Violet stared at Celine, as if her eyes were deceiving her. Then she jumped out of bed. Dagan evidently realized there was no danger and relaxed his hands at his sides. Violet flung her arms around Celine and squeezed, and Celine clung back and closed her eyes, letting Dagan disappear in the dark while she embraced the moment.
When she released her sister, they were both smiling widely. Violet didn’t ask why Celine was so wet – thanks to her fall the river, water was dripping on the bedroom floor.
“It looks like you ran through a storm!” Violet exclaimed. “What are you doing back from London?”
Celine had almost forgotten that Caynin had compelled her family to think that she was staying with her uncle in London. She didn’t want to lie to her sister, but the truth would be too much for a fourteen-year-old to handle. “I just came to visit.”
“You brought a friend.” Violet looked at Dagan as if she had only just noticed him.
Dagan’s eyes were like those of a cat, undoubtedly predatory and not human. His canines were sharp and white, like those of a leopard. His ears were pointy, and his skin had an unnatural glow to it. Everything about him was otherworldly.
“This is Dagan,” Celine introduced him awkwardly. “Dagan, this is my sister, Violet.”
Dagan offered a charming smile, took Violet’s hand in his bigger one, and kissed it.
Clearly unused to this, Violet blushed and giggled. “I like the contact lenses.”
“Contact lenses?” As a Fata he wouldn’t know what those were. Fata had exceptional vision and had no need for glasses or contact lenses.
“They are new,” Celine said before he could answer.
“Why are you all dressed up?” Violet’s gaze drifted from his canines to his ears.
“It’s part of his job, uh, he is in show business,” Celine said.
“Does she answer all your questions?” Violet asked him.
“Only the difficult ones.” He winked.
Violet obviously liked Dagan. How could she not? He was tall, dark, and handsome, and looked as if he had walked out of a fairytale.
Eventually, Violet’s attention went to Celine’s sword. “Is that real?”
“Of course not,” Celine said. “It’s a prop for Dagan’s acting. He, uh, is ready for a cosplay event in the area, which is why we decided to stop by.”
Having the sword at her side reminded her how she and her sister used to pretend sticks were swords and that they lived among the faeries. They had played for hours in the garden in front of the house, and her mother would interrupt them once it was time for dinner.
“Cool! Let’s make breakfast!” Violet said, and before Celine could object, she shouted. “Mom! Dad! You won’t guess who is home!”
Celine looked toward Dagan to try to figure out if he was okay with being in the human lands with her family. He shrugged, clearly fine with everything that had happened. He reached for Celine but did not touch her. Slowly, the water floated off her body toward him. The water from Dagan’s own body mixed with Celine’s and pooled in his palm. Within moments, they were both dry, and Dagan sent the water bubble through the open window.
Dagan followed Violet downstairs, and Celine accepted that he would speak to her later about the portal she had opened to get them here and the original portal she had failed to close. This was not the time or place to discuss such matters.
Celine knew Dagan well enough that he wanted her to eat – opening the portal had drained her energy. He was constantly reminding her that if she wanted her magic to recharge, she would need food. He had warned her that if she did not have enough energy and pushed her magic too hard, she could burn out, which could kill her.
Celine and Dagan entered the kitchen and then heard her parents’ room door open. Marcia and Rudolf came downstairs moments later. Both smiled immediately when they saw Celine.
Marcia rushed to her and smothered her with kisses. “Zoey! What are you doing here?”
“Visiting,” Celine managed to say.
“And you brought a friend!”
Before Dagan could introduce himself, Marcia was kissing him as well. Celine felt her cheeks grow warm, although Dagan looked calm and in control. Finally, it was Rudolf’s turn. He embraced Celine in a big hug and held her tightly. Then he extended his hand, and Dagan took it. Celine had never seen Fata shake hands before. Where had Dagan learnt this?
“I’m Dagan, a friend of your daughter’s.”
“Rudolf,” he said. “That’s a flimsy handshake you got there.”
