But even after all that, the situation seemed much too convenient to have happening all at once. And much too convenient that my mother was telling me all of this now. I whirled and pointed. “Why are you really here?”
“I told you.”
“You just happen to show up all of a sudden. Just as I’m about to change, just as I’m becoming involved with Severin.”
“I’m your mother. I could sense the change upon you. That was why I came home.” She stretched out her arms toward me. “For you, Nina.”
Not sure what to believe, I could only shake my head. I dug my toes deeper into the dirt, hoping to draw clarity from the Earth. Maybe she would help me see the truth. Because ultimately, I didn’t fully believe my mother. She may have come to help me, but there was a secondary purpose to her sudden appearance.
“I can see your doubt, daughter, so to this I challenge. Ask him yourself. See if he lies.”
***
Chapter 14
Scalding hot water pounded my face and body as I stood under the showerhead. I was hoping to wash away the past few days. Since I could still feel the presence of my wings, fluttering slightly in the spray on my back, I knew the thought was only wishful and nothing more.
After my mother had challenged me, I’d escaped to the house to find some perspective. I’d yet to find any, even after spending twenty minutes in the shower scrubbing at my skin, trying to get clean again. Soon the water would go cold.
I cranked off the tap then pushing the glass door open, I stepped out onto the bathmat. I toweled off, concerned I might disturb my wings. Since the glamour was still in effect, the wings almost didn’t exist. If only that were true.
Slipping on my robe, I padded into my bedroom just as my cell phone trilled from its perch on the dresser. “Hello?”
“What the hell is going on?” The caller was Diana. “You told me were you weren’t sick. In the past two weeks, you’ve taken four sick days. Something is going on, Decker. Spill it.”
Sighing, I rubbed my face, not sure what lie to tell her. The insufferable woman would pick now to take an avid interest in my life. “It’s nothing serious, Diana. I swear.”
“Bullshit. You’re lying. Is it your dad? Is his condition getting worse?”
She gave me an out and I went with it. “Yes,” I lied, “He’s had a few terrible days.”
She sighed. “I understand. I’ve covered for you with the admin, but next time just tell me the truth. I can be an ally, you know. I’m not as big a bitch as everyone thinks I am.”
“No one thinks you’re a bitch, Diana.” Except for maybe half the nursing staff, but I kept that knowledge to myself.
“No, it’s all right. I am a bitch. But I can be a pretty resourceful one if need be.”
I laughed. “Okay. I’ll remember that next time.”
“Good. Now, when will you be back in?”
Looking in the mirror, I shrugged my shoulders. No wing tips shot up over them. They weren’t visible although I could still feel them. I hoped my mother made enough glamour to last a few days, so I could learn to make my own. “Give me another day.”
“Done.” Then she disconnected.
I set down the phone, and then picked it up again, noticing I had ten missed calls. All from Severin.
I dreaded the thought my mother was right about him. But I couldn’t escape the feeling that some of what she’d said had rung true. From the second I’d met the werewolf, I’d known he was dangerous. I’d just didn’t have the wherewithal to understand the how or the why.
I tapped his name on the phone screen then pressed the call button.
He answered on the second ring. “I’ve been thinking about you.”
“Are you at home?”
Silence. “I can be.”
“We need to talk.”
“I know.”
I disconnected and set down the phone. Vertigo surged over me, and I grasped the dresser to keep from tilting over. I sensed my entire world would shift unpleasantly in a direction I’d been avoiding my whole life.
An hour later, I steered my bike up to Severin’s front door. He’d had it delivered back to my house when I’d been going through my transition. His thoughtfulness touched me deeply. Now, I parked it, hung my helmet and went up to the front door which opened before I could knock.
Severin stood there in a pair of jeans and a t-shirt looking gorgeous and delectable. Even now, with the knowledge that he may have been using me, that he may betray me in every way possible, I still wanted him.
Without a word, he tugged me to his body and wrapped his arms around me.
I inhaled his spicy wild scent, noticed that his arms went around my waist avoiding my wings altogether. “You can see them, can’t you?” I pulled out of his hug.
His gaze flicked over my shoulders. He nodded.
“Did you know who I was when I met you? I know you saw me as fae, but did you know my name, my position?”
“Let’s sit.” He gestured to the hall behind him. “Then we’ll talk.”
