Rhiannon gave a startled gasp as the mist rose. Keir watched as the being grew to be almost as tall as Rhiannon. Slowly it began to take shape until a beautiful woman stood before Keir.
The woman wore almost sheer clothing that shimmered in the gentle light shining through the trees. She had a soft smile, and the telltale flaxen hair and shifting gray-blue eyes of the Mystwalkers. Her long hair floated in the breeze and exposed a gold band around her throat.
The Mystwalker held her hand to her chest and stared at Keir. She looked as if she wished to speak, but nothing came from her lips.
“Keir,” Riona said softly, “this is your mother, Keaira.”
Keir’s chest seized and he couldn’t breathe. The longing combined with anger that had been inside his heart all these years felt like a fist in his throat.
The anger faded as he looked upon the woman, leaving only a sense of pain and loss.
He gave a bow from his shoulders. “Keaira, it is my pleasure to meet you.”
The Mystwalker woman’s lower lip trembled. Tears glistened in her eyes. She rushed the few steps forward and wrapped her arms around Keir’s neck.
Keir froze, not knowing what to do. He raised his stiff arms and touched her shoulders.
“So much time,” Keaira said against his chest. She stepped back and looked at him. “For so long I have wanted to touch you, to know you as my son. But I could not. Your father forbade it and I could not have survived long enough from freshwater to tell you everything I wanted to.” Tears rolled down her cheeks. “I was uncertain you would want to know me.”
The thought that his father had forbidden his mother to come to him sparked a different kind of anger with Keir. All these centuries he had believed his mother had abandoned him to be a pleasure slave for the Shanai. He would have words with his father and it would be soon. As harsh as his father had always been, Keir had no doubt this woman spoke the truth.
Keir still had a grip on Keaira’s shoulders and met her blue eyes. “I am very delighted to meet you, my true mother.”
More tears slipped from her eyes and she sniffed. “Too much time has passed.”
“It has,” Keir said softly as his gut tightened at actually meeting his mother.
He turned to Rhiannon, who was slightly behind him, her hands clasped in front of her. Riona fluttered near Keaira.
Keir released his mother’s shoulders, took one of Rhiannon’s hands and drew her next to him. “This is Rhiannon, D’Anu and Elvin.”
Keaira gave a brilliant smile and clasped Rhiannon’s free hand. “To meet you is a pleasure.”
“I’m so glad to meet you, too.” Rhiannon gave Keaira the beautiful smile that turned Keir’s heart inside out. “Keir must be named after you.”
Keaira nodded. “His father gave him that part of me, at least.”
Keir’s Mystwalker mother released Rhiannon’s hand and turned to face him. Her expression became serious. “I understand you seek council with the Mystwalkers.”
“We do.” The overwhelming feelings of meeting his mother had all but discarded thoughts of war from his mind.
Shapes rose around them until six men and women formed from the mist, Keaira being the seventh. Each Mystwalker wore the same type of misty clothing and had a runeengraved gold band around his or her neck. None wore a ring that would declare them a pleasure slave of the Shanai. To Keir’s immense surprise, one of the Mystwalkers had dark hair and green eyes—unheard of for a Mystwalker.
“This is the council of the free Mystwalkers.” Keaira gestured to the other men and women, drawing his attention from the green-eyed Mystwalker. “They have joined me to summit with you and discuss what it is that brings you to us.”
Keir took a deep breath and focused on the reason he was meeting with the Mystwalkers, and not the unsettling thoughts of seeing his birth mother.
“We are at war with the Fomorii in an Otherworld called San Francisco,” Keir said. He proceeded to explain the part the D’Danann, the D’Anu, and the human Paranormal Special Forces played in the great battle, a fight that had grown increasingly worse since Samhain.
“There are far too many Fomorii to fight alone,” Keir said as he looked to each blond-haired, blue-eyed Mystwalker, and the one dark-haired woman of the mist. “And now Ceithlenn.” A rumble rose in Keir’s chest. “We fear she is too powerful to battle without the aid of our allies.”
