by Karen Lynch
The sun blinded me when I ran outside, and I had to close my eyes as I gulped in air like someone drowning. I bent over and put my hands on my knees while I fought the hysteria threatening to engulf me.
I wasn’t sure how long I stayed like that before I was able to stand and breathe normally. I opened my eyes and took in my surroundings. How could I be different when everything around me looked exactly the same?
My feet started moving, and the next thing I knew, I was on the street. I had no car, no money, and no phone, but I had a destination. Home.
When Lukas appeared at my side, I kept walking and refused to acknowledge him until he took my hand in his.
I jerked away, not meeting his eyes. “I’m not going back. You can’t make me.”
“I’m not here to bring you back,” he said gently. “I’m going to take you home.”
* * *
I rolled the rubber football chew between my hands as I stared at the scratches and nicks in the surface. It was the only toy Gus hadn’t been able to swallow, and the one he’d always leave on my bed when he slept here.
I turned my head to the side, half-expecting to see him curled up on my pillow like he owned it. Pain pricked my chest, and I wondered for the hundredth time where he was and if he was happy. I’d asked about him when I came home, and Dad told me Faris had taken Gus to Faerie while I was asleep. One more part of my life gone forever.
A guitar string twanged.
I didn’t bother to look up. “Not now, Finch. Maybe later.”
He plucked the string again.
I rolled onto my side, facing the wall. My phone rang on the night stand, but I didn’t reach for it. Violet was on a plane to Utah to start shooting her movie, and there was no one else I wanted to talk to. Least of all, one of them.
That didn’t stop them from calling at least once a day. I also got a daily text, updating me on the search for Davian Woods, who had vanished after his failed abduction. I didn’t think Davian was a threat to me now that the ke’tain was back in Faerie, but Lukas had a score to settle with the billionaire. Davian was probably hiding out on some private tropical island that wasn’t even on the map. If he was as smart as he claimed to be, he’d stay there.
“That’s it.” Dad entered my room and stood at the foot of my bed. “Get up.”
“I’m tired,” I said listlessly to the wall.
“Yes. I’m sure the pity party you’ve been having for the last week is exhausting.”
“That’s not fair.” My throat tightened because he had never spoken to me in that tone before. “You don’t understand.”
“You’re right. I don’t understand what you’re feeling because all you do is hide in your room, refusing to talk about it. I know you’re in pain, but you are not the only person to ever suffer a loss or go through a major life change. And you aren’t the only one in this family who is hurting.”
His words sliced through my misery like a knife. I rolled onto my back to look at him, really look at him for the first time since I came home. His face was stern, but the worry and anguish in his eyes gutted me.
I blinked away the tears, making his face swim before my eyes. “I don’t know how to talk about it. I don’t even know who I am anymore.”
“Yes, you do. You’re my daughter. You’re Finch’s and Aisla’s big sister, and Violet’s best friend.” He smiled proudly. “You’re the girl who became a bounty hunter to find her parents, the one who never gives up no matter how hard things get.”
I sat up with my back against the headboard and looked for Finch, but he was no longer in the room. “I just feel so…lost. Everything I planned for college and my life after, it’s all gone. What do I do now?”
“What are you talking about? You can still go to college and do anything you want to do.” Dad came to sit on the foot of my bed. When I came home a week ago, the ward on him wouldn’t let me get within ten feet of him. Lukas said it had something to do with me now being a faerie with a goddess stone. He’d removed the ward since it was no longer needed with the ke’tain back in Faerie.
“I can’t hunt,” I said.
The Agency had suspended my license after they had been informed of my new “status.” There had never been a Fae bounty hunter, and they weren’t quite sure what to do with me. I was prohibited from hunting until they decided whether or not to reinstate me.
As far as the other hunters knew, I was taking time off to recover from being shot on a job. The Agency had been keeping the truth under wraps, mainly because of the media feeding frenzy that would happen when the world discovered an almost nineteen-year-old had survived a conversion. The few people at the hospital who knew about it had been ordered not to talk, and no one dared defy the Agency. The only people who knew the truth besides Lukas and his men were my family, Maurice, and Violet.
“That’s temporary, and you’re planning to go to college next year anyway.”
“To study law and fight for Fae equality,” I said pointedly. “I’m a human turned Court faerie. Who is going to take me seriously?”
“Anyone who meets you.” He shook his head. “You’ve never let anything hold you back, and you’re not going to start now. Just because the path to your dream changes doesn’t mean you can’t have everything you wanted. Being a faerie could open a whole new world of opportunities to you that you didn’t have before.”
I pulled my pillow over and hugged it. I wanted so much to believe he was right. “I don’t know where I belong anymore. I don’t feel like one of them, but I’m not human either.”
His brows drew together. “You belong with us. You could live in Faerie for years, and this will still be your home. Always.”
I shook my head vehemently. “I’m not going to Faerie.”
“You have to go eventually.” Dad tilted his head. “You’ve spent years reading everything you could about Faerie, and now you’re not the least bit interested in seeing it firsthand? You’re not curious at all?”
“No.” I crossed my arms.
