“What are you reading?”
“My uncle kept journals from this world and from ours. There was something in them about the MBD.”
This time I groaned. “I thought we weren’t going to talk about any of this.” But curiosity got the best of me and I padded over to him.
“MBD is not a who, it’s a what.”
“What?” I frowned.
He smiled. “It’s an organization. A very old one according to this. They've been hunting immortal beings for a long time.” His brows tightened. “That man Peterson, may not be what he seems.”
I didn't know what he seemed, other than a part of the mystery. “Maybe Peterson's different. It seems like he's trying to help. Why else would he offer leads on Camilla?”
“I don't know. But I don't think he can be trusted,” he said.
Can anyone? We were fighting an invisible enemy, someone had to be on our side. I picked up a book written in glowing green symbols. Elvish script. My fingers tingled as they traced over the markings. “Have you heard any more on where your uncle might have gone?”
“Not yet. But I don’t believe he has been harmed. Wherever he went, it was most likely to avoid whatever fate was coming. His gift for sensing danger and outrunning it are what’s kept him alive this long. Even after he was forced to live among mortals, he never lost that edge.”
“So what did you find?”
“I did uncover some information. Shadow fey were not only stealing infants, but adult humans to mate with in the hopes of producing the child that was prophesied.
“That was how my parents met,” I said. “My mother was taken but she was rescued by my father, who was able to get her out safely. They fell in love and he left his rule to be here with her.”
“Why would he return when he knew he’d be punished?”
“Maybe he had to. Or, maybe he was forced to.” I looked up at him. “Peterson said Gran turned him over to your father. And my mother still blames the Elves. What other reason would make her hate them so much?”
Adrius scowled. “Decimating love. Controlling futures. That sounds like my father’s rule. The Elven counsel of Elyssium were dauntless in their insistence that there be no mixing of blood lines.” He tapped his fingers against the desk. “At any rate, the Shadow fey didn't get what they were after before your birth, so now they're coming for you.” The furrow between his brows deepened. “You don’t think your father has anything to do with it? He is their ruler.”
I shrugged, but the thought soured my stomach. I'd believed he was good. That the choices he'd made must have been for our best. I'd floated blind trust in him all my life. Too late to stop now. “No. I don't think he'd do something like this. Fey go rogue all the time. And my father sent Zanthiel to watch over me.”
A dark look crossed his face. “That your father sent a sadistic Shadow fey to guard you does little to aid his case.”
“Okay, bad example. But he knows Fauna, he's the one who sent her me in Mythlandria. She would have told him I was looking for him. If he was after me, he'd have come to me directly.”
“Then it’s worse. Whoever is doing this might not have an allegiance to anyone. Not that we didn't have enough reasons before, but you cannot by any means return to Faery, Lorelei.”
“I know. I know. But—” I paused, because I knew exactly the reaction my next words would stir up. “Maybe my father is exactly the person to help in all of this.” I bit down on the corner of my lip, waiting his argument.
“No. It’s not worth the risk and you said so yourself, he would have come to you were that the case.”
I clamped by hands behind my back and paced the floor. “But, if he's in the dark about what’s really going on... why wouldn’t he want to help? It makes sense.”
Adrius tried to hide his smile. “Look at you. It's like you think you're in some sort of action adventure film.”
“Hey, just rolling with the punches here.”
“You’ve always been good at that,” he said, and while I thought there was sarcasm in his words, I couldn’t find any trace of it.
“You know your safety is most important, Lorelei. We will figure this out. I promise you that.”
It was nice knowing someone always had your back. Especially with a massive target painted on it.
“Gran was getting ready for the onslaught that she knew would one day be coming. I think that's why she might have been cooperating with Peterson’s organization.”
I flipped through a few more pages, then shut the book tight. The secrets inside were like a virus, spreading through every part of me, making it impossible to think of anything else. And now I'd contaminated Adrius with it. It would be weighing on his mind as incessantly as it was on mine, eclipsing all else. It was like being wrapped up in a mystery with too many suspects and nowhere near enough clues.
“I was researching some of those plants your grandmother had growing in her poison garden. My uncle has medical journals for both worlds,” he said slowly. “They were used for killing faeries.”
“What?”
Cool air poured through the open panes of glass. It was unusually cold for early June. Something about the chill in the air reminded me of the Nevermore... the icy lands of Noctria and the frozen wastelands of the Winter Court in Faery. Involuntarily, I shivered.
Adrius went to the window and closed it. “There are several entries in his book about it. And—” he paused.
I held my breath. It was bad enough to learn the grandmother I’d worshiped may have been involved in murder... what could be worse than that?