“Mystwalkers have never been allies of the D’Danann.” The dark-haired woman folded her arms across her chest and tilted her chin. “The D’Danann have chosen to not free our sisters and brothers who are kept as pleasure slaves by the Shanai.”
“I was not aware any request had been made to the Chieftains,” Keir said.
The woman narrowed her eyes. “We should not have had to ask for aid. Our people are being kept as slaves to pleasure the Shanai, for the gods’ sakes!”
“Alaia.” Keir’s mother turned to look at the dark-haired woman. “It is truly the people of San Francisco and not the D’Danann who make this request. The Chieftains have failed to fully support this fight for freedom. Do we ignore the plight of these peoples simply because of our displeasure with the D’Danann?”
Alaia’s green gaze met Keir’s. “I believe the free Mystwalkers need time to discuss this matter.”
“’Tis true,” one of the males said. “A decision cannot be made without careful consideration.”
Keir gave a slow nod. “When may we hear of your decision?”
“Three days’ time,” the Mystwalker called Alaia said, surprising Keir. Perhaps she was their leader?
Keir gave a deep nod. “We thank you for listening to our plea.”
As the other Mystwalkers vanished into mist, Keaira smiled and caressed his cheek. “I will see you again, my son.”
Before Keir could respond, her form wavered and she slipped into mist and shadow and vanished with the other mist into the forest.
Rhiannon squeezed Keir’s hand and he looked down at her. “Your mother is beautiful. And she seems very kind.”
He nodded and looked back to where his mother had disappeared. A knot formed in his throat and he raised his chin. It was time to move on.
Rhiannon felt a keen need to hurry as they walked to the transference stone. There was so much to do. What could be happening in San Francisco? Could Ceithlenn have struck again so soon?
The thought wrenched her stomach in two. She and Keir had only spent one day in Otherworld, but it seemed like a lot more.
When they reached the transference stone, the Great Guardian was already waiting for them. Again they bowed to her.
“Riona will now take you to your next destination,” the Great Guardian said. “The entrance to the Drow kingdom is where Riona’s Sidhe resides, but above ground.”
Nervousness and anger warred within Rhiannon, heating her belly, as they prepared to meet her father.
What would she say? How would he respond?
Not only did she feel abandoned, but he was the reason she carried such a dark secret—the Shadows she kept locked inside.
Although the Shadows had helped her. Maybe they weren’t so bad after all?
Rhiannon shook her head. Yeah, right. They’d almost hurt Keir. She was lucky they hadn’t turned on her friends, too.
She and Keir walked onto the stone and Riona perched on Rhiannon’s shoulder. “I will focus on where we must be, and we will arrive in moments,” the queen said.
The Great Guardian folded her hands in front of her. “I will see you upon your return.”
The same wild feelings overcame Rhiannon as the meadow whirled around her until everything was a complete blur. She stumbled again as they came to a stop but Keir caught her to him.
They were in a beautiful meadow with an apple tree. Flowers and bushes were arranged in an almost perfect circle along the outskirts of the meadow. To the north side of the apple tree was a large outcropping of rocks with a waterfall that trickled down into a couple of basins.
&
nbsp; “This is where Copper trapped us all,” the Faerie Queen said. “By accident, when her magic backfired.”
“When she was missing for so long?” Rhiannon looked around her. “It’s beautiful.” Her gaze landed on the apple tree. “No wonder she won’t eat apples anymore—I imagine she got pretty tired of them.”
Riona laughed, a soft tinkling laugh. “Come.”
Rhiannon’s belly felt hotter and hotter as she and Keir followed the Faerie whose wings sprinkled lavender dust in her wake. When they were on the backside of the rock outcropping, beside a pine tree, Rhiannon saw a flat, rectangular, rock surface. It was the shape and size of a large door and surrounded by dirt, no grass. The flat stone had strange markings scratched into the stone along all sides.
