Born Of Nothing

30

My mind raced, wondering just how much she knew. “I went to get dinner with a friend after work. Why? What’s wrong?” I asked calmly, hoping her question was merely a product of her overprotective instincts. “Fergus called today, said you’ve been sick quite a bit lately and wanted to ask how you were feeling. You don’t look sick to me, so tell me Cat, where were you today?” The cold steel in her voice sent a shiver of unease down my spine. I already knew I would have to part ways with my mother, so her learning about my activities wouldn’t change my plans. However, I had hoped I could make the separation as painless for both of us as possible by playing it off as the need for a young woman to go her own way in life. If she knew what I had been up to over the last month, I didn’t think she would ever forgive me. “I’ve got a friend who’s been in a rough spot lately, so I’ve been helping her out. I’m sorry I didn’t tell you; she needed my help and I didn’t know what else to do.” I gave a story that was as close to the truth as I could offer and hoped to infuse enough sincerity in my voice to assuage her suspicions. “And this friend, she wouldn’t happen to be Fae, would she?” “No, but would it matter if she was?” My voice raised with a hint of frustration, despite my best efforts to remain calm. Stepping around the corner from the kitchen, Daeglan O’Connor came to stand next to my mother. My hands tingled with nervous energy, and my stomach churned. My mom was childhood friends with Daeglan, and she’d spent more and more time with him in recent years. He wasn’t a particularly large man, but the intensity in his eyes and harsh lines of his face made him an imposing figure. When his callous eyes met mine, every hair on the back of my neck stood on edge. “It matters a great deal, Catronia. They’re a vicious race of beings and we don’t want you getting hurt,” he offered in a tone meant to reassure but instead came off as condescending. “We? Mom, why is he even here? He’s one of the main reasons I don’t want to tell you anything because I know you’ll just go telling him like you did about the Sword. You want me to trust you, then keep him out of our business.” Mom’s eyes pleaded with me. “He’s here because I don’t know what else to do to make you see reason.” “Reason? You mean you want me to be an anti-Fae fanatic like him? Well that’s too bad because I refuse to hate them just because you tell me to.” My voice rose in agitation at my mother’s narrow-mindedness. Daeglan’s eyes met my mother’s and they shared in a silent conversation. When my mother looked back to me, there was an apology in those hazel eyes I knew so well. My eyes danced back and forth between them as a raging river of panic began to course through my veins. My eyes darted for the front door, but just as I made to take a step, Daeglan whispered the words to an enchantment. My momentum was instantly halted as I slammed up against an invisible barrier. When I glanced down, I realized too late that I stood inside a small ring of salt that had been placed preemptively to trap me. “What’s going on? Mom, what are you doing?” I cried out with mounting fear. She looked to Daeglan, grasping his arm firmly. “Wait, maybe she’ll tell me the truth. I’m not sure this is necessary.” “Colleen, we talked about this. It’s crucial we know just how deeply they have warped her mind,” he responded firmly, and to my horror, my mother nodded in resigned acceptance. “What are you talking about? No one has warped my mind! You’re insane!” I spat out, pounding on the invisible barrier between us. Daeglan approached, and to my surprise, reached easily into my prison. He grabbed my wrists before breaking the salt barrier and yanking me toward the sofa. I hollered out as he roughly shoved me to lie on my stomach on the sofa, his knee pressed into the small of my back with my hands bound behind me. “What the f**k are you doing? Get off me!” I hissed angrily as I struggled in his grasp. He grunted with the effort to restrain me but easily kept the upper hand. “We may not have the Sword of Light, but we have other means of getting to the truth.” The cold pinch of cuffs clamped around my wrists. “Mom, please don’t do this,” I begged with a sob. My anger had begun to give way to desperation and gut-clenching fear. I did not know these people. My own mother was suddenly a stranger to me. The woman who had raised me never would have stood by idly while I was mistreated. The swish of a switch-blade being opened resonated in the room, and my racing heart stuttered in terror. “What are you doing? Please don’t do this. Momma, please make him stop!” My cheek was smashed against the couch cushion with my head facing the room, giving me the perfect view of my mother. Hand over her mouth, eyes glassy, she stood motionless as Daeglan O’Connor began to slice into my forearm. I cried out in pain, but he continued unfazed. “This is a truth rune, not unlike the one we wear on our necks,” he said almost reverently as if he was a professor offering the days lesson to eager students. Burning pain seared through my arm as his blade etched the intricate lines into my flesh. I no longer struggled as my muscles locked in a bonechilling terror I had not known existed. “Cat, who were you with today?” Daeglan asked solemnly. An excruciating silence filled the room, as if not one of us were breathing. Magic stirred inside my chest and I fought against its all-consuming compulsion. My lips quivered, and I choked on a sob from the frustration, but I was not strong enough. “Fenodree, I was with Fenodree.” Tears ran over the bridge of my nose and pooled on the sofa cushion. “Is Fenodree Fae?” he continued the interrogation in an eerily calm voice. “Yes,” I whispered. Then he paused briefly. “Is Fenodree a man?” I closed my eyes as my lips move of their own volition. “Yes.” How could my mother do this to me? The betrayal of our bond. The violation of my trust. Regardless of her intentions, I could see no way to forgive her for her complicity in this assault.