Dad slowly looked at her. “You were awful, Mara.”
She nodded. “I know. I have known for a long time, and so many times I nearly picked up the phone to call you or flown to wherever it was you were docked at the time. But my foolish pride would not allow for it, and now, here we are. You and I may not get along, we may not see eye to eye ever, but I would spare you the foolish choices I made.” She didn’t look away from his direct gaze.
Okay…talk about awkward.
“Why does Iris have to go?” Mom broke the silence.
Thank god.
“Because I want to,” I said, tired of being sidelined in the talk of my future. “Because I love him. Because he can’t be here, and that means I have to go there.”
All three of them turned to look at me. I braced myself for the arguments.
“What does that mean?” Mom asked.
“When one falls in love as a fae, things are a little different,” Mara said.
Oh my god. She was not going to tell them about…
“Once you fall in love—really in love—as a fae, you never love like that again. We may take years to fall in love, and Brennan seems to have taken longer than most, but once we do, there is no one else for us. It’s why I will never marry again. Your father was my love.”
Now I knew there were tears in her eyes. But she continued. “Brennan is a good man, and he comes from a good family. He is fortunate in his brother. Drake is also a good man, and he is completely loyal to Brennan. Which means he will be loyal to Iris.”
“Now,” I muttered, thinking back to the times Drake and I had not been on good terms in the short time since I’d met him. I had to let that go. Really. Even I was getting tired of my hanging onto a grudge. I liked the guy. I just couldn’t get past him trying to kill me. More than once.
“Well, you were a threat to his king, to his brother,” Mara said, as though that explained it all.
It did, but that didn’t make me feel any better.
“They will take good care of Iris,” Mara continued. “And because she will eventually become more and more fae the longer she lives there, she will live the lengthy life span that most fae do.”
“How old are you?” Mom asked Mara.
Mara sighed. “I’m over one thousand years old.”
I had to give Mara credit. I knew she didn’t want to have this conversation, but once she committed, she wasn’t backing away from it.
Both my parents leaned away from the table, shock on their faces. Neither could think of anything to say. I’d kind of expected it, given the apparent age of Nerida and Jharak, and how Mara spoke of them as contemporaries.
“You’ll be all alone,” Mom whispered.
Mara reached over and held Mom’s hand with both of hers. “No, my dear, I shall not. I don’t know, but I think you will have a somewhat longer than normal life, and my granddaughter will as well.”
Dad got up without a word and walked out towards the dock.
My heart broke watching him silhouetted in the doorway. Here we were talking about long life, and my dad was the one who had the normal life span we were all accustomed to thinking about.
I didn’t know if this day could get any more depressing. I got up and followed Dad. When I reached him, he was standing on the dock with his hands in his pockets. I put my arms around his waist and rested my head on his shoulder.
He wrapped an arm around me, hugging me hard.
“I’m sorry,” I began.
“Don’t be. It’s not a bad thing, Issy. As a parent, you want your kids to live long, long lives past you. But hearing people talk about something you know you can’t have a part in…it’s not easy. I’m tired of being the angry ass of the bunch, so I thought I ought to take myself off for a bit.”
“You’re not the angry ass,” I said.
“Yes I am,” He laughed down at me.
“Okay, yes you are,” I joined him. “What have you been telling Heath? I can’t have him lurking around all the time. Whatever you’ve told him, it needs to stop, Dad.” I was pleased to make some headway with him, but I couldn’t let this go on. If Brennan knew…I didn’t want to think about it. I got the impression he could be possessive if pushed.
Dad sighed. “I told him you’d been ill, and seemed a little off, but that he needed to give you time and be honest and let you know how he felt. That I knew you liked him, and…” he sighed again, and I knew he didn’t want to go on.
“Don’t stop now,” I said, slight warning in my tone.
“Eventually, you would come to your senses.” He wouldn’t meet my eye.
“I cannot believe that you would tell him that, Dad!” I stepped back from him, trying to control the anger that rose in me like a huge wave. “Why would you do that?”
“Because,” he mumbled. “I didn’t want you to go.”
“That’s not your decision!” I said, still struggling with anger. I could almost feel the heat rising within me as I got angrier. I didn’t want to be with Heath, but that didn’t mean I wanted to hurt his feelings either. “You’re going to have to tell him the truth, that I am not available, or whatever, and let him down gently.”
“Why do I have to?” He turned to me. “I can’t—”
“Oh, yes you can!” I shot back. “This is your mess! You clean it up!”
The nice moment had been nice while it lasted. I stomped back to the table where Mom and Mara sat, still holding hands, but obviously watching Dad and I. I could also see that other diners were giving me the side eye, but I didn’t care. I tossed myself in my chair, crossing my arms. The anger wouldn’t settle.
I felt the mirror in my pocket warm. “I’m going out front to talk to Brennan,” I said, getting up once more, daring anyone to try and stop me.
It’s kind of hard to flounce out in righteous indignation when no one stops you. I made it to the front of the restaurant and hurried around the side where no one would see me right away. Talking to a mirror could get me dragged off to the loony bin if I wasn’t careful.
