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“Aye, and though child I be, I will be fore and center, my Queen, in the fight. But my da … m’father, the man who raised me as his own—did he know?” Frankie chewed at her bottom lip.
Aaibhe had no way of knowing the answer to this, but she lowered her lashes and shook her head. “No, Frankie, he did not. As far as he was concerned, he was your father.” She was pleased to see the sigh of relief Frankie released.
“Right, then, if ye please, can ye tell me now who this Fae is … who is m’Fae father?”
Aaibhe arched a look at her. “I can tell you he must have cared for your mother a great deal. I can tell you he left you to lead a normal life for your sake, not his. I can tell you he is a good and faithful member of my very special team and I can’t have him distracted just now.”
Frankie cocked her head. “But he already knows about me, doesn’t he?”
“Yes, but remember, he doesn’t know you are here in Tir, or even if you lived through the centuries. I believe your mother must have asked him to let you be raised as a human with her.”
“Please, m’Queen, please, who is he? Can I not go see him?”
“Not right now. He is on a mission, and I can’t recall him. The time will come to reunite you.” The queen squeezed her hands and said softly, “Frankie, we have a threat approaching from the Dark Realm, and I need you to continue your training. Will you do that for me and trust me to choose the time and place for you to meet your Fae father?”
Frankie hugged her close. “Aye, then, for ye must know, my Queen … I do trust ye … and Miss Jazz … with m’life, and I would lay down m’life for either of ye.”
Aaibhe sighed and held her. Her vision of the future had been filled with blood, and she knew life—the life they prized, where art, music, and harmony ruled—was coming to an abrupt end.
~ Eighteen ~
TREVOR LOOKED AT his Jazmine Decker and wished he could send her safely to Tir. She didn’t have enough training yet. Her powers needed time to evolve.
How could he put her at risk? He had been raised to know that Fae females fought beside their mates as equals. Their monarchy was female, for bloody damn sake! He could not remember a time when this had not been so, and yet …
All he wanted to do was keep her tucked in safely in Tir, away from all the dark ugliness of this world, away from Pestale and his wicked brothers.
He had the Orb of Time, safely hidden with his Death Sword. He could call on it and return her to Tir, but would she ever forgive him?
Could he manage it? Her newfound Fae powers would allow her to see it coming. She was a fighter, a brave and resilient Fios as well as an immortal. She would not allow him to send her off. So that option was for the moment discarded.
Still, he made an attempt. “Jazmine Decker?”
She cocked her head and chuckled. “I love the way you say my name. It sounds so formal and yet so sexy all covered with that delicious accent of yours.”
Bloody hell, he thought, pulling her in closer and nipping at her ear. He loved everything about her. She made him feel alive, truly alive in each moment. He raised his head and said urgently, “I need you to go to the queen and tell her of your suspicions. It will take the queen’s physical presence to close a portal of such size. We cannot do it from this side of the Dark Prison, and I doubt that even the Royals can do it without her lead on the other side.”
“Trevor of Lugh,” she said archly, “you are not in the company of a fool—well, not a total fool. I am not going anywhere. If you want to communicate with the queen …?” She held up her pendant. “Tada!”
He sighed. “Sweet love, can’t you see? They will target you to get to me. Don’t you want me safe?”
“You are trying to trick me. There is nothing any of those dark creeps can do to you—a Seelie Royal. So, what you are suggesting …?” She shook her head. “Not going to happen.” She frowned at him and added, “I am not stupid enough to get caught by any of those Dark Royals, because now I have Fae blood in me and have been trained by the best.” She inched closer and said. “Come on, baby, let’s boogie, as there is no time to lose.”
He grinned and shook his head. “Baby? It is odd that I rather like the sound of that on your lips, and yet, I must wonder how it is that you call me baby. I am not a baby.”
She laughed right out loud. “You are my big, hunky, handsome, strong baby.” And she laughed again.
He wondered at it, at the feeling she drew from him. She always made him smile; through it all, she made him smile. Even now, faced with horrendous danger and a mission that was beginning to look doomed, she made him smile. Absurd.
He took her hand and wondered how it never ceased to thrill him when he touched her. From the first moment … she thrilled him.
Damn, but what was he doing—mooning on and on now, when they had to plan strategy? No time remained for this.
If she was right, and the Dark Princes were working on opening a portal deep within their castle, they had to get there fast and destroy it.
If the bastards succeeded in opening such a portal they would surely have an Unseelie army at their back. It would be catastrophic unless they were able to contact the queen and get her to close the portal in time!
“Right, then, sweet Fios. Do not leave my side.”
