by Sarra Cannon
Not one minute passed, not two or three. Not even four, but five whole minutes ticked past, counted out by my tapping foot, before Bháin greeted us. Dismissing Rook with a bland smirk, he bowed. To me.
“Princess Thierry.” His voice shivered down my spine. “It is gratifying to see you again.”
I peered up at him. “How did you…?”
“I hear things.” He lifted his hand, and a snowflake danced across his palm. “Word travels fast.”
“What can I say?” I edged past him into the house. “I’m harder to kill than I look.”
He stepped aside as Rook entered, and didn’t blink at Diode. “Can I prepare—?”
“Cut the crap.” I pinched the bridge of my nose. “Take me to my mother.”
He exchanged a calm glance with Rook.
I stepped between them, though they could see over my head. I snapped my fingers in Bháin’s face. “Now.”
With a formal bow that dripped sarcasm, Bháin turned on his heel. “Follow me.”
He guided me past the fireplace where the elemental leapt to its feet, glowing in cheery welcome. Unfamiliar with elemental courtesies, I smiled on my way past. Bháin sauntered down the winding hall to the right of the foyer. More portraits of death and dismemberment hung on the walls. I wondered what Mom had thought of them. Had she walked these halls? Been carried? Blindfolded?
Try as I might, I couldn’t dredge up the courage to ask.
“Here we are.” He knocked twice. “Agnes?”
“Come in. I’m decent.” With a husky chuckle, she added, “For now.”
Bháin found anywhere other than at me to look. “You have a visitor.”
“Oh, really?” She tittered. “Giovani, I’m no spring chicken. I can’t keep up with—”
I shoved him aside and opened the door before I tossed my cookies. “Mom.”
There she was, reclining on a lounger with a magazine on her lap and a sunhat on her head. She wore the same yellow and black rose swimsuit, except the top had come undone and the ties were wound around her fingers. Ew. Ew. Ew. I blinked a few times, testing if I had been blinded for life by her nip slip.
Mom was perfectly safe, perfectly sound, and scarring me for life with her pool-boy shenanigans.
“Thierry?” She flattened the magazine against her chest. “What on earth are you doing here?”
“I could ask you the same thing.”
My first step into the room confused the hell out of me.
Gone were the ice-block walls. There were no walls period. I had stepped from ice floors onto the powdery sands of Galveston Island. Blues skies stretched into forever. Waves crashed as gulls cried. I trudged through the sand to her lounger, plopped down and just breathed the briny air for a minute.
“I told you I was going to visit Marcia and Stan for the weekend.” She leaned forward and retied her top. “They’re at the bar getting us drinks. You look flush. Do you need a bottled water?”
“No.” I scooted closer and rested my head against her side. “I’m fine.”
She pushed the hairs from my eyes and pressed the back of her hand to my forehead. “You don’t feel hot.” She checked the sides of my throat for swelling. “Is your throat sore? Have you been coughing?”
I took her hands in mine. “I’m good, really.”
She sighed. “You never said why you’re here.”
It stung how eager she was to shoo me off and get back to flirting with men who looked half her age but were probably older than the sand under my butt. By all appearances, she was having a blast. She hadn’t even noticed my getup. Maybe that was part of the illusion too.
I glanced over my shoulder and saw the freestanding door a few dunes away from us.
All of this was one complex visual and audial illusion. This beach, that particular couple—who I knew Mom hadn’t spoken to since I killed their daughter Andrea—all the details were pulled straight from her memory. Bháin was powerful if he could create such a vivid false reality and maintain it for days on end. Fondness for him oozed from her voice. He had played along to make her comfortable. Just how comfortable I never wanted to find out.
I didn’t know what to make of this, of any of this. I had pictured her lost and alone and terrified. I envisioned her in the same situation as me. Fear for her had motivated me. Now I felt so…deflated. I almost relished pulling her from this fantasy back to cold reality.