“Stomp on the door five times,” Riona said.
Keir moved in front of her and his boot thumped against stone as he did as the queen instructed.
Rhiannon’s heart beat like crazy as the stone jerked and trembled. It made a noise that grated on her nerves as it started sliding to the left. She took a step backward. “I don’t think I’m ready.”
Keir took her by the hand and she could do nothing but follow him down a set of stone stairs.
Chapter 29
The stairs smelled of damp soil and minerals as Rhiannon slowly walked down to the Drow realm. Fine dirt and small rocks crunched beneath her shoes as they made their way and a rush of cool air from below swept over her.
The door above them scratched closed and Rhiannon shivered. It went completely dark, then torches along the walls sputtered to life, giving enough light to see by.
It took some time, but when they reached the bottom of the stairs, they entered a great, circular hall. Carvings of warriors graced the walls, highlighted by torches lit around the room. Despite the fact that it was underground and dim, and not colorful like Rhiannon’s apartment and belongings, she felt it was almost … homey.
At that thought, she frowned.
Four warriors met them at the bottom of the stairs. Rhiannon was surprised at how sexy the Drow were. Their blueish gray skin actually looked good on them. Their long hair fell to or past their broad shoulders, and their muscular bodies were well defined. The hair color of the four warriors ranged from black to steel gray to silvery blue, and they were as tall as Keir.
Instead of shirts the Drow men wore metal shoulder and breast plates and snug breeches of dark gray or black. At their backs were quivers with arrows that looked as if they were made of pewter.
“Who may we have the pleasure of meeting this day?” one of the warriors said.
“I—I’m Rhiannon, D’Anu and Elvin.” She gestured to her companion. “This is Keir D’Danann.”
“Ah, yes, Keir, the warrior who assisted in the fight at the Underworld door.” The Drow male gave Rhiannon a long, appreciative look, causing Keir to scowl. “I will escort you to the king. I’m sure he will be pleased to see you both.”
Rhiannon gave a slight nod. “Thank you.”
“The throne room,” the Drow warrior said as they reached the entrance and Rhiannon’s jaw dropped. Every wall sparkled like clear-cut crystal, including the ceiling. To the back was an obsidian door. To the left crouched a black granite table surrounded by padded granite chairs. At the center of the room was a huge black granite throne with a padded back, and to one side of it was a matching smaller one.
Reclining on the larger throne was a man she assumed to be the Drow king.
Her father.
The king had sculpted muscles, a massive chest, and a very fit body. He wore leather straps crisscrossing his bare chest along with shoulder plates. His long silvery blue hair was loose around his shoulders and his pointed ears peeked through the strands. He didn’t look any older than Keir.
King Garran had one elbow resting on the arm of the chair and a shocked expression on his features.
“This is—” their guide started.
Before they could be introduced, the Drow king pushed himself to his feet, held his hand up for the guard to be quiet, then stood completely still for a moment.
Rhiannon was looking at her father.
He was staring at her.
“Anna?” he finally said in a deep, hoarse voice filled with emotion that sounded like longing.
She cleared her throat. “I’m Rhiannon.”
He stepped down the dais and took slow steps toward her. “My daughter?”
Rhiannon couldn’t move her feet if she tried. She nodded. He stepped closer. She held her breath.
When he reached her he stared for a long time. “You look so like your mother.” He reached up and caught a strand of her hair in his fingers. “Everything about you, down to the fire in your green eyes.”
Rhiannon swallowed. The accusation in her tone was strong when she spoke. “You’re talking about someone I never knew. Just like I never knew you.”
Garran closed his eyes for a moment, letting his fingers fall away from her hair. When he opened his eyes again, his chest rose and fell with a deep breath. “There is nothing I can say that will change the past. You were meant to be a child of the light like your mother. That is why we parted and she took you to live in your Otherworld.”
Rhiannon swallowed back the hurt. “Then where was she when I was growing up?”