“Hey,” I said, pulling the mirror out. “Brennan? Sorry, where are you? It took me a minute to get away.”
The mirror stayed dark, and then his face, with those eyes, appeared in front of me. He had a smile on his lips but it didn’t reach the eyes. I couldn’t tell what was in his eyes…something inside warned that it wouldn’t be good.
“It’s nice that you made time for me,” He said, his words and manner formal.
What the hell? I thought quickly. Why would he be…? Oh. “I’m sorry I couldn’t talk earlier. We were on the boat—”
“With Heath?”
Shit. He’d heard. “Yes, with Heath.” I decided there was no sense in hiding anything, and I didn’t want to anyway. It had already taken a toll on me. “My dad has some weird idea that if I just hang out with the guy long enough—”
“You won’t want to be with me anymore?” He finished, and holy shit was his tone icy. Like, iceberg icy.
I sighed. “Yes. He is stuck on the idea that he doesn’t want me to go. If it makes you feel any better,” I hurried, hoping I could get out in front of whatever the hell this was, “I have been fighting with him since you left. I think,” I tried for some charity, although it felt forced, “He doesn’t want to lose me, so he’s being a jackass.”
Brennan glared, and I could see that my bid for sympathy hadn’t really done much for him either. “That’s not really his decision, is it, Iris?”
“Noooo, but…”
“But what?”
“Well, he is my father, and you’re not really one to talk about ignoring your parents, are you?”
Something told me that wasn’t the best move, but I couldn’t take it back.
“Oh, that’s right,” He leaned away from the mirror. “I’m only in a huge estrangement with my parents over, among other things, my insistence that I will break off my engagement and commit myself to you. No, I wouldn’t know anything about standing up for myself and insistin
g on making my own decisions.”
Wow. For an old guy, he fought like a high school girl. Or at least what I thought high-school girls fought like. Not having attended high school, I didn’t have first-hand knowledge.
“That was totally fair, Brennan. Thanks,” I said, laying the sarcasm on thick. “I have so much practice at it. Years, in fact. Oh, wait,” I hit my head in mock dismay. “That’s you! Not me!”
We glared at one another, and I risked a glance around the parking lot. No one was near, thank god.
Then he laughed. “It’s nice to know that you’ll stand up for yourself.”
I couldn’t help it, and joined in. “There was a question of that? When have I not stood up for myself?”
His mouth curved up on one corner, and I staggered a bit with the wave of longing that hit me, wanting to be with him, to kiss the corner of his mouth.
“No, there has never been any doubt that you are capable in many ways.” His voice deepened, and I felt the thrill of the timber of it hum through me.
All my senses flared to life like gasoline on a fire, and I took a few steps closer to the building, needing some support.
“Stop it,” I whispered.
“Stop what?”
God, he was still doing the voice thing. “Stop talking to me like that.”
“Like what?”
“Like your voice is honey on me.” Where the hell did that come from?
“Would that it were so,” he said, and the honey stuck to me, never to come off.
“I miss you,” I whispered.
He heard me. “I miss you as well, my Iris. I am lonely for you. I hate that some stripling boy is being dangled by your father in front of you, as though he would be the man for you…” his voice trailed off.
It was probably good that my dad was nowhere in sight, given the look on Brennan’s face. Part of me thrilled to know that it was there because of me, that this amazing, incredible, hot, sexy man felt this way about me. All my doubts, all the shit that I’d been feeling all day, fell to the wayside, and I knew, knew in my soul that Brennan was my everything. The keeper of my heart. This was what Mara meant, that once you fell in love as a fae, there was no other.
“There is no one for me but you,” I said, my own voice husky. “I know this is crappy, but just look at it as—”
“What? How shall I look at your father interfering?”
Oh, shit. He was pissed. I could hear a car pull into the lot, and stepped closer to the building, making sure the mirror was turned away from the lot. Maybe someone would think I was hiding a smoke or something.
“As growing pains.”
“What?” He hadn’t been expecting that.
“Growing pains. You know, the way it hurts as your bones grow?”
He stared blankly at me. Maybe fae didn’t have them. Figures.
“Never mind. Look at this as what has to happen for us to get where we want.”
Comprehension crossed his face. He kept the shit look on for a moment, and then his face relaxed. “I forget that your parents don’t know what being with me really means.”
“Oh? Because you’re some kind of big deal, lordship?” I asked, using Drake’s teasing.
It took a moment for what I’d said to register. Then he burst out laughing, that real, loud, full laugh I loved to hear—the one I didn’t hear very often because I didn’t think he did it often.
“I’ll never hear the end of it, will I?” He asked between laughing.
“Nope,” I shook my head. “You don’t see what you look like. Lordship is a perfect way to describe it. Listen, I know you’re all impatient, and I am too. Boy, am I,” I said, feeling the heat creep up my cheeks as I thought about what his voice made me want to do with him.
He saw the change in me, and his eyes warmed, making the heat flare even more.
“But I have to do this in a way that my parents are good with it. Mara’s helping,” I put in, not wanting to hear a lot of grief from him.
“She is? Well, good. She ought to. She is fae, after all.”
“Could she still come back?” I asked, thinking about the conversation when I’d left the table.
