“I need you to leave work and come with me.”
“What’s wrong?” she asked.
“I’ll have to explain in private. I can talk to your boss and make it a sheriff’s issue if I need to.”
Now he was alarming her. “No, you don’t have to do that. I’ll be able to leave. Just give me a second.”
She ran in the back and spoke to her boss, who was more than happy to let her go. She made a point of being a reliable employee. Brennan wrapped his arm around her as they walked to his Jeep. He didn’t speak. He kept his eyes peeled, looking all around the parking lot. He opened the car door for her and then slammed the door shut before getting in on the driver’s side.
“What’s going on?” Fallon asked.
“You know how I told you about the witches?”
“Yes, I remember.” No. It wasn’t possible. They couldn’t be preparing to attack again so soon. Dammit, she should have stayed in Florida where it was safe for Rowan.
“We were over at Kellan’s today, as you know, and we had a visitor. A very unusual visitor.”
“What do you mean by an unusual visitor? Was it another shifter?”
“No. We don’t know of any more. Brynne’s been planning to go look, but she hasn’t been able to yet.” On the steering wheel, his fingers or curled tight, gripping the leather. “Shifters aren’t the only supernatural beings. There are vampires, and there is a race of human-like beings called the Fae.”
Her heart nearly stopped beating. “So a Fae came to see you?”
“Yes.”
“And what did this Fae say to you?”
“She said that we would be attacked again by witches here in Texas, which hasn’t happened before. One of them came and threatened Brynne last year, but they didn’t attack. That’s only happened in Ireland.”
He’d said she, so the Fae was a woman. “What did she look like?”
“She looks the way all Fae looks. Tall, slender, otherworldly.”
It had to be her sister. But why? She assumed her sister wouldn’t bother warning her if her life was in danger. She had assumed her sister wouldn’t care if her child, who was half-shifter, was in danger either. Fallon was going to have to call her sister, but they hadn’t spoken in years for a good reason.
“Where are we headed right now?” Fallon asked.
“Back to Kellan’s house. It’s always safest if our family is together in the same place.”
Fallon was touched that he’d included her in their family. When she got to Kellan’s, everyone was gathered in the large playroom. It only had one door, and there were only windows on one wall, so it was much easier to guard than any of his other gigantic rooms.
“I need to use the restroom,” she said. She had to call her sister.
“Come right back,” Brennan said.
“I will,” she promised. She was lucky that he didn’t insist on going with her.
Her sister’s number was not saved on her current phone. She deleted it long ago, but as usual, her photographic memory wouldn’t let her forget. She dialed her sister’s number. Her sister picked up on the first ring.
“He gave you the message,” her sister said.
It was clear who she was referring to. Her sister must have known which shifter Fallon was closest to. “Yes, he did.”
“Good. I was worried they would think I was the enemy.”
“You have to admit, it’s reasonable for them to wonder why you’d help.”
“Fair enough.”
“I have to ask you the same thing,” Fallon said. “Why are you helping me? Why are you helping my son and his father?”
“No matter what you think of me, I will not let a child perish if I can prevent it.”
“I assumed you’d be glad if the world had fewer dragon shifters.”
Fallon’s sister exhaled harshly. “No. I’ve had a change of heart.”
“What caused this change of heart?” She didn’t want to be so pessimistic, but it wasn’t out of the realm of possibilities that her sister had been corrupted by the witches. If they’d gotten to a dragon shifter and brainwashed him or her, anything was possible.
“I can tell what you are thinking, and the answer is no. The witches have not bent my mind to their will.”
Fallon shook her head, though her sister could not see it. “How can I be sure of that?”
“I suppose you can’t, but I will tell you that I have left our tribe. I am tired of the way our people treat everyone who isn’t exactly like them.”
“You left the tribe?” Fallon asked in disbelief. The tribe had meant everything to her sister.
“Yes. I found a tribe in Japan that operated differently. They still have all the Fae traits, and they embrace their nature, but they aren’t cruel, and they aren’t exclusive. If you’d been born to their Fae tribe, your father would have been welcomed as long as your mother could vouch for him, and so would you.”
Fallon was speechless. Her entire identity had been shaped around the rejection of her family. To find out there were other Fae out there who didn’t view the world with hate and suspicion sent her spiraling. She had never sought out other Fae. It was obvious to other Fae that she was half-human. She’d thought she’d be greeted with the same hostility.
“I’ve been working with an international group to form a new tribe. We have members from Egypt, Mali, Spain, Norway, Germany, and Nepal. I’m heading to Brazil now to recruit a few more new members,” her sister said. “If you are willing, I’ll ask them to come back with me and help protect your shifter clan.”
“I couldn’t ask your new tribe to fight for us.”
“They’d want to. They’re like you. They don’t like injustice. That’s why I’ve been looking all over the world to find like-minded Fae.”
When Fallon was younger, when her mother was still alive, she’d done her best to stick up for all the Fae who were judged and found lacking within their tribe. Once her mother had died, she’d been found lacking as well, and she’d fled all the way to Florida.
“Come home, Fallon. I am sorry for the grave injustice we committed by declaring that you were not a true Fae. I should have left with you.”
