“Fae lie.” he smiled, but the smile was thin. I wondered, did he not tell me because he wanted me to think well of him? That was alsointeresting.
“They do lie,” I grinned. “You were in love with Aline here. You just can’t admit it to yourself.”
“How is this possible?”
Aline stepped forward. “During the ritual all those years ago, Robert Smithers sensed that you were trying to take me away with you, away from him, and so he used his own magic to trapme inside your portrait. I’ve lived there as pigment and spirit for twenty-one years, until our daughter freed me.”
Daigh’s eyes darted to mine. “But…how did you know of this?”
“I figured it out. It wasn’t hard, given the evidence.” I folded my arms. “The same way you figured out I was alive from the fae realm and sent your prince Kalen to kill my family and rob me of my scholarship.”
“That was necessary to reunite us. I’m your father.Weare blood.” His eyes flicked to Aline again. “And now that Aline’s returned, it’s all perfect. We can be together in the new world we build.”
“Youkilledmy parents,” I spat back at him. “If you think inhabiting someone else’s head while his sperm impregnates an egg makes you my father, than you don’t know anything about human genetics, either.”
“We are bound magically. Our stories tell of a binding where our magic?—”
“I know what the stories say, but human science has moved beyond your fairy tales. Genetic traits are passed on through chromosomes from the sperm and egg. You being inside Robert’s head has nothing to do with that process. According to the science, you’re not my father at all.”
“Your science is flawed.”
“There’s an easy way to find out. There’s a test we can do to determine whether you and I share any genetic material. All I’d need was a sample of your blood and I could have an answer in a couple of days from a certified lab. No cheating. No lies. I’m betting it’s going to give a false result, because there’s just no way we’re related. But if it comes back true…”
Aline squeezed my arm. “Our daughter has every right to be angry. I remember what you said to me once – anger is just the other side of love.”
I glared at her.Daightold her that line she fed me? She’d better not be trying to suggest I loved Daigh, because that wasnota thing.
Aline threw her arm around me. “Our daughter’s very clever. She’s explained this genetics thing to me, and I think she’s right. I can’t see how you can possibly be her real father.”
Daigh drew a blade from his belt. His smile never left his face as he dragged the knife over his skin. My stomach turned as I imagined Arthur doing the same thing. A thin line of green blood spilled from the wound.
Daigh tossed the knife at the mirror. The glass shattered as the blade drove through it flew through the air. I froze as it sailed for my head. Arthur reached out and grabbed the handle.
“Keep that safe,” I told him. “Don’t let the blade touch anything else. Corbin’s got a ziploc bag.” Corbin stepped forward with a bag held open and Arthur dropped the blade inside.
“Was that all you wanted, daughter?” Daigh asked, his expression smug.
Aline looked at me for permission. I nodded. We might as well give it a shot.
“We propose an alliance,” she said.
“An alliance with humans? How intriguing, especially considering your pathetic race is only days away from extinction at the hands of your own dead.”
“We’re not worried about the Slaugh,” I said. “Aline stopped you once before, and this time we have a powerful weapon on our side – one you couldn’t even conceive of.”
“I think you’re talking out of your arse, daughter.” Daigh’s eyes flicked over mine. I knew I had to hold his gaze at all costs. If I looked away, if I blinked, he’d never believe me.
“I know it’s hard for you fae, but look at thislogically. You’ve seen me dreamwalk into your realm. You now know I can bring the dead back to life. You tried to hurt my coven in the church,but I saved them all. I’m more powerful than you can imagine, and I haven’t even got started yet. If you hurt anyone else I care about, you will find out what I’m capable of.”
“These are empty threats,” Daigh waved his hand as if he was flicking away a bug. Blake squeezed my hand. His dark eyes burned into mine.
You’ve got him, Princess.Blake’s voice landed in my head.He’s worried. I can see it.
“It’s your prerogative to believe that. You can come at me with the Slaugh and be beaten back and have the fae turn on you and tear you limb from limb and devour your bones while they praise Liah’s name.” I shrugged. “It’s all the same to me. You’re not my father. I’m just offering you an alternative.”
“Which is?”
“You call off the Slaugh and return the fae toTir Na Nog. We will direct our weapon to destroying Liah and her faction of dissidents. You will rule the fae unopposed.”