“One thing hasn’t changed. You still can’t lie that well.” He chuckled and stood. “Get up and put on something besides pajamas. We’re going out.”
“Where are we going?”
“To do something we haven’t done yet this winter.” He went to my small closet and poked around, reemerging with my ice skates. “Think you can still keep up with me?”
I grinned, suddenly feeling lighter. Mom didn’t like skating, so it had been Dad and my thing ever since I could walk. “Can we have hot chocolate?”
Relief flashed in his eyes. Since the day I came home, I’d had no appetite and I’d only eaten to placate him. This was the first time I’d shown interest in food or drink.
“Of course.” He carried the skates to the door. “You have five minutes.”
“Make it twenty. I need to do something first.”
He gave me a knowing smile and left. I got up and went to pick up my guitar for the first time since I came home. Sitting cross-legged on the bed, I strummed a few chords and began to play Annie’s Song. I was a minute into the song before Finch ran into the room and climbed up onto the bed. Aisla flew in and landed gracefully beside him.
Sing, Finch signed.
I did, and then I stopped halfway through the first verse when I realized he hadn’t fallen into his usual trance. It made sense. Only humans could entrance faeries that way.
I finished the song and rested my guitar on my lap. “I’m sorry I haven’t been a good sister this week.”
I’m sorry you’re sad, he replied.
Aisla nodded and whistled.
“Me too, but I’m lucky to have you guys.” I patted the guitar. “You want me to play another one?”
They nodded eagerly, and I played them two more songs before I had to change for my outing with Dad. As I was leaving the room, I reached for my spare pair of glasses on the desk, and I had to remind myself that I had perfect vision now and no longer needed them. I wasn’t sure why I still had the
m. Maybe because I wasn’t ready yet to let go of that part of me.
“I’m driving,” Dad said when the two of us reached for the keys hanging by the door.
I grabbed the knob and twisted it. “This time.”
Swinging the door open, I stopped short when I found the Seelie prince standing on the other side with his hand raised to knock. He was surrounded by his stone-faced guards. I hadn’t spoken to him since the day we had lunch, and he was the last person I expected to see today.
“Prince Rhys.” My first reaction was surprise. That quickly turned to fear when I remembered Queen Anwyn’s warning that had been so effectively delivered by her own guard.
He stared at me in wonder. “Incredible. I heard you were made Fae, but I didn’t believe it. And yet, here you are, and you look so healthy. It took me weeks to acclimate to the iron in this world.”
“Here I am,” I managed to say. “How did you hear? The Agency said no one knows about it.”
He gave me an indulgent smile. “The rulers of both courts are informed if a new faerie is made. As soon as I heard it was you, I wanted to come and see you, but my attendance was required at court.”
Dad made a sound behind me, and I stepped aside to awkwardly make introductions. Prince Rhys’s face lit up like a little boy at Christmas when he found out who was with me.
“I’m thrilled to make your acquaintance, Mr. James. Jesse has told me such entertaining stories about your work.”
I turned to my father. “Prince Rhys is a big fan of the old west, and he’s very interested in bounty hunting.”
“Is that so?” Dad smiled politely because that’s what you did when Fae royalty showed up at your door. I could see the tension in his posture that the prince and his men might not notice.
“Oh, yes. I would love to talk to you at length about it. Perhaps you and Jesse would consent to be my guests for dinner one night this week.”
Bayard cleared his throat, and Prince Rhys gave me an apologetic smile. “Forgive me. I got carried away, and I completely forgot decorum. You are Unseelie now and newly changed, and I really shouldn’t be here. But I wanted to let you know you have a friend at the Seelie court.”
“Thank you,” I said weakly. “It’s all very new to me, and I appreciate your kindness.”
“That’s very good of you.” Dad stepped out into the hallway and extended his hand. Prince Rhys accepted it like a teenager meeting his idol, when he himself was one of the most adored celebrities on the planet. Out of all the surreal moments I’d experienced lately, this had to be near the top.
Watching him with my father, I was more convinced than ever that Prince Rhys had no idea of his mother’s involvement in my parents’ disappearance. He was a pampered royal with unfortunate parentage, but he had an earnest sincerity about him that I believed was authentic. If not for our very different situations, he was someone I could see myself befriending.
I was so lost in my thoughts I barely registered the two of them were still talking. I tuned in to hear Dad telling the prince about a series of western fiction he might like by someone named Louis L’Amour.
“I’ll find them today.” Prince Rhys’s eyes lit up. I smiled to myself because he reminded me of Dad in that moment. Kindred spirits maybe.
“Your Highness, we should be going,” Bayard said. “You have that interview in an hour.”
“That’s right.” Prince Rhys’s face fell, and for a second, I thought he was going to tell Bayard to cancel. “I hope we can talk again, Mr. James.”
“I’m sure we can arrange it,” Dad replied. His initial wariness at meeting the prince seemed to have evaporated.
“Wonderful.” Prince Rhys looked at me. “I’m glad to see you well, Jesse, and I meant what I said. I am here if you ever need me.”
“Thank you,” I said again.
He reluctantly turned away and descended the stairs with his guard. When they were out of sight, Dad and I went back inside the apartment. He looked deep in thought as he hung the keys on the hook.
