“I’ll be on his right,” I snapped. He was ignoring me completely. “Freejan has agreed to be my steed.”
“You will not be on his right. Your mate Garrett should hold that position.”
“I am his mother.”
“Are you?”
“What does that mean?”
“You’ve been poisoned. I question whether or not there is enough of you left to call yourself his—”
I reared back and punched Fin with all of my might, probably breaking a couple of my fingers in the process, knocking him at least ten feet before he landed in the sand. My hand had already begun to swell, but I was furious, ready to change into my warrior form and pull this king’s head from his shoulders.
He rose, brushed himself off and walked in my direction, his calm demeanor and sad expression reminding me of another day on this beach. I’d been pregnant with Charlie and we’d discussed the different ways males and females saw the world. When I looked at his face now, I saw the male who’d become a mentor to my son, the way Isaiah was mine. I remembered him arriving at the Faerie Court at the last moment to save me from Kennet, and Garrett from Fionna. And he’d danced so merrily at Sash and Rick’s Christmas party. He’d made everyone laugh.
I grinned at him, at peace again, and it felt amazing. Naberia might have taken away the memories of my time in the house, but I would never forget the people who’d meant so much to my small family. What happened with Sasha would never occur again, because I’d taken back control.
“I apologize.” I said, trying my best to look remorseful.
“You should not. I deserved it.” He rubbed his chin. “Good right hook.”
“Thanks.” I looked at my swollen hand and concentrated on cooling the muscles as if I’d placed an icepack on them. And guess what? It worked.
Freejan had switched to human form so she could speak. “You…you attacked the King of Faerie.” Her eyes were wide with panic, probably unsure as to how she should react.
“Demon,” I said in explanation. Fin laughed and pretended to punch me back. I pretended to stumble back and everything was good between us again. And he had deserved it. My cheetah would have done the same, although I doubt I could have moved him ten inches, let alone ten feet. Yep, I wouldn’t be throwing heavy objects around in anger any more.
“Will you tell me about your time with the witches?” Fin asked as we walked along the shoreline.
I stopped and faced him. “First, could you please tell me if you sense my cheetah? You probably already know, but I can’t shift.” I held up my hand. My healer’s gone too. I used demon magic to bring down the swelling.”
He drew me in for a hug. “She is there. She is as your bones and blood, your heart and spirit. She is with you always.” He held me away from him. “If she were not, you would not have learned to control your magic so swiftly. It takes young demons years and years.”
I frowned. “Isaiah never mentioned that.”
“Perhaps he did not wish to dishearten you?”
I smiled. “He’s patient with me and I’ve learned so much from him. I wish the two of you could meet. Sometimes he reminds me of you.”
“Maybe one day, if he is as you say.” He didn’t look convinced.
“You saying that stuff about me not being Charlie’s mom anymore was a test, right?”
He smiled and shrugged. “I had to know I could still trust you around my people. I’m happy to tell you, you are still welcome in Faerie.”
“Is everyone going to pull this stunt to find out if they can trust me?” I moaned.
He laughed. “Let’s hope not.”
Garrett arrived a moment later, wrapping me in his arms and hugging me tightly. “I am not pleased about the dive,” he whispered. I laughed, thinking he was kidding around, but when I saw his face, I knew he was dead serious. “Isaiah restrained me from diving after you and I almost tore out his throat.”
“You dove off a cliff?” Fin asked.
“She was magnificent, Your Highness,” Freejan piped in.
“I would imagine she was.” He patted my shoulder.
“It felt like I was truly flying for a second or two.” I was actually grinning now.
“Until you began to fall like a stone,” Garrett grumbled.
Fin slid a glance in Garrett’s direction. “Perhaps you would consider doing it again at a time when I could be there to watch?” Garrett growled and I giggled. “Come, let us return to your house. I am sure you are anxious to be home again.”
