Twilight Siege

24

Everything I read made out the Shadow Fae to be vile creatures—would taking on their dark magic warp me such that I became evil? Was that why I had the dreams of the shadow man? I had so many questions and they planted seeds of fear and doubt in me, but that had been the same train of thought that had led me to take off my necklace and rendered me totally helpless against Ronan’s exploits. I couldn’t let fear make my decisions. I would have to hope that Merlin knew what he was doing when he gave me the necklace because I couldn’t fathom how turning me evil would help his cause. Resentment toward the old Fae man bubbled up inside me. Would it have killed him to stick around and explain a few things before he took off? I may have learned the basics of what was happening to me, but what was I supposed to do with this new power? We still didn’t even know who the enemy was, let alone how to stop them. Before my frustrations overwhelmed me, I closed the laptop and marched myself to bed. “Cat, is Fergus in already?” I asked her tersely as I walked into the museum the following morning. “Yeah, he’s in his office I believe. Is something wrong?” Her features were pinched with concern and a frown marred her freckled face. While I hated to accuse my friend of anything, I had to know what had happened at the London museum. “Can you please come up with me to the offices?—I’d like to talk to you both.” She gave a small nod and followed me toward the elevator. Endless seconds ticked by as we rode up to the top floor shrouded in a tense silence. We found Fergus working at his desk, a fast-tempo piano piece playing softly on the radio. “Good morning, ladies,” he offered congenially as we entered the office. “What can I do for you this morning?” I gave him a tight smile as I closed the office door and he sat forward in concern. Cat and I sat across from Fergus, the strain in the room palpable. “This weekend I came across some trouble at the British Museum in London.” My eyes met Cat’s and my friend dropped her gaze to her lap. “Three druids were there attempting to beat us to the sword and Lochlan was shot with an iron bullet, we had to fight them to get out of there alive.” Her eyes flew back up to mine, horror on her face. “Rebecca, you have to believe that I had no idea any of that would happen! I told my mum that you were going to get the sword, just so they would know you had it, not to stop you from getting it.” Fergus cleared his throat before cutting in. “I didn’t know anything about your trip to London prior to Saturday,” he offered slowly, fingers steepled in front of him. “However, after the events at the museum unfolded, there was quite the stir. From what I was told, either that necklace of yours has more powers than simply allowing you to see the Fae, or you yourself are Fae.” He leaned back in his desk chair, hands still pressed together in front of him. “Is there something you need to tell us, Rebecca?” The dynamic in the room quickly shifted as Cat gasped and Fergus assessed me with curious eyes. After everything that had happened that night, I had completely forgotten about outing myself to the druids. When I turned to Cat, she looked at me like I had just kicked her new puppy. “Has everything you’ve said been a lie?” she asked. “No, Cat. What I told you and the others is the truth—the necklace I was given as a child has magic. I didn’t find out until a few days ago that the power was turning me into a Fae. I didn’t know how to tell you. You all have so much fear and hatred for the Fae, I didn’t want you to feel that way toward me. I’m still me, and I’m still trying to stop a war from coming.” “You’re going to be like them?” “We don’t know how I’ll be. I’ve been training with Lochlan to learn how to fight but even he doesn’t know how this happened or how to control my powers. My necklace somehow has both light and dark magic combined so my powers are unlike any other Fae.” I paused for a moment and looked at both of them earnestly. “I promised that I wouldn’t put you and your families in danger and I won’t. Please believe me.” Fergus let out a long sigh as he leaned forward, elbows now resting on the desk. “I don’t think any of it matters now. With that damn Deaglan O’Connor going off to steal the sword without approval of the elders, now our existence has been exposed. One i***t goes off half-c****d and centuries of secrecy are washed down the toilet. We’ll just have to wait to see what happens.” “The elders didn’t send those three to get the sword?” I asked in confusion. “No. Just like any large group, within it a number of factions develop. Daeglan and his followers have always hated that we hid our abilities, but until now, they have respected the elders’ wishes and maintained our secrecy. At the first mention of the sword, he was off to London—I never heard about any of it until after the fact.” Cat cut in saying, “Deaglan and my mum are the same age, they went to school together. I can’t believe she’d tell him—she’d have known he was a hot head and would do something stupid.” “I’m extremely confident that you aren’t in danger. I didn’t want to tell you because I knew you wouldn’t be happy about me bringing up the druids, but I had asked Lochlan if they had been real and what happened to them. I never gave any indication that they still existed or that I was asking for anything but curiosity. He said the order to kill the druids wasn’t given by Guin and that when she found out, she killed the Erkling Odin for his actions. Odin claimed she had ordered the deaths but it seems she didn’t. Regardless of what happened back then, I don’t believe anyone wishes you dead at this point.” We all sat quietly for moment, each mulling over the new information we’d received until Fergus’ office phone startled all three of us. With a nervous laugh, Fergus answered and Cat and I quietly dismissed ourselves from the office. Instead of turning toward the elevator, she paused and I could tell she had something on her mind. “You know, I joked about my family being a cult, but there is some truth to it. I’ve been told all my life to fear the Fae, that they were capable of terrible things.” Her sad eyes met mine, her mouth pulled down in a frown. “Everything’s changing now and I don’t know what to think or how to feel.” I reached out and pulled Cat into a tight hug. “I know exactly how you feel, honey.” We stood that way for a while until she pulled back and wiped at her eyes. “I know you’re not evil, Becca. And I’m sorry that me opening my mouth got you attacked.” “You couldn’t have known it would happen, and I’m sorry I didn’t tell you the whole truth about me. It’s been a lot to process in a very short amount of time.” “We’ll figure it out together. No more secrets?”