Pain reflected in his eyes as he spoke. “Did not your aunt tell you? Anna died saving you and Aga during a car accident in your world.”
Rhiannon’s heart pounded. The images she’d seen so often in her dreams … that woman—could she have been Rhiannon’s mother?
“No,” Rhiannon whispered. “Aunt Aga told me that neither of you wanted me because of—” She stopped herself short, not ready to talk about the Shadows.
The Drow king said some harsh words in a language she didn’t understand and looked furious as he shook his head. Then he spoke in her language. “Anna and I—we loved each other and loved you beyond words. But we chose for Anna to take you to the light where she watched you, while I could not.”
Rhiannon’s heart pounded. “She was truly with me?”
He studied her. “Until you were two human years of age.”
A mixture of emotions swirled through Rhiannon. Aunt Aga had lied all this time?
It would have been just like her.
The pain of growing up without a mother and father reared through her like a horse’s hoof against her chest. “When my mother died, you could have come for me.”
He slowly shook his head. “As much as I wished to, I could not.”
She swallowed back other words she wanted to say. Hurtful words borne of the pain of all the years spent with an old woman who had turned her out when she was only eighteen.
She stepped back into Keir’s embrace.
Garran looked over her head at the men who had accompanied her. “Keir, welcome. I am glad to have you join me with my daughter.”
His daughter.
My father. Not Garran. Not the king. My father.
She shook her head. How could she think of this man as her father? He had abandoned her, and not to a good childhood.
Garran’s liquid silver eyes returned to Rhiannon to study her. Without looking away from her, he said to the men, “Leave us.”
“Yes, my king,” one of the Dark Elves said.
Rhiannon tore her gaze from Garran’s to look behind her and saw the warriors who had accompanied them retreat.
“Please allow me time with my daughter—alone, Keir D’Danann,” Garran said.
Rhiannon glanced up at Keir and he scowled. He looked down at her and after a brief moment she nodded. She needed answers from her father, and right now she’d rather do it alone.
When it was just her and Garran, Rhiannon shoved her hands in the front pockets of her jeans because she didn’t know what else to do with them. She glanced around the sparkling room, then back to meet her father’s gaze.
She jumped when he cupped her elbow with his palm and led her to the granite table. “W
ould you like something to drink? Eat?”
Rhiannon jerked her hands out of her pockets as Garran helped seat her at the right side of the large chair at the head of the table. The seat she settled in was surprisingly comfortable but she couldn’t relax as Garran took the head chair.
They studied each other for a long time, neither saying a word. Her father was so handsome despite the fact he had light blueish gray skin.
She fiddled with a fold of her T-shirt. “How did you and my mother meet?”
He closed his eyes and tilted his head back for a moment, as if remembering that day. After a few seconds of silence, his gaze returned to Rhiannon. His expression seemed somewhat wistful, as if he wished he could turn back time.
“She was so beautiful, your mother.” His mouth curved into a smile that any woman would probably find sexy if he wasn’t her father. “When I saw her strolling through the forest, beneath the moonlight,” he continued, “I knew I had to have her.”
Rhiannon leaned forward in her chair, waiting for him to say more.
“I slipped through the trees and watched her until she came upon a pond where she settled on a rock.” His eyes looked distant as he spoke. “She leaned back and tilted her face to the night sky. I could see every perfect feature from the outline of her face, to her full lips and the curve of her neck, to—”
Garran cleared his throat and his gaze came more into focus as he looked at Rhiannon. “I went to her and saw that her eyes were closed as moonlight spilled on her features. I knelt on one knee beside her and she opened her eyes and looked at me. There was no shock, no surprise at seeing a stranger at her side. She smiled as if she had been waiting for me.”
“What then?” Rhiannon asked softly.
“We talked. She told me a little of the world she came from, and I spoke of mine.” He sighed. “But I did not tell her I am Drow. In the moonlight it would have been difficult for her to see the true color of my skin.
Wicked Magic Page 25