“Please excuse me, but I must also return to my home. It was an honor to accompany such a great warrior on her journey of enlightenment. I thank you.” She bowed to me, then the King of Faerie, then Garrett. A moment later she was diving through the waves. We took the lines and when I arrived home I fell into the shower and then bed without another word to anyone.
Chapter Twenty-Six
Charlie was in the kitchen when I finally rose in the late afternoon. I hugged my son tightly while Garrett made coffee and played the host, offering food and a variety of drinks. Fin relaxed into a kitchen chair and asked for coffee and an apple from my tree—the tree I’d planted in honor of William. It was a good size now and the Fuji apples were sweet and tangy. Charlie picked one for Fin, one for himself and a few more for the rest of us.
I rubbed the cold patch over my heart distractedly while I lowered myself into a kitchen chair. Charlie sat beside me, bringing me a mug of coffee just the way I liked it. I drank down half of it in less than a minute, trying to ease the chill.
“So I hear you’re a real badass now,” Charlie teased.
“Not by choice, but yes. It appears I may have some use on the battlefield after all, much to you and your dad’s dismay.”
“C’mon, Mom. I want to keep you safe is all. I’m only acting the same way you’ve always been with me,” he pointed out. “Maybe it’s payback time,” he joked.
My nerves were on edge for some reason. On the beach I’d felt fine, but this had the signs of a panic attack. Sweat beaded at my nape. I needed air. “Overprotectiveness must be in our DNA.”
“Are you well?” Fin asked. “You’ve paled slightly.”
I stood. “I just need some fresh air. Too much excitement. Come with me Charlie.” I held out my hand.
He, Fin and Garrett exchanged glances. “Sure.”
Charlie and I walked through the garden, stopping in front of the peach tree I’d planted in my sister’s memory. “Do you think I could call her spirit to me? Would she come?”
“Doesn’t she have to be…um, trapped here like Marie?” Charlie asked.
“Marie chooses to stay now because of her mate, but at first she was trapped.”
“But Aunt Bridgett isn’t too fond of you, right?” He put both of his hands in his pockets, looking a little uncomfortable.
“I would imagine I’d be at the top of her ‘Wants to kill’ list. But William went after her. Maybe he’s been a calming influence on her.”
“Maybe, but do you want to take that chance?”
“I guess not. It’s just weird how when I think about her I don’t think of the bad stuff. She and Will were so sweet together. I hope they’re together now.”
“I bet they are.”
“Let’s sit.” We sat on the same bench, Charlie stretching out his long legs “Do you remember how you used to memorize passages from Robin Hood? We’d sit right here and you’d act parts out for me.”
“Sure. I think I still remember some of them. I’d hold up the wooden bow Liam made for me and I’d pretend to draw my arrow. That tree on the edge of the woods was the Sherriff and I’d shoot him while I recited the line, ‘You have betrayed your own people, Sheriff, and I am here to take revenge’. Or something like that. Oh and then there was one about dying; ‘If I am bound to die then let it be in your arms’. I always made fun of that one because I thought it was sappy.” We laughed quietly, remembering more innocent times, before preparations for war became our primary c
oncern.
I rubbed my chest. It was burning now. I grasped his hand harder than I should have but he didn’t pull away. “Robin Hood will always remind me of that precious little boy. Not that you’re not perfect at this age,” I added.
“Sure, Ma.” He kissed my cheek. “You won’t hurt me, so stop worrying.”
My right hand was trembling. Empty. I clutched the edge of the bench. “I want to believe that.” I rubbed my chest and rose. “Are you home now…I mean are you sticking around for a while?”
“I’m staying. I’m going to help with the fae.”
“Oh, I’m so glad to hear that. Have you met them?”
“No. I was going over to do that now.”
Sasha sped by but ground to a halt when he saw us. “Mistress. You’re back.” He was grinning widely, as if he was truly happy to see me.
“Sasha…I’m so sorry about what happened in the gym. Are you sure you forgive me?”
“Please, it was nothing. The sting of a bee.” He bent over my hand in a very courtly manner and kissed my knuckles.
