Page 60 of Fae Farewells

She tipped Tilly’s chin up, so they were eye-to-eye. “You don’t have a choice now. Sam told me it was time to go home. He told me Vaughn was coming, and he was bringing the strongest and brightest of our generation with him.”

Ruby spun Tilly around to look at me, then at my mates, and then to the door where Sarge, Levi, and Zyus were walking in.

“Do they look like pushovers to you?” the middle sister murmured. “Does their power feel weak? Does their resolve feel broken?”

“No,” she breathed.

“You’ve heard the rumors about Sloane?” Sarge asked her gently.

“Yes,” she answered, tears streaming as she sniffled.

I could see her resolve breaking, and this wasn’t what I wanted.

“Don’t break under the pressure, Tilly,” I softly advised, reaching for her hand. “You’re too strong to give up.”

When she didn’t pull away, I embraced her. I was super uncomfortable, but I tried to relax because this girl needed guidance.

If I could give it to Hyde, then I could soften up for Tilly.

Just this once.

“Rumors are nasty half truths,” I told her, running my hand through her hair. “I won’t lie to you and say I haven’t slayed armies or killed countless nameless people. I have, and I don’t regret that. But what I have done, what the rumors don’t tell you, is that I’ve done all those things to protect others. People I care about, people I don’t care about... People I don’t even know, who’ve never once seen me.

“It’s easy to judge someone based on stories. But if you had been there, seen why I did those things... You might think differently.” I held her at arm’s length, a sad half smile on my face. “Or maybe you wouldn’t. I won’t judge you for your feelings. I won’t look down on you for judging me.

“The only part of this that matters to me is how much your brother loves you. He is my mate. I care about him, and by extension, I care for those he loves. That’s you and Ruby and Freya.”

She nodded, straightening her dress as she wiped the last of her tears away.

“I’m a pretty intense person,” I admitted, smirking when I heard the noises of agreement at my back. “And I’m not righteous by any normal standard. My moral compass is broken. I have killed, and will still kill, to keep my treasures safe. Even if it hurts. Even if it scares others away from me. Even if it kills me. These are things I undoubtedly know about myself.”

“It has killed her,” York added. “Many times. But she’s a protector, Tilly. Even a martyr at moments. It’s important to remember that with the bad, good comes, too.”

“And it can be a little frightening,” Levi confessed, chuckling uncomfortably. “York saved me when Sloane and these guys showed up to save him. I didn’t remember anything about the supernatural world when I fell, but I know how awful the camp was before they destroyed it. You may hear of the mess, but I saw how many lives they saved by that one act.”

Tilly studied Levi, scrunching her eyes as if that would help her recall meeting him. Then she tentatively asked, “Who are you?”

“These two are Freya’s mates‌,” Sarge elaborated. “Levi is a fallen angel, and Zyus is mer.”

She nodded, exhaling deeply as she backed away from me. “It’s difficult to believe she isn’t my mother. She’s all I’ve known outside of my siblings and the staff. But I can’t say I didn’t have suspicions, didn’t see things that made me want to question… well, everything.”

“If it would make this easier on you, I could share the memory of Anahein admitting all this to us. I’d rather not, but I will if you want,” I offered.

“Tilly, listen to me,” Ruby said, close to pleading. “They aren’t lying. Vaughn can tell you himself. Alania has tried to kill him dozens of times. He didn’t run away. He left to give us time to grow up, to get stronger so we could fight with him.”

“If the queen is our aunt,” Tilly speculated. “Then where is our mother?”

I hung my head. “We were told Alania killed her shortly after you were born.”

“Then where is her body?” Tilly countered. “A fae doesn’t simply die and decompose like humans. We have to be taken to the temple, have our family or friends give our magic to the land to reincarnate.”

That got my attention. “Is there a way to know if someone offered her magic without your knowledge?”

“I stole some books from our—Alania’s—room. I’ve read about it, but I’ll have to dig them up to find the information again.”

“Dig them up?” Stone asked, curiosity and humor warring across his features.

“Yeah,” Tilly replied, as if the answer was clear and she didn’t understand why we weren’t getting it. “I couldn’t leave them in my room. I had to hide them from her. So I buried them in a box under Lashul’s herb garden.”