The usual still surface rippled and a green warty head surfaced. The frog jumped onto the rocks linking the water’s edge. Dread filled me and I shuddered. I looked down at the fae messenger and noticed something white clutched in his mouth.
My hand shook as I reached down and plucked the thin roll from its grasp. I unrolled the message and read.
My darling N’lina,
I know you won’t understand and you will hate me even more, but I have taken your father to Nightfall. I need to protect him from the werewolves and from our own people. He knows too much and I fear he will be executed for that knowledge.
Only here can I use all my resources to keep him safe. One day, I hope you will understand.
I have always loved you.
A’lona
A cold fist closed around my heart and squeezed hard. I could barely breathe from the intense pain.
Letting the note fall from my fingers, I tore at my leather jacket and tossed it to the side. I spied the iron hand rake next to the tomatoes. I snatched it up and stepped into the pond. However I could, I would get back my father.
Cold water came up to my knees. I’d expected to sink down into it, but nothing happened. I moved through the water, digging my boots into the dirt and rock bottom. Still nothing.
“Why isn’t it working?” I demanded of the frog. The amphibian let out a gruff croak as it stared. Bulgy eyes blinked stupidly then the frog hopped away.
I splashed water in its direction. “Help me, you son-of-a-bitch!”
Desperation clawed at me. I jumped up and down in the pond, bringing down my feet hard. I kicked and splashed and yelled until I was soaked from head to toe and the garden was caked in mud and bits of grass and leaves. Tears stung my eyes but I refused to let them fall. They wouldn’t help me now.
“Nina?”
I swung around to see Severin, his face drawn and pale, crossing the lawn. His hands reached out toward me.
The tears fell in a torrent. “The portal’s closed. I can’t get through.”
Gently, he clutched my arm and drew me out of the pond. He hugged me tight, brushing a hand over my wet hair. He murmured into my ear. “I got you, love.”
“She took him,” I sobbed, my heart breaking. “She took my father to Nightfall.”
“Shhh.” He soothed a hand down my arm and pressed a kiss to the top of my head. “I’ll help you, baby. I’ll help you get him back.”
“Can you open this portal?”
“No, but I can help you find another one.”
My anger dwindled as he held me. Everything I’d been holding in over the past two weeks, the past twenty years, came out in a messy rush. I twisted my hands in his shirt and purged years of hurt and anger and frustration.
And once I was done, I would gather everything I needed to go into the fae realm of Nightfall and rescue my father from the fae, from my mother, once and for all.
***
Chapter 15
My neck was tight, and I tilted to the right and cracked it.
“Are you all right, Decker?” Diana asked as she peered over the clipboard she’d been writing on.
I nodded. “Good to go.” Giving her a fast grin, I grabbed the next patient chart and went about my work. She watched me, likely not believing one word of it.
I walked to the waiting room and called the next patient. My back itched something fierce and I struggled not to rub up against the wall to relieve it. My wings were bothering me.
Luckily, my mother had brewed a few days’ worth of glamour. She’d also left the recipe on the counter. So I knew my wings weren’t visible, but I could sure feel them. They were constantly fluttering. The iron in the walls of the hospital might’ve infected them with the itchies. I didn’t know, and I certainly didn’t have anyone around to ask about these things anymore.
Two days had passed since I discovered my mother kidnapped my father and took him to the land of the fae. I was no closer to finding him than I was then. I had spent that entire day digging in my garden trying to find the portal. Severin had helped. But the passage was firmly closed. There was no getting to Nightfall through the pond.
Severin had told me of other ways. Other portals. Other means of gaining entrance. So I let him help me. Not that I trusted him any more than I had before. He had his own reasons for helping me. I had no doubt one was because he did have honest feelings for me, but other motivations were present. Ones that likely had to do with this supposed mounting war between the werewolves and the fae. I didn’t give a shit about the war. They could tear each other apart. I just wanted my father back.
In the meantime, I had to maintain some semblance of a normal life. I couldn’t just disappear and expect nothing to happen. Diana would definitely come looking for me. She was persistent. And more concerned about me than I’d realized.
So, after I did my shift at the hospital, I’d go home and pore over the books Severin had lent me. The books were ancient, some from the tenth century. I didn’t question what he told me because the pages were yellow with age and crinkly.