“Are we not going skating now?” I asked.
“In a minute.” He left his skates by the door and walked over to sit on the couch.
I followed him, worried by his odd behavior. “Dad, are you okay?”
“Yes. It’s just…” He stared at the far wall, frowning in concentration. “I think I remembered something, but it keeps slipping away.”
I sat beside him. “Remember what the doctor said. Don’t force it, and it’ll come to you.”
He rested his head in his hands. “I know, but this feels important. I have to –”
“Dad?”
“Oh, God.” He lifted his head, and a chill raced down my spine at his expression. He looked like a man who had just watched his world crumble before his eyes. When he spoke, his words were barely audible. “I remember.”
My stomach fluttered in nervous excitement, but I kept my voice calm and even. “What do you remember?”
“That night.” He stared unseeing at me. “We went to the Ralston because of him. Your mom didn’t want to wait. She could never believe he was gone. She needed to see him and tell him.”
They’d gone to see Prince Rhys? My body went cold. Did that mean he had been involved in their disappearance all along?
“Tell who what, Dad?” I asked gently.
He blinked and looked at me with haunted eyes. “To tell Prince Rhys the truth.”
I could barely breathe. “What truth?”
“That he’s our son. He’s Caleb.”
~The End…almost~
You didn’t really think I’d leave it there? Keep reading for an exclusive look at the first chapter of Queen, book 3 in the Fae Games trilogy.
Keep Reading
Queen (Chapter 1)
If you have skipped ahead, do NOT read this chapter before you read Knight. Trust me. It will ruin Knight for you if you don’t wait.
Note: This chapter is subject to change in the final version of Queen.
I stared at my father, waiting for him to say something after the bombshell he’d dropped on me. The torment in his eyes was too much to bear, and it was almost a relief when he turned his head away.
My mind whirled as I tried to think of a response to his declaration that the Seelie crown prince was my brother. My brother, who had died twenty years ago, when he was two months old. The only plausible explanation was that the stress of my near-death had caused Dad to have a mental setback.
Guilt pressed down on me. The doctors had warned me this could happen if he didn’t take it slowly. I needed to call them. The possibility of Dad having to go back to the treatment facility gutted me, but we couldn’t risk his health. Fifty percent of recovering goren addicts went back to using within the first year, and my father would not be one of them.
I laid my hand over his. “Dad, you look pale. Maybe you should lie down for a few minutes.”
“I don’t need to lie down. I’ve slept enough in the last four months.”
“But –”
He swung his gaze back to me. “I’m okay, Jesse. It’s a shock and a lot to take in, but it’s not a delusion.”
I stared into his clear eyes. His tone was rational, and he didn’t look like someone on the verge of a mental breakdown. But his claim that a faerie prince was his dead son was the kind of thing that got people admitted to a psych ward. All I could think of to do was hear him out and see where it went.
“Can you tell me about it?”
Dad drew in a shaky breath. “I don’t know where to start.”
I reached over to take his hand. “Why do you think Prince Rhys is Caleb? Did someone tell you that?”
“No. Your mom recognized the prince when she saw Tennin’s photos of him. She said the hair is different, but the prince has my eyes, and he looks like I did when I was twenty.” Dad let out a weak laugh. “I know how that sounds because I thought the same thing at first.”
“Why didn’t Tennin tell me this?”
Dad s
hook his head. “He didn’t know. Your mother didn’t tell me until we were back in the car. I thought she was imagining the resemblance until she pulled out an old photo of me she keeps under the visor.”
I realized I was holding my breath. “And?”
“If my hair was blond, I could have been Prince Rhys’s twin when I was his age.”
I had to see this for myself. Standing, I went to the cabinet where Mom kept all the photo albums. They were labeled by year, and I pulled out the one for my parents’ late teens. My heart thudded as I carried the album back to the couch and sat beside Dad. I stared down at the cover, afraid of what I would see when I opened it.
“Do you want me to do it?” Dad asked when I made no move to look inside.
“No.” I lifted the cover. The first few pages were of Mom with her high school girlfriends, followed by an 8x10 photo of her in her cap and gown. I turned the page slowly to reveal Dad’s graduation picture, and it was as if someone had punched all the air from my lungs.
“Oh, my God,” I whispered. Whipping out my phone, I brought up one of the thousands of online pictures of the Seelie crown prince. I laid the phone beside Dad’s photo, and my world tilted on its axis. It wasn’t only the eyes that were the same. Prince Rhys and the eighteen-year-old version of my father had identical smiles and the same tiny cleft in their chins. The prince had more refined features, like a marble statue with all its imperfections polished away, but Dad was right. They could have been twins.
I looked at Dad, who was watching me expectantly. Twenty-three years had passed since that photo was taken, and his face was leaner now with crow’s feet near his eyes and lines around his mouth. When I looked past those things, all I could see was the young man smiling up at me from the album.
“How did I not see it? The first time I talked to Prince Rhys, I felt like I’d met him before, but I thought that was because his face was everywhere.” I shook my head. “What about Bruce, Maurice, and your other friends who knew you back then? None of them saw a resemblance between you and the most famous faerie in the world?”