She looked like an executive for a Fortune 500 company.
“Has the economy taken a downturn in Faerie?”
Mom rolled her eyes. “Honestly, Evie.”
“You look like you’re going in for a job interview.”
“Do you think I spend my days floating around my mounds with a magical wand spreading glitter everywhere?”
I shrugged, a grin tugging on my lips. “Glitter? You? Never. Mayhem and terror? Absolutely.”
Mom huffed. “Contrary to popular belief, I do regular business in the human world. Now, I would like a cup of tea. Have you gotten past your fear that I will wreck your life so you will lower your wards for me and invite me in, or do we need to have this conversation outside?”
Old habits died hard. I wanted to lower the wards. She deserved for me to lower them. But all those years of living in fear of her had changed something inside me, and I couldn’t seem to let go of that deep seated terror that if I let her in, she’d use my secrets against me.
To her credit, she waited, her face a blank mask, and allowed me to decide.
The silence went on, the wind swirling her dark hair around her face.
I was slowly finding out I couldn’t trust people as much as I once had. But Caelan, as important as he was to me, wasn’t family. Cliona was.
I swallowed hard and nodded once. “Earl Grey?”
We both pretended not to notice how hoarse my voice was.
“Please,” Mom said a little breathlessly.
I lowered the wards and allowed an ancient goddess to come onto my land.
Chapter
Thirty-One
Mom was in my living room. Sitting on my couch. Drinking from one of my teacups.
The sky had fallen.
She’d even kicked off her boots and curled her feet under her. I’d lit the fireplace, turning my living room into a cozy, quiet space.
“So…” Mom stirred cream into her tea. “We have much to talk about.”
We did, but I wasn’t sure I wanted to do it right now. There were more pressing questions I needed to ask before we dove into our sordid family history. “Mom?”
“Yes?”
“Do you know someone named Thalia?”
Mom didn’t hesitate. No flicker of recognition on her face. “No. Why?”
Dead end there. “No reason. She’s become something of a puzzle, and I can’t find the right pieces.”
“Does she live here?”
“She’s new to town. Thalia is a powerful seer but seems pretty normal.”
Mom tilted her head in that peculiar way she had. “Then why are you so interested in her?”
I squirmed in my seat. Trusting my mother was much harder than I expected. When I hesitated, Mom sighed. “I understand you do not trust me. I would not trust me, either. Not after everything that has transpired between us. Even if you never trust me again, even if we can’t repair what’s happened through the years, I want you to know every step I took. I did it in the hopes you would get one more day, one more week, one more year without being thrust into danger.”
