“Looks like someone is starting to believe my lies after all,” Alexia said.
Bridget wanted to smack the smirk off her face. Instead, she took a deep breath and whispered to Archer, “Stay close to Nylah.”
“I can take care of myself,” her sister interjected.
“Humor me.”
The interior of the Shaman’s home was just like Bridget expected, full of random knick-knacks and mismatched items. However, she assumed each one wasn’t really asrandomas it appeared. There were no pictures, or personal items. The only indication that someone actively lived there was the steaming pot of water on the stove.
In the kitchen, the Shaman wordlessly poured five glasses of tea. Sticking close to the door, Bridget scanned the walls and corners for any sign of a trap. Unless she counted the very large spider nestled near the ceiling, she found none.
“No television?” Nylah asked, flopping down on the couch.
“It gives me a headache.”
So this guy wasold. When the Shaman handed Bridget a small teacup, she was pleasantly surprised to find it already full of cream and sugar. Still, she refused to drink it and placed it on the fireplace mantle. Archer gulped his down and ran a finger over a row of books on the Shaman’s shelf.
That’s when she noticed it. An Elyrian history book on the shelf next to his wandering hand. One she’d seen only months ago.
“You’re Echnav, aren’t you?” Bridget guessed.
The Shaman’s shoulder stiffened. “How did you guess?”
“Cade told me about you,” she said, picking up the book. “He said you were his tutor. I saw a book just like this in his room. Plus, you’re the only missing Shaman I know.”
“Echnav… That’s the name I started going by about a century ago when I briefly left Astraeus to live in Tafari. Once Marin was born, though, I came back to help raise her. My real name is Stellan. It’s the name I prefer.”
Archer snorted into his tea.
Bridget’s jaw dropped. “You’re Marin’s father?”
He was so… young. And with the earring, didnotlook like anyone’s father.
“Not exactly. Her father was one of my best friends. He died a few days after she was born.”
“How? Aren’t Shamans basically immortal?” Archer asked.
“Some would like to think so, but we do have our weaknesses. I couldn’t stop you from cutting off my head or stabbing me in the heart. A certain iron also poisons us,” Stellan said. “People like to think we’re invincible because only a few things cause us to age at the same speed as humans.”
“But you’re not?” Nylah asked.
Stellan’s lips twisted. “Definitely not.”
“What makes you age?”
“Nylah,” Bridget warned.
Nonplussed, Stellan continued, “If I were to bind my life to a human’s, I would age with them. Die with them, even.”
Bridget remembered Cade talking about Tuathans mating with humans a long time ago, but nothing about beingbound. “Is that common?” she asked. “My experience with Shamans has been the opposite of… friendly. And none of them were old. Including yourself.”
“Tuathans and humans used to be veryfriendlywith each other. Why do you think there’s so many Fae running around?” Stella said, almost cracking a smile. “Before the whole mess with the Sanguis, humans ruled Elyria… right next door to the Tuathans in Cavamyne. Even though the two populations had some issues every now and then,interminglingwasn’t treated like it is now. But to be bound… it takes a price. No Tuathan would attempt it lightly. So to answer your question… No. It’s not common.”
“Marin did tell me she was only half-Tuathan. I just didn’t realize what that meant,” Bridget said. “How does it work?”
“This isn’t the time for a history lesson,” Alexia hissed in her ear.
Bridget ignored her. She didn’t know why she was so curious, only that information pulled at something deep in her gut. Like she’d heard it before… possibly in a dream.