Dagan was strong enough to crush her father’s hand without much effort. Celine expected him to squeeze harder, to take control and exercise his power. Instead, he dropped her father’s hand. “My dad used to tell me the same thing.”
He was a good liar.
“And what does he say about your ears?” Rudolf asked. Maybe he thought they were shaped that way because of surgery. Celine couldn’t tell if her father was disgusted or intrigued.
“He says I take cosplay way too seriously,” Dagan responded.
“Dagan likes to dress as his character so that he will play the role better,” Celine explained.
“We’ve never had an actor in our house before,” Marcia said and switched on the coffee pot.
“I’m honored to be your first,” Dagan said.
Violet set the table and put frozen waffles into the toaster, while Celine felt oddly out of place in her house. She became aware of her father staring at the long sword at her side.
“Is that real?” Rudolf pointed to the sword.
“No,” Dagan said.
“It looks so real. Can I see it?” Marcia extended her hand, as if she expected Celine to hand it over.
“Don’t think about the sword or our appearance again,” Dagan said gently. Celine could sense the magic coming from his body like steam after a warm shower. She didn’t like that he had compelled her family but understood why it was necessary.
A part of her knew it was time to leave once he had compelled them, but she could not bring herself to walk out the front door. She hadn’t seen her family in too long, and she missed them. So, she sat down at the table, and Dagan didn’t try to stop her. He took a seat next to her as Violet brought the waffles to the table and Marcia the coffee.
“What are you doing here?” Marcia asked.
“We are just here for the morning,” Celine said. “Dagan is here for one of his cosplay events and brought me along for support. I figured it would be a good time to stop by.”
“I doubt that. London is a bit far for just a morning,” Violet said.
“Why didn’t you tell us you were coming?” Rudolf asked.
“You will not talk or think about it anymore,” Dagan compelled.
It was amazing yet terrifying how much power his words carried. Her family would unquestioningly do anything he asked. They would forget their own names if he willed it. They would happily jump out of buildings, at his command. They would murder for him and forget it had ever happened, like a bad dream. It turned her stomach.
Dagan compelled them only when necessary to forget things or when their stories didn’t make sense, but he still compelled them way too much, and Celine’s guilt was overwhelming.
Her family asked questions about her life in London and her uncle. Celine answered them curtly and then tried to redirect the conversation every time.
Even in the human world, Dagan was charming. He complimented Marcia on her hair and made her giggle in a childlike way Celine had never heard before. Rudolf liked him, too – she could tell from the way he studied him. If her dad disliked him, he would simply have ignored him.
Celine finished her waffle, and Dagan took a new one from the plate in the center of the table and put it on to her plate. She was not hungry anymore but didn’t feel like arguing with him either. She also didn’t want to make a big deal of it in front of her family. She would lecture Dagan about being a control freak later.
You have to eat to stabilize your magic, his green eyes seemed to say.
She looked straight into his eyes, but internally she was rolling hers. He grinned as if he understood.
“So are the two of you dating?” Marcia asked unexpectedly.
“No,” Celine said the same time Dagan said, “Yes.”
Her family looked confused, and she glared at Dagan as he continued to speak. “She’s just not accepted it yet.”
Celine’s parents, her Fata parents, had promised her to Dagan. He had never mentioned it to her or spoken about their arranged marriage. Even if he married her, which she would never do, she would still not be able to help him gain power over the Everblossom Kingdom.
“Okay, time to go,” Celine said, desperate not to hear anything more about dating Dagan. Maybe she felt that way because she often wondered what it would be like to date him. Was he romantic? Would he make small romantic gestures, like create a rose out of ice, like Caynin had? Something told her he wouldn’t, but he would be much more fun with other things, like going on adventures. What did his lips taste like, his tongue feel like… Her cheeks grew even warmer.
“You have to finish your second waffle first,” Dagan pointed out calmly.
She glared at him before shoving it down her throat in the most unladylike way possible. She had stuffed her face and had a hard time chewing. She hoped it angered or disgusted him in some way. It served him right for pretending that he could tell her what to do.