“I got a call from Andy.” I swallowed the lump in my throat. Using Andrea’s nickname hurt. “She needs her room—”
“Did something happen at Baylor?” She sat upright. “Is she all right?”
No, Mom. She’s not. She’s never going to be all right again. “She’s fine.”
“Oh. Well.” Mom settled back into a relaxed position. “I have been here a few days. I can cut my trip short if she’s coming home for a visit.” A sharp frown cut across her face. “I haven’t seen Andrea in a long time. Years it feels like. Her poor parents. Andy’s class schedule must keep her busy.”
Baylor. Class schedule. Apparently, not all of this was pure memory. Andrea hadn’t survived to college age. Part of this illusion was threaded with Mom’s dreams for us and plans Andy and I had made together.
Suddenly, I had to find somewhere else to look. That’s when Rook caught my eye. He stood in the doorway, framed like a chilly memory of winter in summer’s heart. He noticed me watching and stepped out of sight.
How much of this was his doing? How much of the care shown to her was at his request? Bháin had argued with him before we left. Over this? Over her? Which one did I have to thank for keeping her blissfully unaware of her circumstances? Who was my heart softening toward? Rook? Or Bháin?
“Do you mind if I finish my drink first?”
Mom’s voice drew my attention back to her. “No. Go ahead. I’ll go hit the bathroom before we leave.”
While she settled in to wait for a drink I wasn’t sure would come, I crossed the shifting sand and stepped back into the hall. The sudden dimness after the full sunlight made me stagger. Strong hands grasped my upper arms until my eyes adjusted, guiding me until my back hit the wall and I steadied.
Rook loomed over me. I waited for the urge to rip him a new one, but it never showed.
I exhaled through my teeth. “We need to talk about how long this mind warp is going to last.”
His hands slid down to my wrists, fingers brushing fingers. “Forever unless you say otherwise.”
“The memories you pulled—” I began.
He shook his head. “That was Bháin’s doing.”
“Okay, the memories Bháin pulled aren’t good ones.” At his puzzled expression, I added, “She’s in there, thinking she’s on the beach where we used to live, waiting to drink with friends she doesn’t have anymore because I killed their daughter. When she snaps out of it, she’ll know it wasn’t real.”
“What do you want me to do?”
Mom deserved to know the truth. She deserved to know what had happened to us both. She was here because of me, and it was wrong for me to make this decision for her, but I had to make the call. I had to be strong enough for both of us.
“She goes on singles cruises sometimes.” I rubbed my forehead. “She would believe that. They board in Galveston. I think that’s half the reason she takes them, just to have an excuse to fly down.”
“Explain the concept to Bháin, and he will do the rest.”
I shifted so I could keep an eye on Mom. “How are we getting home?”
“I will escort you through the tether.” His voice softened. “Then I must return.”
“You got everything you wanted.” An edge of fresh anger crept into my tone.
His gaze held mine. “Not everything.”
“Word is spreading quickly,” Bháin reminded us. “If Thierry wants to cross realms unmolested, she must leave soon.” He leaned against the door, watching my mother while he spoke to me. “There will be those who seek to do you harm, those who you counted as
friends before you chose a side.”
“I haven’t picked a side.” I scowled at him. “I’m the freaking interim Black Dog.”
“The Black Dog is impartial. It was understood you relinquished that title when you accepted your new appointment.” He glanced my way. “Whether you like it or not, you’re the Unseelie princess now.”
I set my jaw. Better to keep quiet than provoke him into lobotomizing my mom.
“You can take a vow of neutrality,” Rook said. “You can keep your position with the conclave, for now.”
“Those vows don’t come with an expiration date.” Once spoken, they were binding. The strange thing was, yes, I had Unseelie ties now, but I didn’t feel loyal to them. I felt faithful to myself, to my beliefs.
I guess I was my father’s daughter after all.
Would the conclave let me continue working or scream conflict of interest? How could I support Mom if I couldn’t work, let alone draw those bonus checks? I would have to give up my apartment with Mai and move back home, which would suck for all of us.