Fallon’s throat burned. She didn’t know what to say. Ireland wasn’t home, but it seemed that her sister had truly changed. She wasn’t going to throw that back in her face.
Someone knocked on the bathroom door.
Fallon inhaled, taking a long, deep breath. “I have to go. I’ll let you know.”
She opened the door. It was Brennan. “Are you okay?” he asked. “I thought I heard crying.”
She had not been crying. She was clearly projecting, and now Brennan was picking up on it. Fuck. Their bond was stronger than she realized if she couldn’t maintain her cool facade around him any longer.
His arms came up around her, and he pulled her close. “Fallon. What’s wrong?”
She gulped, swallowing hard. All of their lives were in jeopardy. Now was not the time to freak out and lose her mind. If she didn’t keep her feelings under wraps, she’d end up projecting them to every shifter in this house, bond or not.
“I was talking to my sister.”
He swiped his thumb under her eye. “You’ve never mentioned a sister.”
“She lives in Ireland.”
“Okay. Is there something wrong with her?”
“No. She offered for us to come stay there. She reminded me that I still have a home in Ireland. We could all travel there together, so you wouldn’t have to leave any of us back here.”
“That could work.” Brennan said. “But it would put your family at risk.”
“My sister offered. She understands the threat.”
“We’ll talk to the others. We’ll let them know that you’re offering us a sanctuary.” He tightened his embrace and kissed her forehead. “I have to admit that I would feel a lot better having you close. Where’s your family home?”
“Corran, in County Cavan.”
“Okay, that’s a little more than two hours from the Cliffs of Moher. It’s far enough away that you all will be safe if we decide to take everyone there.” He held out his hand. “Let’s go talk to everyone. You can tell them your plan.”
Her family’s home had not changed at all, and there were thirteen adults and five children within it. When Fallon asked her sister where she and her new tribe would stay, she said they’d be camping in the area. Fallon remembered there was a small gardening shed nearby with an electric heater that plugged in. That might keep them comfortable. That night, all eight adults sat down at the kitchen table to plan.
“So five of us will be heading north to the cliffs. As soon as we leave, Fallon’s sister is going to come here with us as her new tribe members and stay here in the house with you all.” Kellan looked around. “Clara, Juliana, does that work for you?”
They both nodded. Even as humans, they had been through this before. Both of them had found out their husbands were shifters during violent fights.
“Brennan can I talk to you for a moment?” Fallon still hadn’t told him that she was part Fae. She hadn’t told him that she would be joining the battle either. They wouldn’t be leaving as five; they would be leaving as six.
Bless Brennan. He did not ask if she could wait. He must have been able to tell that it was important. They stepped into the master bedroom. She dropped the slight glamour that she kept around herself at all times. Fallon let him really see her. It wasn’t instantly apparent that she was Fae, but it was pretty close.
He stared at her with his mouth open. He reached his hand out and touched her cheek. “Fallon? Are you one of the Fae?”
“I have the same blood, yes. My father was human, and my mother was Fae. That was my sister who came to Kellan’s home to warn you.”
“Is that why we haven’t met her yet?” Brennan asked.
“Partially. She really is on her way back from Brazil. She’s recruiting more Fae who are open minded.”
His eyebrows knitted together. “Why didn’t you tell me? Why didn’t you tell me in Cuba when I showed you that I was a dragon shifter? I don’t understand.”
“I’ve been hiding for so long. My tribe was really awful to me when my mother died. They don’t consider humans to be worth their time. They pretty much rejected me, so I left and moved to Florida to make a new life. I practiced my glamour until it was second nature to look more human, and when Rowan was born, it solidified my decision. They don’t like shifters anymore than they like humans.”
“But now your sister has changed her mind. Why?” he asked.
“I don’t know why, exactly. I plan to find out. She was sincere, though. I have the ability to perceive if someone’s telling the truth, at least if I know the person well.”
“Did you know that I was a shifter when we met?” Brennan asked.
“Yes. I did know. It’s in every part of you.”
Brennan let out a sound that was nearly a scoff. “That explains a lot. It explains why you understood what Rowan needed.”
“Yes.”
His mouth formed into a flat line. “It also means you could have looked for me. It would have been a hell of a lot easier for you to find a dragon shifter than it would be for a young human woman.”
“You’re right. I thought about finding you many times. I knew that I needed to do it as Rowan got older, but I put it off.”
Brennan nodded. “Because you thought I’d take him into my clan.”
“Yes, I thought you’d take him into your clan, and I would never see him again. That’s what my family wanted to do with me. My mother refused. She would not give up her connection with my father. The three of us were a happy family for a while, but then she was killed.”
“Witches?”
“Yes.” Fallon bowed her head. “They are the enemy of everyone.”
“That is an indisputable fact.” Brennan shook his head. “You still should have told me. You should have told me in Cuba. You should have told me when your sister showed up. I don’t trust you, which means you’re not coming with us. You’re not fighting.”
Like hell, she wasn’t fighting. Brennan wasn’t her mate. He wasn’t even her boyfriend. It was Fallon’s sister who’d warned them. He didn’t get to call the shots. The sooner he got used to that, the better.