Their age didn’t mean much to me either, just what was inside. That mattered. They were the histories of the fae. And I hoped that inside them would be the answers I needed.
My shift ended without incidence and I went home. Adjusting to an empty house was hard. My father had always been with me. First, he took care of me, and then when he fell ill, I was there to take care of him. Now, he was gone.
And I was alone.
I made some tea and toast, and sat in the kitchen to dive into another of Severin’s books. As I sipped my drink, I flipped through the aged pages, marveling at how long the fae have been around and how ingeniously they have hidden themselves among humanity.
Then I came across something about portals between this world and Nightfall. And everything clicked into place.
Leaving the book open where it lay, I sprinted upstairs to my bedroom. I tore open the top dresser drawer and tossed out clothing, item after item. Underneath it all was a small wooden box. I took it out and opened it. Inside on green velvet laid a miniature castle. The object had once been inside a snow globe given by my mother.
Heart twisting with an old pain, I palmed it, and then ran back downstairs and out the patio doors to the garden. I threw open the shed doors and grabbed the shovel. With spade in hand, I loomed over the tomato plants. I had to keep the moonflowers for my glamour, but the tomatoes could go. I dug them up, tossing the plants to the side.
Then I dug a deep hole, plunked the castle inside, and covered it all up again. Tossing the shovel to the side, I sat in the dirt next to the mound.
With the moonstone my mother had given me, I had created the pond. I had created the portal. And I would do it again.
I didn’t know how long it would take, but I had patience. I would wait for as long as I had to. Then when the portal opened, I’d go down to the realm of Nightfall and rescue my father from those who meant him harm. Including the one person who had started this all. My mother.
I would wait until the end of eternity to have my revenge.
“Nina?” I looked up and saw Severin standing at the edge of the garden. “What are you doing?”
“Making another portal.”
He glanced at the mound of dirt in front of me. “How long is it supposed to take?”
“I don’t know.”
“What will you do when it opens?”
“Go and get my father.”
“It’s going to be dangerous. Nightfall is nothing like you’ve seen before.”
I narrowed my eyes. “You’ve been there?”
He nodded. “Many years ago.”
“How many?”
“Close to two hundred.”
Too numb to be shocked, I shook my head. “You look good for being ancient.”
He laughed. “Werewolves age differently, as do the fae.”
“Well, I really am only twenty-eight.”
“Yeah, but in three hundred years, you’ll still look twenty-eight.”
I just shrugged. I didn’t want to think about the implications of living that long. The fact seemed so unnatural. I wasn’t prepared to contemplate it. Not yet. Not now. Other pressing matters needed to be figured out. Like what to do about the sexy werewolf in front of me.
Severin stepped into the garden and knelt beside me.
His presence sent a wave of pleasure over me. I wondered if it would always be like this between us. Would I always react to him in this way? Even when I was angry.
“I’m serious about wanting to help you, Nina.”
“Why?”
“Because I have feelings for you.”
I met his gaze, searching his face. Just looking at him was devastating, he was so gorgeous. And I couldn’t stop the little quivers in my belly as his scent filled my nose. “I don’t know if I can trust you.”
He cupped my face in his hand, running his thumb over my bottom lip. His touch ignited something deep and primal inside me. “I’m sorry for lying to you, for keeping things from you. I won’t make the mistake of doing that again.”
I looked into his eyes and saw the truth there. Relief shot through me. “I’m afraid to do this alone,” I confessed.
He pressed a kiss to my forehead, lingering there, drinking me in. “You’re not alone, Nina. I’ve found you. I’m not going to leave you to do this by yourself.”
I nodded, and he moved to sit beside me in the dirt. He put his arm around my shoulders and pulled me close.
“What about the pack?”
“They think I’m betraying my kind for you.”
I turned to look at his face, searching his expression. “And are you?”
“It doesn’t matter.” Leaning in, he gently pressed his lips to mine. “I’m here with you. That’s where I want to be.”
“I’m glad you’re here.”
The breeze kicked up, sending the moonflowers swaying. I watched them as they spiraled on their stems. Their movement was kind of how I was feeling. Twisted. Not sure which way to go. Unsure if the way I was bending was the right one. Although I had strong feelings for Severin, I still wasn’t sure I fully trusted him. But I needed the help. I couldn’t enter Nightfall on my own.