Last Ride of the Umbra Fae

19. Vessa

19

Vessa

F uck manners. I stormed through Pa’s door, preferring to bring hell with me. He did not even flinch when I slammed down the half-eaten apple pie. He continued to play the last hand of his deck. I knew he wouldn’t say a damn word until he won the game or not.

Pa’s room had the same structure as mine, only smaller, simpler for a man like him. I’d known the door would be unlocked. I remembered a long time ago, I had asked him why he never locked them. His response should have been carved into stone.

“My door is an open invitation for anyone seeking death.”

He sat by the window, hat off, his onyx, pointed ears exposed. He was dressed down to nothing but a loose-fitted, gray, long-sleeve shirt, unbuttoned at the top, along with thermals and boots. The man looked ready for bed.

“Your mind is messy, Shadow. Better sort out your thoughts. See which cards you want to play.”

“I thought I was doing just that until you decided to let Raven cockblock me.”

He flashed a thick, salt-and-pepper brow my way, one that felt like a whip. A look that would have worked back in the day, but I was a woman now.

Hard on the reins, just like Ma, is what his face read.

“Since we are being bold and boundless tonight, yeah, I said it,” I sneered.

“My gods, your mouth spits fire.”

“Then don’t poke the dragon.”

Raven and Ryder walked in, their boots thudding against the ground like wild buffalo. I could pick out Ryder’s footsteps by the spurs because Raven loved his steel-capped boots. I glanced over my shoulder to find Ryder taking a space against the wall, knee bent as his boot rested against it. His tousled hair and swollen lips gave away what we had just been doing. Pa set his hand down, cards thumping against the table with extra emphasis, and sighed.

“We are about to enter The City of Donia. There are things there that you will not be able to unsee nor will you understand. It’s nothing like the wild out here. The humans here are spread out, but lump them in a city full of Elemental Fae where fear binds them, you’ll truly see the animals they’ve become in order to survive.”

“I don’t see much of a difference between them and us. We’ve been teetering on survival for years—what difference does a wall make?”

He looked at me. “ We are free . Ain’t nothing better, no matter how monstrous we are. But we are going there for a purpose, and that’s to meet the person who makes your tonic. I hate to break it to you, Shadow, but you need more.”

“No shit.” I swung one leg over the other and crossed my arms, bouncing my foot. “What happens if I don’t take it?”

“Don’t start this bullshit, Vessa.” Raven moved toward us but kept his distance from me as he stood by the window.

I quickly uncrossed my legs and leaned forward, ignoring the phantom pain pulsing up my arm. “I’m not starting any bullshit. What happens if I don’t take it?”

“Shadow, you will be in so much pain by the end of it, you won’t even survive long enough to find out.” Pa loomed closer with a warning that sent a shiver down my spine.

Rein in your shit is what his look said.

I knew what he meant.

“Why do you guys get to decide what she puts in her mouth?” Ryder chimed in as he kept Raven in his line of sight. Taking the bait, Raven’s eyes darkened, rolling his head from side to side and straightening his shoulders. The grin on Ryder’s face displayed enough satisfaction to last him a lifetime.

“If you two idiots want to sword fight with your cocks, take that shit outside.” Pa’s shadows spread out, curling and seeping into the room.

Ryder withdrew, holding his hands out in surrender. “Alright, End’s Wrath, but you need to keep a tighter leash on that bird of yours. His feathers are too easily ruffled.”

“He ain’t my bird, boy. He’s Vessa’s.”

I slouched in my chair, bringing a hand to my forehead, soothing out the sudden pain they all invoked in me. Everyone in this room wanted to dig each other’s graves.

“It’s obvious the man who makes these tonics is working for the humans now. Why let him breathe? He doesn’t deserve to hone and share a gift so ancient with those who aren’t fae. He is going against every word spoken by the elders of Blightstone Hollow and the true meaning of our Eternal.” I felt like I was preaching for a second. It made my skin crawl, but the humans had taken too much from us.

“Ryder is going to sneak us in, we will meet with the maker of these tonics, and then we’re out.”

As soon as Pa started shuffling his cards, I knew this conversation was over. He silently set up a new game of solitaire, and I felt my stomach clinch; the realization hit me so hard in the chest that my eyes burned. A sense of foreboding hung in the air.

Pa could keep his plans all he wanted, but by the end of it, we all had minds of our own. I could leave that city in ruins and walk away knowing I’d sleep just fine, leaving every human and Elemental Fae to burn to ash.

He would not dare stand in my way.

“We ride at dawn,” Pa said.

And that was that. I glanced over my shoulder to find Ryder already gone. Silence hung in the air, but there was a constant darkness looming over me, and I knew it was his.

I knew by the time I saw Pa tomorrow, that sweet apple pie would have washed away any anger and frustration he had because of me. It didn’t stop my thoughts from whirling—his words remained echoing in the back of my mind, telling me to stick to the plan. Words had a way of creating monsters just as quickly as grief.