Hey, I’m new at this,he defended himself – and he really was, but the idea of being able to sense Poppy’s strong emotions was something he wasn’t opposed to. It wasn’t as if he could read her mind or anything like that… it was more a sense that he was connected to her, that what she felt, he could share in. Love, happiness, joy, sorrow, sadness – they would experience them all, together.
I wonder if it feels the same way for her,he thought, feeling a little dazed. He didn’t know, but as soon as he had all the answers he thought he deserved and they could get out of this cabin, he couldn’t wait to find out.
She truly was my mate after all. We just didn’t know it. But I already knew that she was the most perfect woman I’d ever met. The only one I’d ever want to spend my life with.
But he knew that he’d have to wait to explore this newfound bond between them until later. Right now, he still needed to finish this conversation with his father.
“All right,” he said a little grudgingly – as little as he liked it, and as long as it would take for him to overcome his mixed feelings of confusion, love and betrayal toward his father, Maxguessed‘the lives of everyone I loved were being threatened by fae nobility’ was a better excuse than ‘I went out to get milk one day and forgot to come home’ in terms of disappearing out of his life. “But then… why did you appear here? Now? What made you suddenly decide to come back at this moment?”
He suspected he knew the answer, but he didn’t want to make any assumptions. And he wanted to hear his father say it himself.
In the end, his father didn’t hesitate, not even for a moment.
“Because I sensed you were in grave danger,” he said, leaning forward, his eyes intense. “I had never sensed such a thing before – your powers suddenly awakening in response to fear and danger. I knew I had to come back, no matter how much trouble it may cause me in the fae realm. I knew at once what must have happened, and I was determined you wouldn’t suffer such a thing on my account.”
“Your account?” Max asked. “What doyouhave to do with it? With what that man tried to do?”
“Half fae are not exactly rare,” his father explained, looking a little sheepish. “As I said, most fae don’t see humans as anything more than passing amusements. I’m sure you can see what I’m implying here.”
“Yeah,” Poppy broke in, her eyes hard. “You mean there’s a lot of deadbeat fae dads out there with half fae kids they don’t care even a little bit about.”
“The rules have changed now, quite a bit,” Max’s father protested, a little weakly. “Now, we strictly prohibit such things. It was causing far too many problems.”
Max raised an eyebrow. “Problems? You mean problems like me?”
“Oh no, not at all!” His father shook his head vehemently. “As I said, Iwantedto stay with you and your mother. But, looking at it in another way – yes. You have seen some of thoseproblemsfirst-hand today. You see – half fae childrendosometimes inherit the magical abilities of their fae parent. This means that those magical abilities can be stolen by unscrupulous fellows such as this one here.” He nodded to the unconscious man in the corner. “A full fae living in the fae realm could defend themselves from such an attack – and even if they couldn’t, such a crime would be very difficult to cover up. But a half fae child – or adult – living here, outside of the realm of fae justice…”
“No one would ever have known – or probably cared – what he’d done to me or Poppy,” Max finished for him. “Unless he used the mind control powers which he shouldn’t have had on another fae.”
“You see the problem perfectly,” his father said, nodding. “The more half fae children around…”
“The more chances someone’s magic power could be stolen,” Poppy said. “I get it. So it’s about protecting your powers.”
“That is indeed the case.” His father hung his head. “But I had wanted to stay and protect you. If I had been here, none of this would have happened.”
It was a bit late to say that now, Max thought, but then again, his fatherhadappeared when he needed him most – and it sounded like he could get into quite a lot of trouble for it.
“I didn’t know I had any powers – or at least, powers likethat– until today,” Max said. “Like you said, they only awoke once I was in danger.”And so did my ability to shift,he thought. But perhaps that was something he should talk over with his mother.Though why ismyshifter form a manticore? Hers definitely isn’t.“And it was…”
He didn’t want to sayterrifying, although it definitely had been that. And he didn’t like the idea that all these years, he’d been essentially mind controlling people into forgetting him. If he’d known that, he never would have done it in the first place.
“They are very strong,” his father said softly. “As I said, our lineage is ancient, and our powers have only grown over the years. Even for fae who grew up using them, controlling their powers is very difficult. In order to use them responsibly, you will require many, many years of training.”
Surprise rippled through Max. “Wait – what training? Where exactly do you think I can go togettraining? I don’t think the local community college offers courses in fae mind control.”
For a moment, his own surprise was echoed on his father’s face. “Oh – I meantIwould train you myself! In the fae realm! It’s really the only place it could be done, as you say. But really, it would be dangerous for both yourself and for others if you weren’t to understand how to use these powers. The consequences could be dire!”
Well, that Max could believe. He’d barely been able to stop himself when he’d attacked the fae who’d been hurting Poppy. He never wanted to have to deal with that situation ever again.
But to leave here to go to the fae realm, for however long it takes to learn how to control myself?
That was also something he had no intention of doing. Not after he’d only just found Poppy. And from the sounds of how things were in the fae realm, Max would never ask her to come with him even if he wanted to go. The last thing he wanted was for her to have to spend years being subjected to what sounded like a bunch of haughty, arrogant fae who considered her – and probably him too – as some kind of lesser being.
“I won’t be doing that,” he said firmly. “That’s simply off the table.”
Next to him, he felt another wave of relief, but also concern, from Poppy. Obviously, she was relieved he wasn’t going anywhere, but his father was probably right that without the training, he’d be dangerous. He didn’t want to have powers he couldn’t control and didn’t understand.
“But, son –” his father began.
