He was a shadow fae.
43
Lorcan
Lorcan stayed very still as he watched the truth churn through Reyna’s silver eyes. Her mouth had parted. She looked as though she had seen a Fomorian, charging at her across the fields. Everything within him wanted to jump to his feet, explain it all, and force her to understand that he was not the monster she thought he was.
But he truly was that monster.
Lorcan was a shadow fae. His kind had been exiled from Tir Na Nog fifty years past when their High King had brutally slaughtered dozens of air fae nobility. He had never meant to drop his guard and allow the shadows of his skin to seep out in front of someone else. He’d always been in control. He’d never allowed his mask to drop, not even in front of Prince Thane.
He hadn’t even realized he’d done it this night. Not until he saw the look of horror pass across his lover’s face.
Reyna sat up, breaking the cocoon of warmth that had formed around them. She looked absolutely breathtaking, even when she looked as though she might strangle him. In fact, her anger brought out her characteristic fierceness, one of the things that had drawn him toward her in the first place.
His taste in females was going to get him killed someday.
“I suppose half of the things you’ve said to me have been lies,” she finally said, her voice as icy as the winter winds of the north. “If not more.”
“I am careful with my words, same as every other fae alive. But most of what I have suggested to you has been the truth.”
“And Thane?” She pulled her knees up to her chest and wrapped her arms around them. “Does he know what you are?”
“He does.”
She looked at him hotly. “Is that another one of your lies? Because I find it impossible to believe that the prince of the Air Court would choose a shadow fae to be his closest guard.”
“You may ask him yourself when we return to the castle. Thane and I have known each other for a very long time. He knows what I am, and he has accepted it.”
Of course, that was not the full truth. Lorcan had been born on Air Court lands, son to an air fae female and a shadow fae male. According to the magic of the realms, that would officially make Lorcan an air fae, one who had no shadow fae powers. A fae could never be both. It was impossible. The son or daughter always took after the mother. Never the father.
That would mean Lorcan couldn’t lie. But he could.
And that would mean he couldn’t draw power from shadows. But even in a world post-Fall, he could that, too.
In truth, a part of him ached to tell Reyna everything. Logically, he knew that was a terrible idea. She was betrothed to marry the prince. One day, not long from now, she would become the High Queen of the Air Court herself. If the war went the way they hoped, she might even become an Empress.
If Lorcan told her everything, not only would he lose that spark he saw in her eyes but he would likely forfeit his life.
His mark burned even as he contemplated it.
Frowning, she dropped her chin to her knees and stared out at the grasslands. The rain had begun to die down, and a pinkish light filled the horizon. Soon, they would no longer have an excuse for hiding out in these rocks. She would be free of him just in time to run straight back into Thane’s arms.
“So, you are a shadow fae.” She lifted her eyes and twisted to face him.
“Not entirely. My father is a shadow fae, but my mother wasn’t.”
That was the truth, at least. His father had bedded many females over the years from every corner of the continent. He had hoped to create a hybrid, a fae skilled in two elements instead of just one, believing that was the way to take back the realm.
But he had been wrong. His father’s blood was strong.
Lorcan had warned him to cease his actions, but his father never listened to his bastard son. Another shadow fae had once tried to create hybrids. And it had resulted in the deaths of dozens. It was a magic not to be trifled with, but these males were convinced Unseelie wanted them to do it.
“And you have some magic,” Reyna said softly. “I saw it. Tendrils of shadows pulsing around you. And that’s how you were able to get out of the cage.”
He nodded. “It hasn’t always been the case. My power came to me about fifteen years ago. It isn’t always perfect or strong, but I can draw upon the shadows at times. For strength, for hearing, for sight. Sometimes, to shift through them.”
He probably shouldn’t have shared that with her. That was one thing Thane didn’t know. The prince believed that Lorcan had no shadow fae powers at all, that he had inherited his mother’s element instead of his father’s.
