My heart was hammering in my chest. Why would he want to know that?
“December twenty-first,” I finally said. It was no secret. Public records were available on the current queen for all shifters to access.
Baladar nodded like he’d expected me to say that exact date. “Yes, I’m starting to get a very clear picture now. That’s an important date.”
Yep, I was born on it, so it was pretty important to me. But seriously, how could that be more interesting than the fact that all shifters were fae? Part fae, anyway. It made me feel sick for some reason and I didn’t know why. Hearing that we were bred like some prize or achievement for each court. Like animals. It was awful. I also had a sinking feeling in my gut that the House of Red didn’t stand for the Summer Court, a court which I associated with the good guys.
Sucking in a few deep breaths, I forced myself to remember my training, to remember that we might have a powerful ally in Baladar, and I needed to be polite.
“Thank you for all of your help today,” I said to him. “We’ll pick this up another time?”
He gave me a small smile. “Of course, My Lady.”
Kade had been very quiet for most of the story, although I could see a few veins bulging out of his forehead as he stared at butterfly covered plants.
When he turned and caught my eye, I almost stepped back. His copper irises were swirling, shadows visible in the depths of the molten color. He stood, and crossed over to stand behind me, closer than usual, his heat engulfing me and lessening the icy tendrils of shock coating my body.
“Well met,” he rumbled toward Baladar, before we both turned to traverse the halls and find the exit.
Holy crap, shifters were fae. Like actual Tuatha de Danann mixed with humans.
I’d been so distracted I’d missed the fact that Baladar was walking us out, only noticing when we reached the door and his hand stilled on the knob. “Calista is here,” he said, inhaling deeply.
My heart pinched a little. I could sense the sadness seeping from him. “When was the last time you saw her?”
He looked away; those pale eyes with lightning strikes through them were unfocused.
“We email each other every so often, but I haven’t seen her in many years.”
With that he ripped open the door. On the other side, hand raised, looking slightly flustered, was Blaine. Monica was on his right.
“You’ve been gone a while. We were starting to get worried,” the commander of my dominants said, his huge body blocking the doorway completely. He stepped aside then, allowing us to walk out.
Baladar tsk tsked Blaine. “Your queen was perfectly safe in my home.”
I noticed that Baladar stayed in the entryway; he made no attempted to walk out onto the front porch with us. He’d said he was banished here, as a punishment from the Red Queen; he literally could not walk out the door. There had to be a way to lift this banishment. It couldn’t be true that now that the queen was dead, his only way of being released had died with her. Baladar was very powerful, though. If there was a way, surely he’d have figured it out. Which made my heart clench just a little tighter. It was a long life to spend trapped in a cage.
The car door opened, distracting us all. Calista stepped out clutching her tablet; she was wide-eyed and clearly a bit nervous. I could see her white knuckles where she held the small electronic device. The air around us charged as Baladar moved as far forward in the doorway as he could. They had their eyes locked on each other. Calista stopped at the first step and the intensity of energy zapping around increased. They stared at each other like nothing else in the world existed.
“Hi,” Calista finally said. A simple greeting, but I could see the magic born’s face crumble.
“Calista…” Her name on his lips was like poetry. The saddest poem you had ever heard.
A loud screech broke the moment, and Kade lifted his head to the sky. Nix was descending, her huge wings washing shadows across us all as she landed on the bear’s arm. My line of sight dropped lower to where Finn was coming up the stairs. I reached out and ran my hand through his fur.
Where have you two been? I asked my familiar.
He nuzzled against me, his warmth so comforting. We were scouting. I won’t let the fae take anything more from you.
The fae, right. I needed to tell Finn everything we had learned here today. I followed along with the conversation, he said before I could start. Explains why the fae have familiars too. Clearly that is a royal trait, and those shifters strong enough are the ones who receive them.
Yes, I said, digging my hands deeper into his fur. So weird that we are both fae. You’re from the Otherworld, and my ancestors and family are there now. It’s all very different to the shifter history we’re taught. Someone wiped this information from the history books. Someone didn’t want shifters to know they are fae.
I could sense that Finn agreed with me, but neither of us had any more answers about why that might be. Kade cleared his throat, and I realized that everyone was waiting for me to get into the car. Calista and Baladar were no longer Romeo and Julieting all over the place. They’d tucked their emotions back inside and were acting very polite.
Trying to follow their example, I turned to the magic born. “Thank you, I’ll be in touch,” I said to Baladar. He nodded, and I knew I would see him again very soon. After I processed the fact that I was part fae, I’m sure I would be hungry for more deep, dark secrets.
Violet peeked her head out of the car then. She hadn’t bothered to get out. “This is cute but I’m starving, so…”