Remember the rules of faerie, Faye Morgan, Grainne said.You are unpractised in the ways of the Good Folk. Your grandmother should have made sure that you were properly trained.
‘What must I do?’ Faye asked her ancestor. Grainne’s face wavered, then became clear again.
Seek the grimoire. Learn from it. Take great care in the realms of faerie. Use the protections against the fae, and do not be deceived. It is our job to work alongside them. Not to be seduced.
Then, Grainne’s face disappeared from the crystal.
Faye sat for a moment, stunned, then replaced the crystal ball in its case and locked it. What was that? Grainne had neverappeared to her before, but ever since Faye had made contact with Finn Beatha, it seemed that Grainne was showing up for Faye.Maybe she wants to protect me, Faye thought. The idea of being protected by her ancestors was a welcome warm thought when she was struggling with the side effects of her time in Murias.
At ten, she opened the shop door and looked out onto the street. She saw Annie a few doors away, coming in to start her shift. Faye waved, and the opal ring on her thumb caught the morning sun.
‘Hey! Morning, ma sweet darlin’.’ Annie grinned as she walked in past Faye, and instinctively, Faye put her left hand down by her side in the fold of the dress she’d pulled on today. ‘Dunno what you’ve been doing last night, but ye look beautiful,’ Annie called out, hanging up her coat in the back room. She returned, sipping a glass of water. ‘Ye saw Rav, eh? Out of the bad books, is he?’
Faye twisted the opal on her thumb; she wanted to tell Annie everything that had happened to her. The words lined up on her tongue, but instead of being able to say them, a tightness seized her throat and she coughed.
‘Ye all right, pet?’ Annie banged her on the back. Faye nodded, and tried again, but the same dry, airless sensation assailed her, and Finn’s voice spoke in her mind.
The gift is for you, Faye Morgan. But I am your secret. Tell no one what has passed here tonight, or you may not be permitted back into my realm.
She knew she wasn’t supposed to talk about being with Finn, but she hadn’t expected his prohibition to be so literal. Annie offered her the glass of water, and Faye took a gulp.
‘All right?’ Annie looked concerned.
‘I’m okay.’ Faye nodded, a shiver of unease rippling through her body. She didn’t like lying to Annie, but it seemed Finn’senchantment lingered here, in her world. How was it possible that he could completely take her over?No one controls me, she thought angrily.I am a Morgan. How dare he?‘Phew.’ Annie smiled, then looked at her phone and frowned. ‘Ah. Slight change o’ plan, lassie. All right if I hop off early later? Got an audition. Nice ring, by the way.’
‘Sure. Fine. Thanks, it’s…new.’ The less Faye had to be around Annie today, the better. She didn’t want to lie to her any more than she had to. ‘Take the day off, if you want? It’s going to be quiet, I’m sure.’ She dropped her hand by her side to avoid any further comment on the ring.
‘Thanks, sweetheart.’ Annie grinned. ‘I’ll stay and have a gossip for a bit, though, aye? I tell ye what, Aisha’s been acting odd recently. Have ye noticed?’
Annie was running on about something – about Aisha not turning up for work, about seeing her walking on the beach alone, but Faye wasn’t listening. She was twisting the ring on her thumb. She tried several times to take it off but found that she could not. The realisation that the ring was a link from her to Finn, and that he had somehow magicked it to stay on her hand and not be removed, caused a coil of dread to unfurl slowly in her stomach.
She had refused to stay in Murias and become Finn Beatha’s whore. And yet he still sought to remind her of him. Why?
21
When the bells by the door jangled the next day, Faye looked up to see Rav’s bullish frame instead.
‘Hey. I’ve been messaging you, but I didn’t get a reply.’ He smiled and Faye looked guiltily at her phone. She realised that she’d spent the last hour staring off into space, pondering her time in Murias; Aisha, who was working that day, had given up talking to her and had turned on the radio.
The fact that Faye was functioning at all after everything that had happened was remarkable, she realised. She still felt unwell, but she was soldiering on, refusing to let faerie get the better of her. Finn had told her, and the rules had warned her that if she spent too long in the faerie realms – if she ate the food and drank the wine – the exposure to fae would weaken her immunity to humanity, once she was back. Less so, as half faerie, but it was still noticeable.
Faye didn’t want to believe it, and yet it seemed true. She also didn’t want to believe what Finn had told her about the war and the prophecy: it all seemed ridiculous, now that she was back home. Yet, the thought that it might all be true niggled at her. What then?
‘Oh. Sorry.’ She blushed, unable to explain. Rav looked around at the shop, which was empty apart from Aisha, unpacking a box in the corner, back again at Faye, and at her phone, next to her on the counter.
‘It’s okay. I was just a bit worried about you.’ He looked unsure of her, which Faye could understand. She’d been completely inconsistent with him since they had had their night on the beach.
‘You don’t need to worry.’ She coughed into a tissue. ‘Sorry. Just a bit under the weather.’
Dal Riada, there, Scotland’s hottest new band, burbled the local radio as the track finished.Set to be headlining Abercolme Rocks this year; the first Midsummer celebration for many a year up this way. It’s gonna be a banger, get your tickets soon cos they’re selling out!
‘Are they? Selling out?’ Faye gave Rav a big smile, picking up her pack of dog-eared tarot cards she kept at the counter and shuffling them to have something to do with her hands; it made her feel less awkward. She pulled out three cards without any particular questions and laid them on the counter, facing up. The King of Cups on one side, the King of Pentacles on the other, and The Empress in the middle.Two men that desire you.Two men – well that was easy enough. The King of Cups was Finn, and the King of Pentacles was Rav. The Empress was herself – sexy, desired, fertile; the ultimate woman. Faye remembered that sometimes the Empress card could mean a Mistress, too; she raised an eyebrow.Whose mistress?she wondered.
‘Doing all right, yeah.’ Rav nodded. ‘Word’s getting out there. People love that band. Not my thing, but whatever. Sorry you’re ill. Can I do anything? Bring you anything?’
‘That’s sweet of you. No, I’m fine. You know, Aisha really loves Dal Riada. Aish, come and say hi.’ Faye beckoned her over.
She pulled out two more cards, more consciously now. On the King of Cups, she placed The Lovers; on the King of Pentacles, she placed the Seven of Swords. The Lovers was obvious. The Swords card meant deviousness, guile – betrayal, sometimes. She frowned and picked up the cards, slotting them back into the deck.Betrayal,she thought, avoiding Rav’s eyes.But who betrays who?