“There’s a spell in there— one that was never to become known. It was designed to end the race of the fey. And it was written by your grandmother.”
Peterson must have something to do with this. He and his organization wanted the veil sealed and the fey extracted from the human world before they took over. He claimed they wanted them gone or stripped of magic… not dead. But Gran involved in all of this somehow?
“Not possible. My grandmother couldn’t have hated my father enough to wish his entire race annihilated.” Then I thought of Mom and Neil and their behavior toward Adrius. Suddenly that level of uncompromising loathing seemed not only possible but entirely probable.
“But what are they all so afraid of? If I remember, there were lots of good fey in the Summer Court. The Seelie fey were mainly concerned with their own immediate pleasures, but seldom let those desires impinge on anyone else’s free will. Unlike the Shadow fey and those dwelling in the Unseelie Court.
“Some will do anything to avoid the full prophecy coming to pass.”
“They’re willing to end a race over a prophecy no one can even understand what it predicts. You’re saying they want them dead to avoid the prophecy of me sitting at their throne. It seems a little extreme, certainly not worth ending their kind entirely. Why would my grandmother agree to go to such lengths?”
“Camilla was working with them, it seems likely your grandmother was as well. There is a solid reason behind it. You would have to spend eternity with Zanthiel to rule the Faery Islands. Which means dark magic could become the norm in our world. Perhaps they feared it would eventually spread into yours.”
I blinked, taken aback. Never before had he ever expressed the hatred my mother accused the elves of possessing. I know he loved me as much as he loathed Zanthiel, but he’d never wish for the annihilation of all fey.
“I don’t understand, why would the fey have any interest in taking on the human world?”
Adrius frowned. “For the same reason they do anything. Their own selfish pleasure.”
I shook my head. It didn’t make sense. How could Gran or anyone know any of this would come about? It didn’t escape my mind that the elves hated the fey just as much as anyone else. “Well, we have to stop them. I’m not going to let them end the fey, no matter what crazy future projections they believe. And I have no intention of ever becoming a Faerie Queen. Talk about a stressful job.” I laughed.
Adrius didn’t see the humor. “You seem so positive that prophecy has no hold over the future events. I wish I had your certainty.”
“I learned long ago that your fate is in your own hands. I still believe that. Any destiny a person wants no part of, can’t possibly be their true purpose. What good would that serve? Trust me when I tell you that the future they’re all fearing will never play out, because I will never sit on the throne of Faery.”
I wish I was as convinced as I sounded. So much of what was happening felt out of my hands, like I was the one with the least amount of control over how things turned out. I hated feeling powerless.
“We need to get rid of Venus.”
I tapped on a page in the book.
“How?”
“With a spell to what... incapacitate her, while you return her to the Nevermore and I go to the Shadow Court to find my father.”
He opened his mouth to protest, but I stopped him. “Wait. Hear me out. He helps us fix the veil, break the curse, and undo whatever's been done to my ability to heal.”
“Tall order for a man you have not seen since you were a child. One who left you and has never returned, I remind you.”
“He's my father, Adrius. I have to believe he'd be willing to help me if he knew I needed it. His powers are strong. All faerie royals are. Mine will be too once I'm back in your realm. I stopped Octãhvia. I can stop Venus there too. I just need time to gather all of the pieces first.”
“And I suppose you intend to ask Zanthiel to help find your father.”
“He knows the Shadow Court better than anyone else.” I didn’t mention I’d already asked for his help. I touched his arm. “We try it this way and if it doesn't work, then we can consider... other options.”
“Assuming you're still alive to consider them. What of my father's bounty on your head?”
“One mountain at a time.” I felt a surge of guilt over having kept Peterson's offer from him. I wasn't ready to accept his terms until we knew more, and I had no idea how Adrius would take the idea of giving up his immortality... for me.
“We have a plan now at least. Well, half a plan, we just need to find the right spell and herbs.”
“Herbs…” he nodded. “From your grandmother’s poisonous garden?”
I could hear in his tone he was less than thrilled, but I kept talking. “We use the spell to get Venus back into the Nevermore. She follows you and I find my father. He helps us undo the spell sealing the veil and helps me sort out what’s going on with my healing gifts. We find a way to break the binding cure. Then you and I return here and—”
He laughed ironically. “And what? We all live happily ever after? If any one of those things should go wrong…I’m not open to any solution that could get you killed. Nothing is worth that price, Lorelei.”
“We have to try, Adrius. It’s the only hope.”
“And if I lose you. What then?”
“What difference will it make in the long run? If we don’t try, we’ll still be separated. Only you’ll be with her, and I’ll be here without you… still dying.”
