I gasped, stepping back a little, and regretted it when hurt crossed her face. “How?” I regained my composure and took two steps closer to her in an act of what I hoped was support.
Mara sighed. “I was working the portal, taking the elders and other high level Fae out on important Earth missions when I met him …Daniel.” She smiled sweetly and a tear fell down her cheek. “A human.”
Oh shit.Rule number one of being a Fae: DON’T fall for a human. Like Ever.Ever. Did Mara … could she have … no…
“The Sons of Darkness, the halflings, they’re because of you?” Elle asked.
My mind was working a mile a minute trying to keep up.
Mara shrugged. “I guess. Daniel and I were soulmates, the blue light didn’t show up on him but it did on me. And I just knew… it was a feeling.”
Soulmates! With a human?
Mara looked lost in her memory, “I got pregnant and word got around. Fae started to wonder if they could venture out onto Earth and lay with humans too. We were having a war between Winter and Summer. It was already a vulnerable time. People wanted an escape and Faerie had become heavy. Earth was fun and light and free, and humans were innocent to our troubles.”
We nodded, encouraging her to continue.
“I gave birth to a beautiful baby girl.” Tears rolled down her cheeks and I reached out to grasp her hands. “But she was stillborn. That’s when I started to wonder if maybe I’d made a mistake.”
My heart broke in that moment. Pain ebbed from my chest throughout my limbs. “So you lost your baby and the elders fucking imprisoned you?” Anger rose up inside of me, washing that pain right away and replacing it with rage. How fucking dare they?
She sighed. “No. I lost my baby, let over fifty Fae escape out onto Earth, including the Winter King, then Daniel died … that’s when the elders imprisoned me.”
I winced. Oh. Well, that sounded kind of bad. You weren’t allowed to let Fae off-world unless it was for an approved mission. Even when using the enchanted shell. “Why’d you let all of the Fae out?”
She shrugged. “People deserve free will, do they not?”
Yeah, they did, I guess.
“How did Daniel die?” Elle asked, her voice small and full of compassion.
Mara’s jaw ticked. “Fae poison. I smelled it on his lips. I tried to give him a healing stone, but it worsened the effect and he just went quicker. To this day, I do not know who did it.”
That was bad. Likereallybad.
“I’m so sorry.” I stepped up to embrace her and she squeezed me tightly. When we pulled back, she smoothed my hair. “I don’t ever want something like that to happen to you. Understand?”
Loud and fucking clear. I needed to play my cards right with the elders and Liam, but it was time to remind them just who was in charge. Until they got off their lazy asses and started having seeker abilities, I wasn’t going to be taking orders from them.
“Okay. Seattle?” Mara wiped her cheeks, trying to change the mood. Elle and I shared a sad look.
Poor thing. She’d been carrying that weight for so long.
“Seattle,” I affirmed.
* * *
Five minutes later,I stepped out onto the green, tree-lined front lawn in the rain to see Liam pacing the area nervously. “You’re here!” he cried out, and ran over to me. There was blood on his jacket and his wings were limp, lifeless.
“What happened?” I almost reached out to touch him and then remembered myself.
He followed my line of sight to his jacket. “Oh, that’s nothing. Come on, we don’t have much time. You took forever.”
Elle and I shared a look. What was his rush? Our world was ending, not his. I knew he didn’t trust me or I would have asked.
I started to dig a hole in the grass to put my feet in and help us seek the next crystal when Liam took out a knife and sliced his palm.
“What the hell!” I shouted.
