AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“She’s ready.” Fiona said, appearing in the doorway to the cellar room.
I looked up from the crate I’d been repacking and labeling. “Should we leave now?”
Fiona nodded. Her face was grim.
“What’s going to happen to her, Fi?”
“That’s her decision.”
“But you’ll let her live?”
“She’s earned that much.” Fiona glanced around the room. “Oscar says you’ve done good work here. He’d like to see you stay on.”
“Even though he knows?”
She nodded. “We had a long talk. I think he might have always suspected you weren’t as wholesome as you appeared.”
I laughed. “He doesn’t mind that we meddled with the artifacts?”
“We agreed that the enchantments were too dangerous to leave. Now that Edric’s gone, Sorcha was able to remove all trace of magic from the dagger and the shield. To a human, there’s no difference.”
“So there’s no reason for me to continue here?”
“He understands you won’t be returning,” she said. “What you do next is up to you.” She crossed her arms and studied me silently. “I should go and prepare Flida for your arrival,” she said.
I bowed my head to her. When I raised it, she was gone. I finished taping down the lid of the crate. Then I took the stairs two at a time in my hurry to get up to Evelyn’s room. I found her standing in front of her mirror fussing with her hair.
“Leave it,” I said. “You look great.”
She frowned. “What do you even wear to meet the Queen of the Fae?”
I slid up behind her and wrapped my hands around her waist. “Are you worried because she’s queen or because she’s my mum?” I asked, watching her face in the mirror for a reaction.
She glared at my reflection. “You should be the one worried. Are you really wearing that?”
I hadn’t even noticed my clothes. I stepped away from her to examine my ensemble. She had a point. I snapped my fingers and dropped my glamour, exchanging the dusty, moth-eaten sweater and jeans for a dark-green belted tunic and formfitting tan pants.
Evelyn spun to face me, her lips curled in consideration. “If this is what passes for Fae casual, no wonder you were so human-fashion challenged.”
I brushed my hands down the front of my tunic. “What’s wrong with this?”
She sighed against me and wrapped her arms around me. “Nothing.”
I kissed the top of her head, inhaling the tropical scent of her shampoo. “All right. Take a deep breath,” I said. “And don’t freak out.”
I waited for her to inhale, then I conjured us to the lawn outside the cottage.
“Okay?” I asked, leaning back and looking down at her.
She nodded. “That wasn’t as bad.”
“I had a chance to warn you this time.”
She laughed and pulled away from me, turning to take in the lush grass and drooping green trees that surrounded Mother’s cottage.
“It’s beautiful,” she said. “You grew up here?”
“Hard to believe?” I asked.