“Zoey!” her dad scolded.
“You must forgive our daughter… she’s a bit... defiant sometimes,” Marcia said.
“Oh, I know,” Dagan responded, with a slightly challenging voice.
Celine wiped her face with her hand before getting up. Violet eyed her waffle, then gobbled it down like Celine had. Dagan’s smile was real, Marcia sighed dramatically, and Rudolf rested his head in his hands.
Celine considered leaving the room, leaving the house, because that was what was best for her family. She could not involve them with Fata – not even Dagan. Especially not Dagan. Although Celine had grown comfortable around him, she should not let herself forget that he was one of the most powerful, dangerous faeries on earth. He had seen her with her family – he had realized they were her weakness, and that made her vulnerable.
Celine could not just barge out of her house, as that would upset her parents. She was still standing and felt slightly out of place as no one else moved. She would help to clean, and then they would leave. Celine collected everyone’s empty plates and packed them in the dishwasher. Her family cleared the table – her father took the coffee mugs to the sink, her mother the coffee pot. Dagan offered to help, but with so many hands, there was nothing to do.
Celine doubted he ever had to clean anything by himself since becoming a prince. Yet, he was humble and didn’t mind getting his hands dirty. She liked that.
“We should go.” Celine was unable to hide the sadness in her voice. She wished she had never come here because seeing her family, and having to say goodbye, only made the heartache worse.
“We can stay a bit longer,” Dagan said gently. He came to where she was standing, by the dishwasher.
“We shouldn’t,” she mumbled, her eyes downcast.
“It might make you feel less lonely.”
She met his gaze sharply.
“What? Did you not think I knew?”
Celine felt vulnerable and shied away from the emotion. She had tried so hard to hide her feelings from him, from everyone. When she had lived in the Everwhite Kingdom, she had fallen in love with Caynin, and that had distracted her from missing her family. She had left Caynin but had taken the pain he caused her to the Evergreen Kingdom. It was because of him that she could not trust the Fata again. That was not fair toward Dagan, but it was what it was.
“I didn’t want you to know,” she responded. “Have you been sending the animals to keep me company?”
His mouth twisted. Why was he suddenly so irritated? “No.”
“But you know about them?”
“Yes.”
Before she could ask anything else, Violet was beside her. “When will you come visit again?”
“It will probably be a while,” Celine said with a heavy heart.
Her sister’s face dropped, and Celine drew her to her chest. Would she ever see her sister again or would she spend the rest of her life with the Fata? She didn’t want to stay in a world where she did not belong. She wanted to return here.
When she eventually let her sister go, her parents swooped in to hug her and tell her how much they loved her. It took everything to hold back her tears. Dagan watched her, and she hated showing weakness in front of him – her family was her weakness.
“Dagan, you are welcome anytime,” Rudolf said. Her father was not the kind of man who often said things like that. He must really like Dagan. How could he not?
“You are such a beautiful man,” Marcia said, and Celine felt her cheeks flush as her mother kissed him on the side of his face.
Dagan was undeniably older than Celine, but neither of her parents commented on that. She wondered how they would react if they knew that he was an immortal. Her family walked them to the door and waved them off.
Once they were out of earshot, Dagan said, “I can compel them to forget this.”
“No,” she said quickly.
“That way they won’t miss you, won’t expect you back soon, and won’t think about how odd this visit was. You know it’s for the best.”
“No.” Dagan was right, but the selfish part of her heart denied him. She hated compulsion. She hated that he had to use it around the breakfast table. If she could help it, her family would never be compelled again.
Dagan didn’t push the matter further. He respected her choice, something Caynin never had. Caynin had liked to take her choices from her, while Dagan let her make up her own mind. He clearly didn’t always agree with her, but he didn’t try to curtail her freedom either. Was it because he used to be a slave and understood how horrible it was to not have choices or freedom?
“You opened a door and teleported us. Tell me how you did it,” Dagan said.
