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“YES, MÀTHAIR, I UNDERSTAND,” Aidan said with his eyes on his shoes. “I know my actions are ill-advised, but Colin is bound by blood to protect her. I couldn’t knowingly put her in danger by turning her in to the Queen.” He raised his head and spoke passionately. “This girl, there’s something different about her. I can feel that she’s important. I’ve felt such a strong connection to her since the moment our eyes locked. She’s here for a reason, like she’s a part of our destiny, but none of us can figure out why. Do you know he’s been dream walking her for years, trying to build their bond, to get her ready if the time came that she needed him? That’s why I don’t understand that it was me who made first contact with her at the bar. It should’ve been him. What does that mean?”
“I’ve already told you my son, I cannot give you the future you seek. It’s against the rules,” the woman said, offering nothing in the way of advice..”
“Can you see into her future, Màthair?” Aidan’s voice held a soft pleading quality. “The other Guardians and I see nothing. Has this ever happened before?”
“Perhaps her path is clouded for a reason, my son. Those who walk with her will fall. Choose wisely if you wish to be one of the fallen. The Queen has requested you bring the child to her at once. Why would you resist your queen, you who have always been loyal and just? She will not take lightly to resistance of any kind. Give the girl up.”
“You speak out of fear.” He stood; his hands fisted at his sides. “When have I ever known you to guide me so wrongly, so selfishly? If your fear is for me, it is misplaced. The girl is not a bad omen. She is lost in this world and needs help to find out where she belongs.” The words that flew from his mouth were vicious and cold, a way he’d never spoken to his mother before, but she was wrong, and he would prove it. He was linked to Teagan, he could feel it, and even if that link meant his demise, he would not stray from his commitment or duty.
“I can see the determined set upon your face and know it is no use to try to persuade you farther. Use your judgment wisely, my son. Enemies abound, friends deceive, and allies can be found where you least expect them.” With those words, Aria shimmered out of his line of vision.
He stood up and signed.
“At least send me back?” he yelled into the nothingness of the veil.
Suddenly he was surrounded by hundreds of dragonfae. They worked angrily behind him to open the veil. A tear, half his sized, opened steadily, and a dozen of the tiny fae flies shoved him from the front until he fell through the tear they had made backwards. He flashed back to the human realm, hoping they hadn’t been tricksters and sent him to the wrong time because they were angry about having to tear and mend the veil behind him twice.