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“Liam? Liam, my love? Where are you? Come closer so I can see you.” Mother shifted in her bed and reached an arm toward the door. My heart broke. Arabella was right. Nothing else mattered more than this.
I stepped closer to my mother’s bedside and held her thin hand in my own. Her skin felt dry and stretched paper thin over her delicate bones. “I’m here, Mother.”
“Liam. You came.” She pulled my hand toward her face and pressed her lips against my skin.
“Of course I did. How are you feeling?” I smoothed her hair away from her face and bent to kiss her forehead. It was warm. Too warm.
“It won’t be long now, my love,” she whispered. I tensed and she squeezed my hand in response.
“Hold on, Mother. We need you.” She wasn’t just our current queen, Mother was one of the oldest, and most powerful, of our kind. I knew she wouldn’t live forever, but we needed her magic to defend against Edric when he returned. Without her, without the artifact I had been unable to find, we’d be defenseless. He’d pick us off, one by one, capturing us, torturing us for information about my aunt Godda.
“Fiona will make an excellent queen. And you and Ari will be by her side to advise her, and protect her, and keep her safe,” she said.
Even without the threat of Edric’s return, I wasn’t ready to let her go. “But what if I need you, Mother?”
“Oh, Liam, my love. I’m so proud of you.”
I winced, knowing I’d done nothing yet to deserve her praise. I glanced over at Arabella, who just scowled at me in response. So, she hadn’t told Mother about my failure, or my distraction.
“Rest, Mother. I’ll stay here with you.” I pulled a chair closer to her bed and sat. Then I took hold of her hand again and began to sing the songs she’d sung to me as a child, the ones that lulled me to sleep and made me feel loved and protected.
Arabella’s face softened as she listened. I began to relax as Mother drifted into sleep. But an earthy and slightly floral scent followed by a knock at the door caught my attention and made me sit up straight. Arabella was already up and out of her chair, walking toward the door. When she returned, she brought Fiona with her.
Fiona stood tall and strong in the doorway. Her dark skin glowed in the candlelight, and the short, twisted hair that covered her head made her look like she was wearing a spikey crown.
“Liam,” she said with a hushed voice so she wouldn’t wake Mother.
I tucked Mother’s hand under the covers and stood to face my future queen. “Fiona,” I said, bowing my head to her.
“How is she?” Fiona’s wide brown eyes shone with unshed tears.
“She’s sleeping now. She says it won’t be long.” I turned my head and watched the shadows flicker on the walls.
“Liam, I’m so sorry.” She lifted my hand and pressed it between her warm palms.
I turned to meet her gaze again. “At least I had a chance to know my mother, Fi. We will avenge yours. I promised you, and I will not break my vow.”
She dropped her chin to her chest. Fiona’s mother, Arabella’s mother, and my mother were three of Godda’s six sisters. My mother had been Godda’s second-in-command, left to fill in as queen when Godda disappeared after Edric’s betrayal. Their five younger sisters, Arabella’s and Fiona’s mothers among them, had been some of the first Fae to be hunted and killed by Edric. When their capture and torture didn’t lead to Godda’s return, Edric and his Hunters continued their quest. Thousands of Fae had perished over the past centuries at their hands. This was why we needed to stop him. If we didn’t, this war would end with our extinction.
When my mother died, Fiona would become the next Faerie Queen because she was the eldest daughter of the seven sisters. At Fiona’s coronation, I would be expected to swear my Oath, officially binding me to the Fae High Court as one of the Queen’s Sworn. After that, I’d need to take my place at Fiona’s side, helping her rule and, once we’d won this war, rebuild. No more masquerading as a human. My only other option would be to turn my back on my family, give up my powers, and become human. If I couldn’t fulfill the promise I’d made to my cousins to help them avenge their mothers and kin, if I couldn’t put an end to this centuries-old war with the Underworld, that was exactly what I planned to do.
Arabella was right. I’d let myself become distracted. Now I needed to get back to Lydbury and find every artifact that brute Edric had ever touched. My attraction to Evelyn could wait until after I found the artifact binding Edric’s spirit to this world and destroyed it, banishing him and ending this brutal war.
6
After exploringthe temple ruins, Aunt Vivian insisted on taking me to town to pick up some things for tea. I left her to finish browsing in the cheese shop and wandered next door to the bookstore in search of more books on local history. A bell chimed as I opened the door, and I inhaled the scent of leather and dust. I wove around cases and displays, browsing the titles, so absorbed that I didn’t see the young, well-dressed guy leaning against the end of one of the bookcases. As I turned the corner, I ran right into him and tripped. He grabbed my arm to steady me and set me back on both feet.
“I’m so sorry,” I said. “I didn’t see you there.” I felt my cheeks growing warm as his form came into focus. He looked to be about my age or a little older. Tall and fit, with firm muscles hinted at under his crisp gray button-down shirt. The stylish black wool trousers he wore accentuated his thin waist. He’d draped his coat over one arm and appeared to have been flipping through a thick leather-bound book when I ran into him. He looked like he’d just stepped out of a Brooks Brothers catalog.
“I’m sorry,” he said in a posh English accent. “I’ve chosen an awful place to lounge about. Are you all right?”
I straightened my jacket and reached up to smooth my hair. That’s when I realized I was still wearing that ridiculous earflap hat. I slipped it off my head and into my pocket. “Oh,” I said. “I’m fine. Are you okay? I think I stepped on your toes.” I looked down at his refined black leather boots.
“I didn’t feel a thing.” He smiled. His teeth and his nose were both slightly crooked, but the overall effect was entirely charming. “I’m Nigel, by the way. And you must be new in town. I’m sure I would have noticed if you lived here.”
“I’m Evelyn,” I said. “I’m just visiting. Staying with my aunt and uncle for the holidays.”
The door chimed and a gust of cold winter wind blew through the store.