How could I leave Mom in a year when I had no idea how or if she could take care of herself? I mean, she could work, but she was settled into early retirement. She had no contacts in our area related to her old job, no prospects. Nothing but me.
“You are a wealthy woman.” Bháin eyed me with bemusement. “Why work at all?”
“I’m not wealthy.” Sweet as that dream was. “I’m just warming the seat of someone who is.”
He cracked a smile at that.
Rook eased between us. “We should discuss your living arrangements.”
“I have an apartment. I had an upstairs neighbor once.” I narrowed my eyes on him. “You kind of remind me of him.”
Rook had the grace to flush. “You must be protected.”
“I will go with her.” Diode’s voice carried down the hall. “If you will grant me amnesty.”
The flatness of Rook’s lips led me to believe an argument was on the way.
I headed him off with a genuine smile for my guardian. “I accept.”
“Thierry…” Rook warned.
“I can take care of myself,” I told him calmly, “but I’ll take Diode as a precaution.”
He trailed his fingertips down my cheek. “I don’t want any harm to come to you.”
“I bet.” I stepped out of his reach. “Wouldn’t want to lose your regent status too soon, huh?”
Bháin touched my elbow, and a blast of ice-sharp pain shot up my arm. “We must hurry.”
“He’s right,” Rook agreed. “The longer you wait, the more time we give your enemies to prepare for your arrival. If an attempt is made on your life, it will happen when you cross realms.” Muscles bunched in his jaw. “Delaying your coronation will give you time to adjust, but you are at a greater risk in the mortal realm, where you are outside the protection of Faerie’s laws.” He appeared to debate what he said next. Those words came softly. “Seelie loyalists will stop at nothing to prevent your ascension.”
I wished them luck. “Then you better get started on all those goals you wanted to accomplish.”
A tic developed under his right eye. “Am I not allowed to worry about you?”
“Oh, I know you’ll worry.” I patted his cheek. “You’ll fret every day I’m not under your thumb for you to press when you need some other impossible task completed, but you don’t care about me.” His mouth opened. I slapped my hand over it and scowled. “Don’t go there, Rook. Just don’t, okay?”
Turning to Bháin, I gestured toward Mom. “Let’s do this. I want to go home.”
Chapter 31
As it turned out, leaving Faerie was even less fun than entering it had been. Mom wasn’t drunk, but Bháin’s reprogramming made her tipsy. He pumped her full of enough feel-good vibes she reached the tether convinced she was on an excursion in Chichen Itza to see the temple ruins. Bháin must have sent her cruising to Cozumel. That or her subconscious was hard at work explaining the jungle-like climate of Spring.
The way her eyes kept crossing as we trekked through Winter made me think that portion of the journey was a blur. She fussed when we put layers on her and complained when we took them off, but she kept rolling with the punches and never once lost the glassy stare making guilt simmer in my gut.
Ahead, the forest hunched over the remains of what resembled a stone arbor carved with detailed Celtic knot work. Thick pillars formed a neat circle while stout beams crisscrossed over their tops in a failed attempt at holding the encroaching forest at bay. The effect reminded me of wisteria back home.
During the spring, it crept up trees and into houses, curling its tendrils into whatever the wind blew it against and claiming the space as its own. It was an invasive species in the south, a gorgeous pest with lush purple blossoms that hung like ripe grape clusters from elegant, verdant filigree vines.
I touched a curling green frond. “I didn’t notice how beautiful this was before.”
“You were too disoriented.” Rook’s wary gaze swept over the trees to the pillar then back to me. “We aren’t alone. Grab your mother, and I will do what I can to hold them off while you cross. When you reach the other side, go straight to the magistrates. They hear all the gossip in Faerie. They know by now what’s happened. They can help.”
“Okay.” After facing the High Court—twice—the magistrates seemed tame. “I can do that. This tether ties to the same spot as where we left, right? It will spit us out on conclave grounds?”
“There are surer routes in Winter and Autumn,” he admitted, “but none are safe for you now.”
