Twilight Siege

31

“We don’t have time to explain it all, but essentially Merlin showed up and I begged him to help. He gave her something to drink, she died, the doctors couldn’t save her, but now she’s alive and well. They think she’s dead, so we need you to do your Jedi mind trick thing on them so we can get out of here.” His head moved slowly side to side in amazement. “Every day is a f*****g trip with you around.” First Lochlan used his Fae mojo to convince a doctor to remove Ashley’s cast from her arm. Then he led the way out of the hospital, using magic to explain away Ashley’s miraculous recovery. His spelled words made my skin tingle from the magic but didn’t otherwise affect me, however the doctors’ and nurses’ eyes went distant as their memories altered according to Lochlan’s instructions. He drove us back to my apartment while Ashley called her parents to inform them of her returned health. I overheard as her mother cried and they made plans to see each other the next day once her mom and dad arrived in Belfast. At the apartment Ashley changed out of her hospital gown and we both curled up on the bed while I delved into a detailed explanation of everything that had happened to me. I told her about Merlin and Ronan, the Red Cap attack and my trip to Faery. As much as I hated to say the words, I told her about Ronan tricking me into sleeping with him and she cried along with me. I told her about light and dark magic, the Shadow Court, and the war being waged by the woman named Morgan. We spent hours catching up. “I know you’re telling me that I’m Fae, but I don’t feel any different. My eyes glowed but maybe that was just his magic leaving me—how can I know for sure?” Ashley asked once we had circled back around to discussing our transformation.

“I guess that’s something we’ll have to talk to the guys about. As soon as Lochlan came in your hospital room he could sense that you were Fae and I trust him. He knew the moment he saw me on the street that I was Fae.” “What about my powers, shouldn’t I have powers?” “Our transformations are unprecedented, no one knows what our powers are or how they’ll develop.” “Awesome, nothing like being a living science experiment.” “You know there’s no one I’d rather be a science experiment with than you.” “Awe, Becca, you say the sweetest things.” We both giggled and my heart fluttered with happiness at having my best friend back. “All joking aside, how are you handling all of this?” Ashley’s fingers toyed with the blanket thrown over her legs as she thought. “I’m not sure I can grasp all the implications just yet. The basic concept doesn’t bother me—being long lived and having magic sounds pretty sweet. You know I’ve always lived in all the fantasy books I read. As long as I can remember, I’ve dreamed about something like this happening. Not to say I think it will be all sunshine and rainbows—there’s pros and cons to everything though so we’ll see how this plays out.” “No kidding, at least you aren’t being asked to stop a Fae invasion.” “You don’t think I went through all this and am just going to let you fight this alone, do you? Because that’s just absurd—you and me are in like Flynn. There’s no going back now.” “Ashley, I don’t want you getting hurt.” “And how did that work out for you the last time? It didn’t, I got sucked back in and that’s not your fault, it’s just the way it is. I’m helping you any way I can so don’t try to fight me.” I gave her a tight smile. “I know, I’m sorry. I could use the help, and I’m so glad I can talk to you about all this now. It really sucked keeping it all a secret.” “You better not pull that s**t again. My powers come in and I will zap your ass if I catch you keeping secrets.” “You can try, but don’t forget I’ve got powers of my own.” I arched a brow at her in challenge and we both collapsed in a fit of giggles. What I said had been true. If I had to walk this road, there was no one I’d rather have by my side on the journey. OceanofPDF.com 11 When the next morning rolled around I felt like I had been put through a meat grinder. If it hadn’t been for my Fae healing abilities, I was sure my eyes would have been swollen shut from all my crying the day before. My body may have been much recovered, but my psyche was in desperate need of a break. I texted Fergus telling him that I needed to take the afternoon off and would meet with him and Cat as soon as I made it in to update them on all that had happened. After that, I texted Lochlan to let him know I wanted to be a part of Ronan’s interrogation and would be over that evening. At the museum, I sat down with Cat and Fergus giving them the details of the attack, including Ronan’s capture and Ashley’s transformation. Now that they knew I was becoming Fae, there was no reason not to tell them everything—I didn’t want any doubt in their minds that I was being forthcoming. Halfway through the morning I had a surprise visit from Lochlan. He had never come to the museum before—Ronan had stopped by pretending to be Lochlan, but Lochlan himself had only ever appeared unannounced at my house. Despite knowing Ronan was no longer a threat, any deviation from the normal sounded my internal alarms. “Is everything okay?” I asked as I joined him in the museum atrium. “Just wanted to touch base with you before you came by later—are you sure you want to see him? You’ve thought about what will happen once our interrogation is over?” “Yes, I’m sure.” “He doesn’t look pretty at this point, be prepared for that.” “I thought you said you hadn’t interrogated him yet.” “We’ve employed some interrogation tactics that don’t involve magic but we haven’t used the sword on him yet. We were waiting for you to be present.” “I really appreciate you including me, I know you didn’t have to do that."