I was still trying to wrap my head around the physics of her presence. “So you’ve been trapped in that painting ever since the ritual twenty-one years ago? Where was your body? That frame was big, but not big enough to hide a corpse.”
“It’s hard to explain. I don’t understand it myself. It’s only recently I’ve had self-awareness. Prior to that I existed in darkness, awake but devoid of my senses, trapped in a nightmare from which I could never wake. Some months ago, I began to hear again, and to register the language and the meaning of the words I heard. I didn’t realise how many years it’s been until Flynn mentioned Maeve’s birthday. I’ve been listening to the conversations in the castle ever since.” She turned to Corbin. “Your voice kept me company the most. I don’tthink anyone else ever heard the doubts you have when you pace the hallway at night. Except me.”
Then she turned to Rowan. “You barely spoke, but you used to pace around in front of me at night. I worried you might wear a hole right through the floor.”
Corbin looked uncomfortable. Rowan stared at the floor. I wrung my hands, not sure what to make of these intimate moments she’d shared with my guys, when they didn’t know she was there.
“And you,” she glared at Flynn. “You made me want to laugh all the time. But I had no stomach to rumble, no larynx to vibrate, no mouth through which to issue forth my mirth. It was like trying to hold in a giggle during a Eulogy. You, good sir, arecruel.”
Flynn took a deep bow. “Finally, someone appreciates my genius.”
Aline smiled at me, but she must’ve seen something in my expression, because her smile fell away. She hurried on with her story. “After hearing came scent. Delicious smells wafting from the kitchen, the distinctive scents of each of you as you went about your business.” Her eyes met each guy in turn. I’d noticed it too, how each of them had their own distinct scent. Rowan was sweet herbs and flour. Arthur was smoke and ash. “Every day you spoke about Maeve. She was ever present in your thoughts, and I knew that my good friends Andrew and Bree had kept their promise to me and sent you four to watch over her. As you grew closer to coming into your powers, Maeve, my own magic started to wake up again. That first day you arrived at the castle, when you gazed up at the portrait, that was the first time I’d ever been able to see out into the world again. And the first thing I saw wasyou, my daughter.”
I nodded, not trusting myself to speak.
“I’ve been following you ever since, although how I cannot explain. My conscience seems to sense what goes on with you even when you weren’t directly in front of the portrait. I’ve watched you come to terms with your magic, and piece together the details of what happened at the ritual. And sometimes, if I tried really, really hard, I could channel my own magic through you and change things in your world.”
Arthur’s eyes widened. “You did it, didn’t you? You brought my sword to me in the fae realm.”
Aline smiled. “I heard you cry out. You needed it.”
Realisation dawned on me. “You changed the canvas so we’d notice you. And you… you spoke inside my head.” Aline nodded again. Another thought occurred. “Was it you who baptised the guys during the fight at the church? They all heard a female voice praying inside their heads and water splashed on their faces and the fae couldn’t take them.”
“Yes, also me. That bit of magic made me blind for three days, but it worked. I’m so pleased it worked.”
Flynn threw his arms around her. “You may be a ghostie, but I’m not afraid to hug the woman who saved my bacon. Speaking of which,” he drew away in horror. “You haven’t tasted bacon in twenty-one years? Rowan, why aren’t you rectifying the gross injustice right this minute!”
“Er—”
“Don’t you dare,” Aline clamped her hand around Rowan’s arm, and shot him that dazzling smile of hers. “The scones are amazing. They’re more than enough.”
My head spun. I just didn’t know what to make of this. So many times I’d thought about who my mother might have been if she lived beyond my birth day, what it would have been like to go to her with my fears and my triumphs. But Aline was nothing like I’d pictured. She was practically my age, and seemed likeshe’d give Kelly a run for her money in the flirting game. She didn’t seem to knowanything.
I wanted to feel an instant overwhelming love for her – some deep cosmic bond that had connected us across twenty-one years – but all I felt was confused and freaked out and sad.
“Go on,” she waved at me. “I be that’s not the last of your questions.”
I sighed.Not even close.“What do you know about how you got inside the painting?”
Aline’s eyes darkened. “Ever since I gained conscious thought i’ve been trying to figure it out, but the ritual is a complete blur. I’ll tell you what I do remember – I’d figured out that Robert was being compelled by Daigh, so I knew that if I wanted a chance at catching the fae off-guard, I’d need to keep the ritual secret. You were squirming around in my belly, poking your tiny limbs into my bladder. I was determined that no one would hurt a hair on your head. I also knew that the ritual would take me from you, leaving you without either of your parents.” She reached out to me.
This time, I let her take my hand. Her skin felt warm and soft, her fingers long and delicate. Across her palm was a raised bump – a strange imperfection on her perfect porcelain skin. A lump rose in my throat, and my body trembled as though I was cold. But it wasn’t cold. Is this the visceral reaction I was hoping for? Because now that I had it, it totally freaked me out.
This doesn’t make any sense. Even if this woman is my mother, she’s a stranger to me. A weird stranger who flirts with my guys. Why does her touch give me this shiver?
All the emotions swirling around in my head were reflected back at me in Aline’s eyes. Tears flowed down her cheeks as she rubbed a finger over my knuckles. “Oh, Maeve. I’m so sorry I never got to be there when you grew up. I missed so much, but I don’t want to miss any more. Please, tell me about your life. Iwant to know everything. Have you been happy? Have you been loved?”
I glanced around at my guys – from Rowan’s kind, open face to Blake’s dark smirk. The Crawfords’ faces flashed in my mind, but I pushed them aside. If I thought of them now, I’d completely break down. “Yes, I have been loved. But we can’t get distracted by sentiment now. We need to stop the fae, and having you here may be the biggest advantage we have. Tell us about the ritual – everything you remember.”
Aline’s smile froze for a moment. I drew my hand back. The ghost of her touch lingered on my skin. More tears toppled down her cheeks.
“You’re protecting your coven. It just…it’s so beautiful to see you all together. I remember you all as children and I…I loved your parents very much.”
“Most of our parents are dead,” Flynn blurted out.
Aline buried her face in her hands. “No.”
I glared at Flynn. “Aline, the ritual.”