I followed him down the hall, thinking we were going to the kitchen, so when he opened the door on his right and entered, I was surprised. The room was obviously his office. It had a big oak desk, leather chair behind it, a leather sofa along one wall, and floor-to-ceiling bookcases, jammed tight with books of all sizes and ages. Some tomes looked really old. And knowing that the werewolves have been around awhile, I wasn’t surprised too much to see them there in Severin’s collection.
I sat on the sofa and watched him warily.
He walked to a mini-bar in the corner. “Do you want a drink?”
“Just water, thanks.”
He opened the mini fridge, took out a bottle of water and brought it to me. He sank down into the sofa with his own drink, scotch by the smell.
I set down the bottle without taking a sip. “So, did you know?”
In one gulp, he drained his glass and set it, empty, on the table. “Yes. I knew.”
My stomach knotted into a hard ball. “Is that why you approached me? Was our meeting a set up?”
He looked at me a long moment and licked his lips.
And I had my answer. He didn’t need to say it. I pushed to my feet. He grabbed my arm before I could escape out the door.
“Nina, it’s not that simple. If I could explain…”
“I won’t be a pawn in this war, or whatever it is. I won’t let you use me against my mother, or the fae or for any reason.” I jerked from his grasp, drawing on a well of strength I didn’t realize I possessed.
“You have every right to hate me right now, but please know that I didn’t intend to hurt you in any way.”
“What did you intend then? Use me for information? Play me against my mother? Get your rocks off with a fae? Parade me around like some warprize?” I balled my hands into fists, afraid of using them on him. “You preyed on me, Severin. You stalked me, hunted me down and pounced when I was vulnerable.”
“It wasn’t like that.”
“What was it like then?” I enunciated each syllable with cold precision. I wanted to cut him to the core with my words like he had me with his actions.
He rubbed at his face. Muscles twitched along his jaw line. “At first, I needed to get close to you, to see what you knew about the fae’s plans.” He licked his lips again. “You were the first fae I’d seen on this plane. I thought maybe you were a scout, a first wave.”
“First wave of what?”
“Invasion.”
“What?” I gaped, too stunned to comment further. I turned and marched out of his office. I’d heard enough of his delusions. He was more paranoid than my mother.
He followed right on my heels. “Nina, wait, please.”
“I’m not listening to any more of your lies.” I kept walking, waves of fury surging through me. “First my mother, now you.” I reached for the door and flung it open.
Severin stepped into my path, blocking me. “What did A’lona tell you?”
“The same shit you’re telling me, except your pack is doing the planning and the plotting.”
He frowned. “She’s lying, Nina. I’ve known the fae for a long time. They are untrustworthy, manipulative and are always scheming in the light. They’re looking for a way to come back to this realm. They want to rule again.”
“Get out of my way or I’ll knock you out of the way.”
Severin reached for me again.
Wrong move. With all the energy I could feel swirling inside like a tornado, I aimed. A bright white blast of energy shot out from my chest and hit him square on, catapulting him backwards about four feet.
He landed on his back on the cement driveway right next to my bike.
I didn’t wait for him to recover but stomped to my ride, and slid on my helmet. After mounting the bike, I turned it over, revving the engine. As Severin gained his feet, I gunned it and, scorching the asphalt, shot out of his driveway.
I drove like a fire lit my ass. My anger dictated how fast I drove. With expert precision, I wove in and out of traffic. My sole purpose was to get home as fast as I could and have it out once and for all with the bane of my existence. My mother, the fae princess.
She would tell me everything, whether she wanted to or not. The time had come to learn about my heritage. I wanted to know everything there was to know about the fae. Time I accepted my legacy.
Once home, I headed straight for the kitchen. “Mother,” I called, my voice echoing off the walls.
The kitchen was empty and clean. No dishes on the counter or in the sink. I dashed upstairs, checked my father's room. Empty as well. I stopped on the landing and listened for a moment. The only sounds that drifted to me were the ticking of the wall clock in the living room and the usual creak of the roof as the breeze blew against it.
I swallowed down the lump in my throat. Something was wrong. I could sense it deep in my flesh and bones.
I bolted down the stairs through the kitchen and out into the backyard. With each step across the lawn, my heart thudded harder and faster. As I stared at the newly restored pond in the garden, my skin grew clammy