“We should go.” Diode prowled a circle around Mother. “Say your goodbyes.”
Rook handed me the leather satchel Bháin had packed before we left Winter. It was filled with my newly acquired skins and some of Mom’s belongings. I strapped it on and looked up at him. “It’s been real.”
He tilted his head. “Real what?”
“Eye-opening.” I scuffed my feet, ready to go but having trouble leaving. “Do we hug or what?”
He eyed my knee. “You’ll understand if full-body contact with you makes me nervous.”
“Fair enough.” I waved at him while I backed toward Diode. “You’ll be in touch, I assume?”
Rook cleared the distance between us in two steps, hooked an arm behind my back and lifted me against him. His head dipped, those hungry eyes of his daring me to protest. “Sooner than you think.”
His mouth feathered over mine, his unexpectedly tender kiss dragging a soft moan past my lips. That sound of encouragement had his grip tightening, his hands molding me against him. His tongue slid between my lips, hot and wet and reverent in a way that set a little warning voice screaming in my head.
I broke the kiss, twisting out of his grasp and crushing my eyes shut against the implications.
Diode’s roar peeled them wide open in time to see him lunge at me. I dove aside, rolling over the mossy ground, shoving to my feet and bolting toward Mom. With her tucked behind me, I sought out Diode, who wrestled with a thorny snake. Made of vines, it hung from the arbor. It was thicker around than my waist and striking faster than my eyes could track. A second snake—or its second head?—hissed at Rook.
“Stay inside the arbor,” he shouted at me.
“Not hardly.” I didn’t know how to work a tether. If that snake swallowed Diode or Rook, I was stuck here with Mom, and she wouldn’t stay in her trance forever. I grasped her shoulders. “Stay put.”
She blinked but offered no resistance. Please let one thing go right.
Shoving fear for her aside, I murmured my Word and peeled the glove from my hand. The snake raised a thick hood around its head. Venom dripped from its fangs. Its strikes came faster and faster.
No time to worry about them either. While Diode and Rook distracted the sharp end, I had to find its body. If I put my hand on it, I could kill it. Probably. I had never tried killing a plant, let alone a sentient one.
I shuddered
. That was one skin I wouldn’t be taking home with me.
Darting behind Rook, I ran into the forest and circled back through the trees until I stood in front of Diode and behind the snake. Its body was thick and scaly, its flesh the bright color of new growth. As I crept sideways, I tracked its movements until the vine wrapping the trunk in front of me flexed.
“Got you,” I whispered.
Lunging for the base of the tree, I closed my hand around the vine and force-fed magic down its length. Mottled flesh turned black. Brittle roots pushed from the ground and hardened under my feet. The great snake coiled in on itself and died. Once it stopped moving, I jogged around the tree trunk.
I examined Mom, then Diode and then Rook. “Is everyone okay?”
Mom continued gazing at whatever image her mind’s eye conjured for her. Diode shook out his fur then limped back to her side. Rook scooped pale blue gel off his face, revealing pocked scarring.
He caught me staring. “The venom burns, but I will heal.”
“Thierry,” Diode called. “Where there is one, there will be another. Thorn vipers nest in pairs.”
“He’s right.” Rook wiped his hands on his pants. “Get inside and I’ll send you home.”
Home. I hungered for it so much the word made my mouth water. “What about you?”
His swollen lips twitched. “I’m surprised you care.”
“Don’t be.” I huffed. “You helped sweet-talk the consuls into a twelve-month reprieve, which I won’t thank you for—not because you’re fae—but because this was your fault in the first place.” I pointed a stern finger at him. “Be useful and do something about the other thousand-plus months left in the bargain.”
As I stepped under the arbor and linked my arm through Mom’s, Rook activated the tether.
The last I saw of Faerie was my fae husband’s melancholy smile.
— —
I couldn’t sleep. After five hours of cross-examination by the magistrates, I ought to be exhausted, but I was wired. I still had a job. That was the good news. Whether they let me back into the field with my new status was up for debate.