Chapter 6 #2
Dad's eyes flickered.
I opened my mouth to apologize, but Dad stopped me.
He reached over and took my hands. “Don't apologize to me.
You're right on one part. I may never know what it's like to have the type of bonds you do with your Lord. But that is not my point. You are continuing to see something that never came to pass, and the simple fact is your magic is being affected by your trauma.”
I blinked.
Dad's eyes softened. “I may be thousands of years old, but I know complex trauma when I see it. You need to speak to someone. Sooner rather than later.” He glanced toward the patio.
“Rowan is here, Evie, staring at you like you're the sun.
He's alive and breathing and still here to love you for the rest of time. He is not dead. And yet, you relive the possibility every single day.”
I swallowed hard, the burn of tears pricking the backs of my eyes. “Why are you so reasonable sometimes?” I choked out.
Dad smiled. I forgot who he was sometimes. Hell, I forgot who I was sometimes. The man sitting before me was an immortal king, and I was his heir.
The side of his mouth lifted in a lopsided smile. “Tonight is the first time someone's ever called me reasonable.” He lowered his voice. “You should tell your mother about my reasonability.”
“That's not a word,” I said with a laugh.
“Should be one.” Dad sighed. “Loving one's daughter tends to bring out the kinder, gentler side of a father.” He lifted a shoulder in a shrug. “And, since you won't allow me to rip the other Lord into shreds, I suppose this is the next most reasonable step in the process of healing.”
“What an altruist you are.”
We grinned at each other.
Rowan rose and walked over, lowering himself next to me. “Everything okay?”
“Dad wants me to talk to someone.”
Rowan eyed my father for a long moment. They did not have the somewhat easy relationship Caelan and he did.
Caelan showed deference to the former fae king.
Rowan never bothered. While he respected my father's position, he also recognized how manipulative he could be and suffered no fools, especially when it came to me.
My father, on the other hand, was used to being worshipped and thought Rowan needed to be knocked down a few pegs.
But Rowan's mother was a powerful shapeshifting goddess, and Dad was more wary of my mate than the other Lords he'd met.
Whether his wariness stemmed from me or from something to do with Rowan's mother, I wasn't sure.
I had yet to meet her and had been meaning to try to contact her, but Mom was having trouble finding her.
With the absence of the gate, aka me, less powerful fae could no longer travel between the worlds.
People like Mom and Dad and the much older gods like Neit could travel at will, but there were only a handful of those.
Yet one more problem I needed to fix and hadn't gotten around to. In my defense, I had people constantly trying to kill me, so maybe the fae would cut me some slack once I figured out how to be the gate without being the actual gate.
“I agree with your father.” Rowan looked genuinely pained by the admission.
Dad laid a hand over his heart and gasped dramatically.
Rowan shot him a look. “I expect this will be the only time we agree.”
“You never know,” Dad said. “This could be the start of a beautiful friendship.”
“Doubt it,” Rowan said.
Man. He really did not like my father. I glanced up at him, but Rowan shook his head once. “Are you finished training?”
I glanced at Dad, who inclined his head. “She's mastered everything except for traveling. We should convene until after a few sessions with a therapist or whoever the packs use when dealing with PTSD.”
Rowan's eyes glimmered. I stifled a smile. “You agree with Dad again but don't want to admit it.”
Dad chuckled. “I'll be back in a few weeks.” He rose in a graceful motion and held out a hand to help me up. “We'll gauge your progress then.”
Dad draped an arm over my shoulder and pressed a kiss to my temple. “Until then—” He looked at Rowan. “Take care of my daughter.”
He disappeared in a shower of multi-colored light.
Rowan's jaw tightened.
“What is with you two?” I asked in a low voice.
My mate shook his head once. “He's a puppet master, tugging on everyone's strings.”
“Has he ever tugged on yours?”
“Mm.” A faint smile tipped his lips up. “He tried. More than once.”
My eyebrows lifted. “Oh? I take it that things didn't go well?”
I wondered before. Dad inserted himself everywhere.
He was the equivalent of an HOA president slow rolling past the neighborhood houses on the weekend, trying to catch someone stepping one inch out of line.
Rowan never said anything and always treated my father with respect.
Not because he was the king but because he was my father.
“No.” Rowan snorted. “I never participated in his schemes. Which is why I think he messed with me less than the others.”
“I don't think he's spoken to any of the other Lords.”
Rowan eyed me, amusement sparkling in the hazel depths of his gaze. “Your father has spoken with all of us. I'd wager my entire Keep.”
“He's such a nosy Nellie.” I looped my arm through Rowan's. “Come on. I made an angel food cake for dessert.”
Rowan gasped. “Did you make the cream, too?”
I had no idea he had such a sweet tooth until I moved into the main house. Dude had never met a baked good he didn't like.
“With the vanilla bean,” I assured him.
“Gods, I love you,” Rowan breathed. He tugged his arm loose and jogged ahead to the kitchen.
Moira watched him go. When I made it to the patio, she rolled her eyes. “Let me guess. You made dessert?”
“Angel food cake,” I confirmed. “With the sweetened whipped cream.”
“You're spoiling him,” Mom observed with a grin. “Good for you.”
“He deserves it.” I followed Rowan into the kitchen. He'd already pulled the cake and the cream out and held a stack of plates and forks, an eager expression on his face.
I took the cake and whipped cream. “You can have the first slice.”
“Yesssss,” Rowan hissed under his breath.
With him around, life felt so easy, and I tried to relax.
In two days, I would see Caelan again, the break Rowan and I had taken over for the foreseeable future. I'd be a fool to believe I'd walk away from the other Lord's territory unscathed.