****
Morning came and I once again hadn’t slept more than a few hours. The silk sheets tangled around my legs showed how much I’d tossed and turned. I climbed out of bed, careful not to disturb Adrius, who was still asleep. I watched him, the soft rise and fall of his chest as he slept. So peaceful. So beautiful. If only I could freeze this moment. Here alone with him, as if none of our other problems existed. But they did. And time was speeding us toward inevitable outcomes if we didn’t act.
Grabbing his uncle’s book, I wandered down the spiral staircase, into the kitchen. It was even larger than mine, and three of the four walls were floor to ceiling glass, giving a panoramic view of the surrounding woods. I made a single cup of coffee, since Adrius wasn’t a fan. And then I checked my phone for messages. Four from Abby wanting to discuss the spell. One from my mom, she’d be back in town by noon. And another from Peterson.
My stomach twisted. I opened it, but it was blank. No message. Sigh. The screen went dark. I was about to set the phone down, when it lit up on its own. No incoming call, or text, just three words that flashed across the screen. CAMILLA HAS RETURNED.
As quickly as it turned on, it turned itself off. I frowned. Okay, that was weird. I stared at the dark screen, but nothing else happened. Had Peterson sent it? If Camilla was back, why hadn’t he told us where to find her? Waiting for news from him was killing me. Almost as much as the fear over telling Adrius what he had offered. But I had to do it. If there was a chance for us, he’d have to at least be willing to listen to it.
I opened the fridge and stared vacantly inside as Adrius came downstairs.
Water dripped from his freshly showered hair, leaving dark spots on his unbuttoned shirt.
“Morning.” He kissed my cheek, scanning the screen of my phone over my shoulder.
“Any news on Camilla?” he asked as he poured two bowls of cereal.
Closing the fridge I handed him the pitcher of milk. “Not really. But, I was thinking, the police will want to search her place soon, now that her disappearance has become known. We have to make sure they don’t find... the wrong things,” I said. Not that most would believe or understand what they did find. A collection of old books written in a language long ago dead, and some herbs which could be used for pretty much anything. Not so unusual for my family, given Gran’s café. But if there were magical families living in Drearyton Cove for centuries, who knew how much knowledge or information anyone had, or what they might do with it. Witches burning at the stake was too vivid an image and too recent an occurrence not be worried about history repeating itself.
There was a long pause and I didn’t have to read his thoughts to know what he’d ask next. “And that Peterson? What did he want?”
I shrugged, avoiding eye contact as I poured milk into both bowls. Peterson had been a sore spot between us for weeks, and I didn’t want to start another morning in a fight.
“Do you know what he is looking for?” he asked.
“Not really. He said it’s an artifact, something belonging to my father.”
“What does he need it for?”
I inhaled and steadied myself. This wasn’t the conversation I wanted to have with him today of all days, but there didn’t seem any away around it. I knew how I felt about changing who I was to be with Adrius, but I had no idea how he would feel about it. I’d been a paranormal being for a few months. He’d had his entire lifetime to get used to the idea. And just because I was willing to give it all up if it meant we could be together, didn’t mean he’d be willing to do the same. Now that it came to it I could never ask him to.
He read my face like a paperback, “All right, what are you not telling me this time?” He pointed at my face. “The vein in your forehead is twitching. You’re chewing your bottom lip. Sexy as it is, I know it means something is on your mind. Out with it.”
He’s either going to love the idea or hate it. There would be no in-between. He’d promised me we would do whatever it took to be together, but was this taking it too far? My stomach rolled over and I could feel my palms growing moist. Now or never, coward. “There is more…”
His eyes narrowed and he waited, silently. Though it was almost undetectable I noticed his jaw tighten ever so slightly.
“Peterson wants the gemstone for several reasons,” I began, hesitating to clear my throat. “He believes… my kind shouldn’t exist.”
His expression turned to steel. “Ah, so he’s not only a lowlife manipulator and possible murderer, he’s also a bigot? This is who you’re negotiating with?”
I held up my hands to stop him. “True, but let me finish. He’s figured out a way for us to be together, here in my world. Not forever, but for, a while.” My words faded. Even as I spoke them they sounded wrong. Why was I willing to settle for a while with him, when we should be able to have forever? Eighty, ninety years, was nowhere near long enough when eternity was a real possibility.
“What did he tell you, Lorelei?” His tone was one of barely restrained fury. It was no secret he didn’t trust Peterson, and nothing I was going to say would make things any better.
“The gemstone he wants from my father, must be destroyed. Then the veil will be sealed permanently and humanity can be restored to any being who chooses it. Including me.” I paused, shifting my gaze from his stormy eyes to the ground. “And you,” I murmured.