by Alex Temples
He proceeded to tell me the story his mother had recounted to him, leaving out names.
When he finished I stood there, considering him.
“Who was your father, Aiden?”
He met my eyes, and I saw his own were filled with regret. “My father is Evrei Bane of Cibola.”
I chill went through me as his words sunk in, then a ripple of anger. I slowly began to back away from him.
Chapter Forty-Nine
Aiden
“You are born of the dark fae, son of Evrei?” Brin asked, her eyes filled with betrayal.
Aiden watched as she moved away from him, anger creeping into her expression.
“Brin. I didn’t know.” He pleaded, moving towards her. He couldn’t lose her. What they had was so new, so fragile and yet, it was more powerful than anything he’d ever felt for a woman.
“No.” Her blue eyes were ice as she stared back at him.
“Your father killed my father, almost killed my brother…” She trailed off, her eyes wide as she looked at him.
Aiden felt as if ice water had been poured over him. The look of disgust on her face was too much to bear. He’d just found out himself, just realized his entire life was a lie.
He knew he couldn’t stand here and watch the tenderness in her eyes turn to hatred. He was still coping with the news himself, so he did the only thing he could think to do.
“I love you, Brin, and I’m as upset by this news as you are, but I can’t stand here and explain to you something I don’t yet understand myself. Go save the world. I have something I need to do.”
He saw her fear, her confusion, her anger swirling beneath the surface as if she weren’t sure which feeling to embrace.
He closed the gap between them, pulled her into his arms and kissed her with everything he had, willing his body to say what his words could not. She tried to pull away at first and then she melted to him, kissing him back hungrily.
He pulled away finally, looking sadly down at her as if to memorize every detail of her face. Leaving her was impossible, but there was a score he needed to settle and he had to do it alone.
She saw his intent then and her eyes flew wide.
“No. Don’t go, Aiden.”
She moved towards him, but it was too late. There was a swirl of energy and he vanished, leaving Brin staring out into the darkness, alone.
Chapter Fifty
We had just dispatched the last few cases of vaccine. Tristan and I stood at the lab’s loading dock overseeing the loading of the last truck.
Together, we watched the white semi pull away from the loading dock, enroute to the airport where the vaccine would be distributed to cities in need.
I turned to him. “What do we do now?”
He laughed.
“The eternal question.”
We’d spent days together making the elixir, working tirelessly until we’d finally finished. Sam was back at her apartment, where Sergio was sleeping on her couch. Well, she said he was sleeping on her couch, but I didn’t believe her for a minute.
Siddarth had been called back to Eden for a council meeting. We were in a bind. We couldn’t complete the full ceremony at the Winter Solstice without the Keepers. Aelwen was convinced we could somehow stabilize the walls in the meantime, but eventually we’d have find the keepers and perform the ceremony, or the walls would fall and the dark fae would take the mortal realm.
I shivered at the thought.
Summer was almost over. That gave me only a few months to catch up on the years of magical training I was behind on. Then, we had to figure out how to defeat Gethin’s army, rescue the keepers, and perform the ceremony.
How would I master magic the keepers spent decades perfecting in mere months?
Aelwen had sent a message for me, care of Nia. They wanted me to come to Eden, to stay in the Crystal palace and train with them.
I didn’t want to leave Oren. I’d worked so hard to see him safe. Aelwen thought we belonged together because we were family. She was our grandmother, after all.
How strange that news still felt. She’d told me Oren would best recover under her care, but I wasn’t yet ready to expose him to their world. It would mean finding a way to explain to him everything that had happened, who our mother was…what we were.
I sighed.
It was a task I wasn’t looking forward to and I pushed it to the back of my mind. The dark fae had retreated for now, knowing they’d lost this battle. We’d prevented millions from dying. I knew it wasn’t over, but I planned to take advantage of the momentary calm.
Tonight I’d send Aelwen a note politely turning down her offer. Oren and I weren’t ready for that step yet. I had to take time to come to terms with the loss and change of the past few weeks before I dived fully into the world of fae. I needed time to mourn, time to rest, time to plot my revenge. But, first, I needed to forget everything that was on my mind, especially Aiden.
I glanced over at Tristan
The wind blew his blonde hair off his face. He was a good man, who was quickly becoming a good friend, and I trusted him. There was a pureness to Tristan that soothed me. He was safe.
I felt guilty as I thought of my last conversation with Aiden. Dread gripped my stomach. He thought I had rejected him because of his parentage. I suppose I would have thought the same thing in his position.
In that moment, I’d been filled with such overwhelming emotion from everything that had just happened. The anger and fear of losing my father and almost losing Oren was still fresh. I hadn’t been in the best place to process the news that Evrei was his father. Now, in the clear light of day, it didn’t matter to me who his parents were. I loved him for who he was and I’d never hold him accountable for the sins of his father.
I was worried about him. I recognized the look on his face just before he vanished. Vengeance. The intensity of it chilled me, and I feared what he’d do with it.
I turned to Tristan.
“Where do you think he went What do you think he’s going to do?”
Tristan turned his gaze on me, his eyes full of concern.
“I don’t know what Aiden will do, Brin, but I trust he’ll return when he’s done what he needs to. We have other things to focus on right now. Let’s focus on the day ahead, no?” He smiled.
I glanced over at him. “You’re right. We should focus on today.”
With those words the two of us just stood together, staring out at the sun rising over the city. The streets were just beginning to wake up. I pushed back the uncertainty that threatened to creep in and embraced the tingle of excitement coursing through me. If there was one thing Aiden was right about, it was that there was no room for doubt.
I’d begun this journey with a list in hand, seeking a sense of fulfillment, something to fill the void within me. Wanting desperately to acknowledge the sense that I wasn’t living the life that I was meant to.
In that moment, as I stared out into the rising sun, I had no list. I had no idea what came next, but I’d never felt better. I had a renewed sense of purpose, a feeling of being alive like I never had before. The world wasn’t what I’d thought it was. We’d lost so much the last few weeks, lost so many, but we were alive. There were people counting on us. There was still a world to save. Tomorrow was a mystery, and would very likely bring with it more challenges and uncertainty, but the promise of today shone bright and I was eager to greet it.
Grinning, I took Tristan’s elbow and pulled him along in the direction of the coffee shop, picturing the steaming hot mocha that awaited me. Whatever fate had store in for us, it would have to wait until after coffee.
The End.
* * *
[LK1]Consider calling this the Book of Kells – fae version
[LK2]time m
[LK3]
[LK4]
[LK5]Left off
Table of Contents
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chap
ter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Eighteen
Chapter Nineteen
Chapter Twenty
Chapter Twenty-One
Chapter Twenty-Two
Chapter Twenty-Three
Chapter Twenty-Four
Chapter Twenty-Five
Chapter Twenty-Six
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Chapter Thirty
Chapter Thirty-One
Chapter Thirty-Two
Chapter Thirty-Three
Chapter Thirty-Five
Chapter Thirty-Six
Chapter Thirty-Seven
Chapter Thirty-Eight
Chapter Thirty-Nine
Chapter Forty
Chapter Forty-One
Chapter Forty-Two
Chapter Forty-Three
Chapter Forty-Four
Chapter Forty-Five
Chapter Forty-Six
Chapter Forty-Seven
Chapter Forty-Eight
Chapter Fifty