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“It’s the truth,” he replies. “She was a fae who was tortured by the ancients, killed by them, and then set out to kill them. She fell in love with a fae, and they had children, and so the line of Fire Fae was born.”
“And they can kill you guys?”
“Yes. They are the only ones who possess the power to permanently dismantle an ancient soul from the magic within.”
“And what does that have to do with me?”
“Everything,” he replies, seriously. “For centuries, ancients hunted the fire fae down. They killed those they found—women, children—it didn’t matter. They were a threat that needed to be eliminated. But the lines continued to grow until the fae became so terrified of being hunted they stopped having children. After all, why bring a life into the world when you knew it was going to suffer so vastly.”
My chest tightens, imagining the pain those fae must have suffered. Those who longed for a family yet could not have one because of the target on their heads.
Walter clears his throat. “I was among the ancients tasked with hunting and killing fire fae. I killed hundreds of them until there was only one left.”
The disgust on my face must have shown because Walter looks away from me. “You murdered innocents.”
“I did,” he replies. “Until I met your mother.”
I stiffen. “My mother.”
He nods.
“You’re trying to tell me my mother was a fae.”
Once again, he nods.
“That’s not possible.”
“Your mother was hiding out in the human world. She’d found a village in Scotland and was working as an herbalist there. The moment I laid eyes on her, though, the very instant, I knew she was not someone I could kill. I felt it, Ember. The bond. She was mine.”
“You have got to be fucking kidding me,” I snarl. A tear slips down my cheek, and I angrily wipe it away. “You’re telling me you bonded to my mother?”
“I did. She knew what I was. What I was there to do. And she simply crossed the distance between us, placed her hand on my chest, and told me that I did not have to go through with it.” His eyes mist at the memory, as if he is back there right now instead of here, dropping grenades on everything I’ve ever known about myself. “She could have killed me. And she didn’t.”
“I don’t understand.”
“We managed to hide for over a millennia, together. Moving from village to village and then city to city. My entire kind was imprisoned by the fae, and I lived happily with my mate. We tried so hard not to have a child, not wanting the same fate to befall another, but you—you were a surprise.”
Every nerve in my body freezes as I gape at him. “It’s not possible.”
“It is.”
“You’re telling me you’re my father.”
He doesn’t smile, doesn’t nod, just continues to stare. “Your mother was overjoyed; I was not. I was terrified about what it would mean for us should anyone discover the truth. She promised me, though, promised me that everything would be fine. And for a few months after you were born, it was. Until one of my kind showed up.” Silent tears stream down Walter’s face now, his bottom lip quivering with emotion. “When I got to her—” He closes his eyes and sucks in a deep breath. “He’d killed her. And was reaching for you when I ran into the room. I knew killing him wouldn’t be enough. Iknewit wouldn’t keep them because, if he managed to evade the fae, others had, too. So I ran. I took you, and I ran. I found a witch, Agatha Astor, and had her bind your power so no one could sense what you were.” He reaches up and pinches the bridge of his nose. When he looks at me again, I am helpless to look away.
“Leaving you was the hardest thing I’ve ever had to do,” he chokes out. “But I knew it was necessary. So I glamoured myself, watching over you as I hunted and killed the rest of my kind. I made sure they could not escape. So they wouldneverbe a threat.”
“You say she was your true mate, yet you are here.”
“The rules do not apply to my kind, Ember. We are ruthless creatures with only one weakness—you.”
I shake my head. “It can’t be possible.” I choke on my words because what he’s telling me is what I’ve always dared to hope for: the truth about my family.
“Then tell me why you are here. Tell me, Ember, why you died and went to the ancient prison?”
“I—” But I have no explanation. No logical one, anyway.
“You are a fire fae. The last of your kind. And you are my daughter.”
