He wore a pair of Bermuda shorts and a surfer t-shirt, one of those popular label ones that made the wearer look like he said things like, “Dude, I’m meant for the waves, not a 9-to-5.”
To add insult to injury, he wore flipflops. In the middle of winter.
“You look like a douchebag,” I said by way of greeting.
His eyes flashed with anger. “I’m on vacation. Isn’t this how you dress when you’re off work?”
“Only if you’re a douchebag.” I smiled.
Moira snickered.
“What’s the point of this useless display of power?” I asked, waving my hand at the glamoured money still falling from the sky.
“It’s to show you the futility of man. Temptation is too irresistible for them to be anything more than mewling children who waste resources and pollute the earth when they die.”
Alrighty then. I tilted my head. “And yet you’re here taking advantage of all those temptations and seem to have no plans to return to your own realm. How can you be better than them when your actions are the same?”
Lugh didn’t like that. His jaw clenched with fury. “You know nothing about me, mongrel.”
I laughed out loud. “You know my parents. I might come from two magical bloodlines, but I am still fae.”
Satisfaction flickered in his eyes, and I suddenly became very worried.
“But that’s not all you are, is it?”
Moira stiffened. “Watch how you speak to her.”
“Why?” Lugh asked. “Are you afraid of her, too? She bears a terrible curse, one everyone seems afraid of. Your Evie is being hunted from many directions, and she won’t be able to avoid all the arrows that fall. She’s better off joining with me.”
“Why?” I asked. “So you can protect me?”
Lugh laughed. “You don’t need protection.”
Moira groaned and nudged me with an elbow. “Oh no. I think this is going to be one of those join with me and we’ll rule the world soliloquies followed by maniacal laughter and bicep flexing.”
I grimaced. “Is that true? Can we leave the bicep flexing off, at least?”
Darkness flowed around the god, up from his feet until his body was surrounded. His eyes glowed a disturbing silvery green as he lifted his hands. I gathered my magic around me, readying the earth underneath us to prepare.
But Lugh didn’t strike. Instead, he laughed. “You will learn, Evie, that I am a patient man, and I know your secrets.”
As much as it terrified me to worry about my Chimera curse being leaked, my father was right. I wasn’t only one thing. I could only be myself, even if I wanted so badly to be someone else. Looking toward the past would never be the way forward.
Mom and Dad appeared several feet behind Lugh. They gave me a slight nod and faded away.
Magic boomed through my voice, the power of my mother and father stirring the wind and trees. Silver, green, and gold power spun around my body, coalescing into a sparkling crown floating above my head—an annoying, but pointed trick of my father, and one he assured me would disappear once everything was over. One more bit of razzle dazzle until we could all take our toys and return home with minimal bloodshed, I hoped. The bargain I made with my parents in mind, I inhaled and spoke one final time.
Gasps rang out through the crowd.
“As heir to Cliona of the Misty Isle Barrows and Cernunnos, the King of the Fae, I pronounce you in direct violation of fae law.”
Lugh’s eyes widened. A stunned choked inhale of air from the vampire beside me, but I continued on.
“You are hereby ordered to return Tess Mallory to her home in Joy Springs within the next eight hours, unharmed and with all her memories restored.”
The dark power gathered around Lugh shrank from the authority in my voice. “We don’t?—”
I plowed on. “You are further ordered to leave this realm within the next eight hours, ensuring everyone you’ve had contact with leaves your proximity unharmed and with all their memories prior to and during your visit. If, during my investigation, it is found you’ve broken additional fae laws, I am well within my rights to pursue further punishment.”