Celine’s heart flipped as she thought about her breakthrough. “I just pictured the place where I wanted to be the most – which was with my little sister. I pictured it as I remembered it, and the world around me seemed to fade away.”
“I am very proud of you,” Dagan said. “Learning to control magic isn’t easy. Do you think you can open a door to my castle? It will take long to walk back to the Globetrot-tree.”
“I can try,” she said.
They stopped walking in a small park, close to her house, where there were no other people. This was as much privacy as she was going to get.
She closed her eyes and pictured the Evergreen Kingdom; more specifically, she pictured her room. She could feel the big bed’s soft sheets. She could smell the ocean through the open window. She could hear her footsteps on the floor.
When she opened her eyes, a circle had formed in the grass by her feet, and within it was her room. She smiled at Dagan, and they stepped into it, as if they were one. This form of teleportation was much more comfortable than the Globetrot-tree. The world didn’t spin. She didn’t feel sick. She felt calm and centered. The portal closed once they stepped through. Celine would have to practice keeping it open.
Dagan’s expression was sorrowful.
“Dagan? What’s wrong?”
“I should have known there would be Prenumbras guarding the door.”
She shook her head. “Neither of us knew that more than one Prenumbra came through.” The thought chilled her. How many more were there?
“I should have been better prepared,” he grumbled. “And next time I will be.”
“Next time?”
“Tomorrow, we return. We have to close that portal.” His eyes were resolute.
She nodded. She had opened the portal, and it was her responsibility to close it. But now that they knew there were more Prenumbras, what were they going to do to stop them? They only had one weapon to kill them, and that weapon was in Caynin’s possession. She doubted he would simply hand it over.
Celine was tired after such a long day and was already missing her family. Thinking about them made anger flash up in her. “How dare you tell my family that we are dating?”
“I didn’t know you wanted to keep it a secret,” Dagan said.
“Stop it,” she said. “We are not dating.”
“Then why, out of all the places in this huge castle, did you choose to teleport me to your bedroom?”
“Uh—”
“Were you trying to tell me something?” He stepped closer, and her breath caught. He was beautiful. Too beautiful. With his sharp cheekbones and fine features, he almost looked like an angel. And every part of him was tempting. His salty, ocean-breeze scent made her want to lean in. His skilled hands made her want to know what they would feel like on her. But no, she wouldn’t get romantically involved with a faerie again. She’d never be able to trust him, and without trust they had nothing.
Celine shoved him away. Hard.
She had to remind herself who he was and what he wanted. Prince Dagan, hell bent on gaining power. He just needed her to close the portal and get his foot into the Everblossom Kingdom. He only liked her for what he thought he could use her for.
He smiled. “You’re strong for such a little thing.”
“You’ve not seen anything yet,” she said bravely.
Dagan had taken over her training since she’d left Caynin in the Everwhite Kingdom. He had improved her fighting skills by practicing sword fighting and archery with her. He had also taught her hand-to-hand combat which she enjoyed learning while accepting she could never beat him. He was so much faster and stronger. Sometimes, when he kept winning during their sparring, she would get frustrated and yell at him. He found it amusing how emotional she was, he even told her so, and would look at her with a calmness that made her want to gouge out his eyes.
“Do show me.” He graced her with a toothy smile.
There was nothing she could do to him. Yet, she didn’t surrender. She shoved him again – toward the door. “Just get out.”
For a moment, she thought he would listen, but then a naughty look consumed his face. Instantly, he was in front of her. He easily tossed her back, and she landed softly on the bed. She didn’t have to look at him to know that he was grinning. Power struggles were what he lived for. She opened her eyes, and what she saw made her scream.
On her roof was a Fata dressed in black, no doubt so that he could hide in the dark. Unfortunately for him, the room was painted white, and he stood out like a blood stain on a wedding dress.
She was not familiar with the magic he used to cling to the wall. His face was covered, except for his eyes, and in his hand was a sharp dagger. He clung to the roof like a spider, and he met her eyes before he dropped – dagger aimed at her chest.