than death records any day, wouldn’t it? It would be easy to prove I was related to whoever the blood belonged to, too, especially if I got some blood tests of my own done.

  I settled into the couch to watch the movie, but my mind was only partially focused on the TV. The fleece blanket was warm, the water bottle cool in my hand, the snacks Bliss had left abundant. But my thoughts kept wandering to more important things.

  The mystery of who or what had been attacking the hunters in the woods in recent months had been resolved, and that gave me great peace…

  But the mystery of who I was, and who my parents were…was only just beginning.

  Continue following the Mountain Magic Mysteries in Book 4: A Malevolent Magic in Faerywood Falls.

  About the Author

  Blythe Baker is a thirty-something bottle redhead from the South Central part of the country. When she’s not slinging words and creating new worlds and characters, she’s acting as chauffeur to her children and head groomer to her household of beloved pets.

  Blythe enjoys long walks with her dog on sweaty days, grubbing in her flower garden, cooking, and ruthlessly de-cluttering her overcrowded home. She also likes binge-watching mystery shows on TV and burying herself in books about murder.

  To learn more about Blythe, visit her website and sign up for her newsletter at www.blythebaker.com