I laughed. “Is Elle giving you lessons in how to be a Victorian gentleman?”
“Elle enjoys movies set in that period. I’ve seen the gesture and always wanted to try it out,” he confessed.
“I believe you would have fit into British society very well, Mister Vodinski.”
“You wouldn’t say that if you lived with him.” Rick bowed to me, grinning. “Welcome home, Jackie.”
“Thanks, Rick. Is everything going well at the house?”
“Yes. Sasha’s speech regarding teamwork seemed to have struck a chord. They are all pitching in to help each other.”
“Did I frighten the girls when I…I changed?”
“Not at all. They are amazed by your power. I believe Ami wishes to spar with you while you are in warrior form so she might learn to ‘kick butt’, as she says.”
“She’s lost her shyness?”
“She is reserved until you put a weapon in her hand. Then we can’t get her to quiet down. I believe she has watched one too many Mad Max movies.”
“Oh, dear. Maybe you should make her watch those period dramas instead.”
“One cannot make Ami do anything. She seems to have a particular personal goal in mind.”
“A male still at court?”
“I believe so.”
I frowned. “What would Fin do if she showed up at court with a weapon and murdered the guy?”
Rick, Sash and Charlie shrugged in unison. “No clue,” Charlie said.
“Maybe we should talk to her about it.”
Sash shook his head. “I think maybe you should talk to her about it. She’s more relaxed around us than she used to be, but she’s never going to open up to a male in that way.”
I looked back at the house. “I left Fin with Garrett.”
“Garrett can deal with him. I’ll tell him where you’ve gone,” Rick said, heading toward the house a second later.
“Come and meet my lovely students, Charlie.”
Chapter Twenty-Seven
The fae females were in the gym, working with Farrell on techniques for using a dagger. I was relieved to see the practice daggers were wooden.
When I walked into the room with Sasha and Charlie, Farrell was the first one to notice me. “Spar together for a few minutes. Remember the safety rules,” he told his fae students. He loped over, his motions lithe and athletic. “Jackie.” He nodded with his hand over his heart. “I’m so happy to see you. How are you feeling?”
“Much more in control, you’ll be happy to know.” I smiled and nodded back. “Thank you so much for helping out.”
“They are spirited and focused and are learning the skills very quickly. We’re all quite proud of them.”
“May the Balance help us!” a female voice exclaimed. We turned toward the mats to see every one of the fae females on their knees in the same submissive pose. All except Ami, that is. She’d raced to the table of weapons, picked up one of the sharp daggers and was now running toward us as quickly as her long legs could carry her.
In a heartbeat, Sash had disarmed her and wrapped his arms around her waist to hold her in place. Still, she was kicking and squirming and practically growling at Charlie. That’s when it clicked. My son looked a lot like Kennet, his father, the male who’d raped me. A male who’d abused many of these females.
I squeezed Charlie’s arm, thinking he’d be upset by this show of hatred, but he smiled at me. “I’m used to it.” He shrugged. “It used to bother the hell out of me, but not anymore. I know who I am, and I’m not anything like him.”
He walked over to Sasha, who was whispering sternly into Ami’s ear, not at all pleased by her behavior. “It’s okay, Sash.”
“It’s not okay at all and I will be sending this one back to Faerie later today. This was a severe breach of our rules and there is no excuse.”
“C’mon. If Eleanor walked in the door, wouldn’t you run over to kill her?”
“Eleanor is dead. She was turned to dust by Garrett.”
“No one knows what happened to Kennet, except Fin.”
Ami had stopped squirming and was watching Charlie closely. “Are you not…not the demon lord who hurt us?”
Calling Kennet a demon lord was the worst kind of insult. “I’m Jackie’s son. I’m Charlie Cuvier.” He nodded to her, but she continued to stare at him wide-eyed.
“His son.”
“Yes.”
“And so like him.” She’d practically hissed those words.
“No, not at all, except in certain aspects of my appearance.” He playfully draped an arm around me and hugged me closer. “You see it right? I’m a lot more like Mom.”