21
Brennan
Fallon went back to sit at the kitchen table with the rest of Brennan’s family, but Brennan stomped outside. He kicked a tree stump as hard as he could, sending bits of wood flying into the air. What the fuck was wrong with her? She’d lived in his house. She was raising his son. Yet she couldn’t bother to tell me that she’s not human? How did that even make sense?
His dragon grumbled. His dragon didn’t care about their petty dispute. My mate, his dragon said, pushing at him to acknowledge it.
He knew it was likely that his brothers and sisters-in-law could hear him having a fit. The kids could probably hear him, too, but he didn’t give a shit. He was fucking pissed. Fallon was Fae. She’d been Fae for her whole fucking life, which meant she’d lied to him. She’d had every opportunity to tell him the truth. He’d told her everything. He’d shifted in front of her, transforming into his dragon. He’d done all that, and she still hadn’t said a word.
Now she thought she was going to join them in battle. She hadn’t fought lately. She’d been in Florida, working for rich people.
Brennan stormed back into the house. Fallon was seated at the table, and everyone was staring at him as he walked in. He guessed they’d heard his fit. He yanked his chair out and sat down. “You aren’t fighting.”
Fallon had not recreated her facade. She didn’t quite look like her sister, but she very much looked like she had Fae blood. It was obvious, even to a human, that she was not one of them.
Kellan put his hands on the table. “Please tell us what’s going on. We need the full picture before we proceed.”
Fallon turned her cool gaze toward Kellan. The human woman who Brennan had thought he’d known? Gone. At that moment, there was nothing left of her. “I am half-Fae, half-human. I didn’t tell Brennan the truth about who I was until tonight.”
Everyone’s eyebrows shot straight up. He’d assumed they’d heard that part, but maybe it hadn’t been clear.
“Well. Okay,” Kellan said. “That was unexpected, but you’re an asset now. You know Ireland, and you understand the witches.”
Brennan couldn’t allow her to fight. His protective urges were going into overdrive. Mine. Mate. Fuck. She was his mate, and now she wanted to throw herself into battle to prove a point.
Fallon stared him down. “Your wishes are irrelevant. You said yourself that we are not mates.”
“When did I say that?” he asked.
“At Kellan’s house.” She repeated the conversation to him, verbatim.
Shit. Her goddamn photographic memory was a pain in the ass. Now she seemed offended that he’d said she wasn’t his mate. Did she want to be his mate? Because if she did, that could be arranged. Not that either of them had time to even fucking think about it right now, not with the witches breathing down their necks.
Mate or not, she was not going to fight in this battle. He’d make sure of that.
22
Fallon
For once, she felt at home again in her native country. The wind whipped her long hair. The chill in the air invigorated her. The fog had settled overnight, and the mist rising from the ground was thick. In the distance, sheep roamed the countryside.
She had not wanted to admit it, but she had missed this landscape. It had been so long since she had seen the rolling green hills, the lush verdant grass, and the grey rocks embedded in every surface. It felt really good to no longer have to conceal herself. She had unleashed the part of herself that she kept hidden for so long. Now everyone could see her for who she was. Her skin was smoother, her legs were longer, and her eyes were brighter.
She put on the traditional linen dress of h
er tribe. She tied her hair back. She pulled her steel sword from its case. She had learned to use it as a child, but it had been many years since she’d touched it. Her name was inscribed on the handle. Her mother had handed it down to her, but when her family shunned her, she left it behind, just like every other reminder of her life with the Fae.
She wasn’t sure why Brennan thought that he could prevent her from coming. She had never tested her strength with Brennan, but Fae were frequently as strong as dragon shifters. If she was angry, he didn’t stand a chance.
Quinn had rented a large passenger van for all of them to ride together. It seated nine. There were six of them traveling to the cliffs. Her sister Maeve and her tribe had agreed to stay behind to guard the children and human wives.
The following morning, her sister arrived back home. Fallon could feel them coming. It sent a jolt of energy through her body, knowing that her kind was close by. Sure enough, when Fallon rushed out to the path, Maeve was walking up to the house with three other Fae that she’d met in other countries. Fallon stepped out onto the stone pathway as the four of them walked up to the house. Her sister stood before her, and Fallon reached out and clasped her sister’s hands.
“Welcome back,” Maeve said, and she introduced the three members of her new tribe.
The rest of Brennan’s family came out to meet them. After a shared breakfast of sausage and eggs, it was time to go. Thanks to some detective work on Maeve’s part, they knew the witch was waiting in the Cliffs of Moher, plotting their demise. She might know they were coming, but it would be too late for her to hide.
The dragon shifters said goodbye to their mates and children. Fallon held Rowan tight, and she kissed his cheeks over and over. “I love you,” she said, and she handed him over to Clara.
Brennan stood in front of her with his fists clenched. She held her sword up in front of her chest. “This is an heirloom. Don’t make me use it on you.”
Liam stepped up and grabbed Brennan’s shoulder. “Come on, brother. You can’t control her.”
Sheriff Dragon's Secret Baby (Irish Dragon Shifter Brothers Book 4) Page 11