He nodded. “Of course. This is always her home.”
“Good. I don’t know that she will any time soon, but I’d like her to have the option. Listen, I’m not trying to run away, but I need to go.”
His face darkened.
“You have to trust me, Brennan. Honestly. I want to be with you, and nothing is going to change that. Not ever. I love you. But I have to manage things here. I won’t be happy if I don’t, and for that you’re going to have to trust me.”
Here it was, all on the line. He was older, knew it all, blah blah blah, but I knew my life, my family. If I couldn’t settle this with them, I wouldn’t be happy. He had to give me this. Had to trust me.
“As if I could deny you anything, my love,” the warmth was back in his voice.
How in the hell did he do that? It was amazing.
Did he do it to all the girls? Next question.
I shoved the thought aside. Something to think about later. I didn’t want to lose the place we were at now. I felt better than I had since he’d left me here. Like we’d passed a test or something.
“Okay. I’ll call later. And don’t sweat if I don’t answer when you call during the day. I’m working on it, all right?”
He wanted to say no. He was such a control freak, he wanted to tell me no, and handle it. But…
“Of course. I love you.”
I warmed all the way to my toes at his words. “I love you, too. I’ll call you again, when I can.” I smiled, wanting to see his face change as it did for me.
After a moment, he returned the smile, and I saw it. I glanced around, and then leaned in and blew a kiss at the mirror. “That’s for you.”
“Things are about to get more complicated on this side, so don’t fret if I don’t respond immediately. I will as soon as I am able.” He smiled at my kiss. Then with a suddenness that surprised me, he was gone.
I stared at the mirror for a moment, wanting more. Slowly, I put it back in my pocket, and headed back to my family meal at dysfunction junction.
Everyone looked up at me when I returned to the table. “What?” I asked.
“Everything okay?” Mom asked.
I couldn’t stop the smile. “I was just talking to Brennan.” I had no plans to tell anyone else about my fae mail mirror—really, who was I gonna tell? —but I had decided I wouldn’t hide it from my family.
“What did he have to say?” Mara asked me.
She smiled as she spoke, and I couldn’t believe how much softer, how much more human her face looked. She so often had the stern face I associated with the fae.
“That you’re welcome any time you like,” I said.
The smile disappeared as though it had never been. “That was kind, but I am not your concern, or his.”
Well. The ice fell right into the middle of the table.
“Oh, stop with the grand dame routine,” my father said.
“What?” Mara snapped.
“We all know you’re Lady So-and-So. It’s not bad of Iris to speak to her…her—” I could tell Dad really didn’t want to call him my anything, “Brennan about whether you’re still welcome. If this is how you treated others there, I can see why you might not want to return, but you don’t get to be nasty to Iris for being nothing more than the nice person she is.”
I caught Mom’s eye. What the hell was going on? When I’d left Dad, he was still pissed at me. In fact, everyone was pissed at everyone else, and I was on more than one list. Now he was defending something that included fae and me?
Mara sighed. “You’re right, Paul. No,” She held up her hands. “I can admit when I am wrong, although it gives me something close to physical pain. I am sorry, Iris. I know you were being nothing but kind, and I should not have snapped at you.”
No one spoke. Then Mom chirped, “Well, if that do
esn’t clear the air that’s been around the three of us for twenty years a little, I don’t know what will. And look! Just in time!” She nodded to the waiter bringing the food.
“Let’s eat,” Mom said, smiling at each of us in turn. “As a family.”
I nearly burst into tears at seeing Dad and Mara smile back at her, and felt my lips curve into a smile as well. A family. Sort of. I hoped it would last.
Brennan
He glared at the mirror where it sat on the dresser in front of him. He loved talking to Iris, but this had been yet another disagreement. Would it always be like this, the back and forth as they struggled to make something new of the two worlds they came from?
Would they ever become one?
Of course they would! He shook his head to dispel his thoughts. Yes, they’d fought, but at the end of it, she’d told him his voice was like honey on her skin. Honey on that sun-kissed skin…his thoughts wandered to such an idea. They’d need to take care, as the mess would be substantial.
“Stop mooning,” Drake’s voice broke in. “Come to the study. They’re here. Better to meet them on your own ground, eh?”
“Brennan looked up. He didn’t speak. He and Drake met each other’s eyes, and then Brennan sighed.
“I still don’t know what to say to them.”
Drake shrugged. “I do understand. They’re intimidating, even after all this time.” He grinned. “Some warriors we are.”
Brennan had to smile. Who would guess that both he and Drake retained a healthy fear of their parents?
“Well, in all truth, there’s never been anything I’ve been on opposite sides from them on.”
“Oh, other than the whole marriage thing,” Drake commented.
“And look how right I was. Had I married their choice, our kingdoms-mine and Father’s-would be in peril. So I rather think I’ve come out the victor in that argument.”
“Perhaps you leave that be,” Drake suggested.
Brennan laughed, but even he could hear the lack of humor in it. “I know. It won’t help to antagonize them, no matter how satisfying it might feel.”
To Wed The Goblin King (The Realm Trilogy Book 2) Page 13