He grinned and looked at me. “Smile, Ma.” I laughed and smiled as well, giving her and everyone else a good gander at the similarities.
The other females had risen and were gathering around us warily, keeping their distance and whispering among themselves. Charlie turned in their direction and several of them took a step backwards.
“Ladies.” He nodded with his hand on his heart and a few of them gasped. This was a sign of great respect accorded only to High Seelie. He spoke in perfect Fae. “It is an honor and a deep pleasure to meet you. I’ve heard so much about your progress and hope that you will allow me to become one of your instructors. With Sasha, Rick, Farrell and my mom at hand, I see that I can add nothing to your weapons training. But I wondered if any of you would like to see what can be done with your magical skills. In this, I feel I am most qualified.”
They were smiling now and he spoke to each one, asking about how their training was going and what they might like to learn from him. When he finally came to Filenne, she fell to the floor at his feet.
“You are very generous to offer to train us, but might I first please beg you for mercy on Ami’s behalf? She has no family or place to live other than the servant’s quarters at court. She will be alone and shunned for her former…for being the whore of many lords. We were all forced into that life. Please don’t send her back.”
Charlie kneeled beside her and lifted her chin. “Sasha is in charge of the training, so it’s his decision, I’m afraid. But I’ll talk to King Finvarra and make sure she’s treated well and given a position at court she can be proud of.” He helped her stand and they both looked at Sasha, who wasn’t happy at being put on the spot like this.
Ami fell at Charlie’s feet and Charlie gave me and Sash a look like, really? “Please, Lord. I only saw my enemy. I did not know. I thought he would hurt the other students. I will follow every rule; I swear on my life.”
Sash pulled her up, shaking his head. “If you want to stay, I’m putting you in charge of cleaning the gym, which includes washing the towels and cleaning the equipment—particularly the mats. You won’t be allowed to touch another real weapon for an entire month, and you will…” he hesitated, trying to think of something else that would be appropriate, “…you’ll write out the rule
s in English every single day and give them to me before dinner.”
Tears gleamed in her eyes. “Thank you, lord.”
“I’m only Sasha. And if you break the rules again, you’re out. No more chances.”
“Yes, Sasha.”
She turned to Filenne, who held out her arms, but to Ami’s surprise all the females ran over and hugged her. Guess it was her first group hug. I got a little teary-eyed myself.
When I saw Farrell face the door and get down on one knee, I thought he was joking around, but when every one of the females threw themselves on the ground—knees bent, butts on their feet, foreheads touching the floor—I realized we had another visitor.
King Finvarra, accompanied by Garrett, wandered into the gym as if it was his first time in Disneyland. He ignored the females and walked to the array of weights and the weight bench, picking up various weights to feel the differences. He looked at the treadmills with curiosity, then the rowing machines, and the stationary bikes.
After investigating several other contraptions, he ambled back to us and smiled, asking Farrell, “This is a place of physical activity?” He was ignoring the rest of us, which was just fine with me.
“Yes, Your Highness.”
He glanced at the girls. “And why are there fae females dressed in warrior garb in this room?”
“We are training them to defend themselves and Faerie.”
“Common seelie?”
“Yes, lord. When the war comes it will not discriminate.”
“Show me.”
Farrell ushered the girls over to the mats and handed out the wooden daggers, hesitating only slightly before giving one to Ami. She nodded her thanks then got into position. The movements were slow and simple, a kind of choreographed dance where one partner would thrust or slash and the other would block. Farrell and Rick circled the students, stopping a few of them to reinforce a stance or wrist position. Finally, they sped up the pace.
“Now spar.” Farrell said. And they went after each other with skill and focus and more speed than I thought was safe, but no one got hurt. Watching them sent shivers down my spine. These females were awe inspiring in their determination to score a hit and their ability to learn these skills so quickly. I could actually see some of them at the battle, although daggers would probably not be the appropriate weapons for fighting demons.
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