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Rachel rejoined us at the bed and perched beside me, taking my other hand. She glanced at Ash ruefully.
“I know,” the fae told me. “I was trying to tell Ash this before everything imploded.”
Ash’s head whipped up. “Tell me what?” he demanded, but Rachel was fixed on me.
“Did I ever tell you that I was adopted?” she asked. I shook my head, my hands automatically falling on my stomach. “I was. At birth, from what I was told, but beyond that, I never really knew much about my birth parents. My adopted parents are good, kind folk who have never made me wonder about my roots. Honestly. And they are both fae, so it was easy to forget that I didn’t biologically come from their blood.”
She sighed. “Until you came along, anyway.”
I hung my head in shame.
“I’m sorry, Rachel,” I mumbled. “I didn’t want to bring up bad memories for you.”
Rachel laughed. “There are no memories at all, silly girl. I was never interested in learning about a mother who didn’t want me.”
I grimaced. It was certainly the tale that Father had always spun for me.
No. Not Father. Barney. He was no father of mine.
“But it got me wondering about my own roots after I learned about your father,” Rachel went on.
“Barney,” I corrected her sharply.
“Barney,” she agreed smoothly. “And I started to do some digging of my own.”
She smiled. “I’m one of Annabelle’s lost babies, Briar.”
I stared at her for a moment, the meaning not registering for a moment.
“What?!” Ash sputtered, snapping the context into place for me. “You’re sisters?”
Rachel nodded, confirming my shock. “Half sisters. We share the same mother, but not the same father.”
I gasped, a hand flying to my mouth.
“There are more of us out there,” she continued. “And I can help you find them if you want.”
“Yes! Yes, I want!” I cried, sitting up to throw my arms around her. “Oh! I should have known. I felt some kind of connection to you.”
Rachel chuckled and returned my embrace, gently lowering me against the pillows. She smiled warmly, her eyes holding over my belly.
“Is it my job as an aunt to plan a baby shower?” she asked tentatively, sneaking a wary look at Ash.
My smile faded slightly, and I folded my hands in the blanket. Ash may have saved me from Barney now, but what did that mean for our future?
I cast him a sidelong look.
“Does this mean you’ve changed your mind about us being together?” I whispered, shamed that I had to ask.
Ash tensed and withdrew his hand, rising from the bed. Disappointment crushed my chest, and I closed my eyes.
“It’s not his fault, Briar. He wants to be with you, but he can’t.”
“Rachel!” Ash growled, but she ignored him and continued as I stared imploringly at her.
“Why not? That doesn’t make any sense!”
“He’s cursed,” Rachel told me. “And has been for two thousand years—by one of your ancestors, in fact.”
