Chapter 29
Chapter
Twenty-Nine
Moira yanked me inside her apartment and shut the door. “Are you okay? Rowan is furious!”
I rubbed the space between my brows. A rare headache was beginning to form. “I’m fine. He has every right to be mad, but neither of us could help what happened.”
Moira’s eyebrows rose damn near to her hairline. “And what exactly happened?”
“Nothing. He had to come down from his power, and I had to claim the land to keep Danu from trying again once I was gone.”
Moira’s jaw dropped. “He let you?”
“Caelan has seen the error of his ways. This time, he was properly chastised. I think going forward, things will be better.” I frowned. “Though I don’t expect us to spend much time together. If I can’t maintain the main tree at a distance, I may have to visit his Keep a couple times a year.”
“Rowan will be ecstatic.”
“Rowan will come with me.” I waved a hand at her. “Enough about me. What’s going on with Ethan?”
Her lips tightened. “Nothing. There was far too much action tonight for us to even speak.”
I turned the doorknob to leave. The only thing I wanted right now was to faceplant onto my bed. “He’s staying the night tonight,” I said with a grin. “Plenty of time to chat now.”
“Begone with you, hussy.”
I laughed and slipped out the door, hurrying back to the main house.
Rowan was waiting for me on the couch. He closed his eyes when I walked in and exhaled.
I kicked off my shoes and went straight to him, curling in his lap and tangling my hands through his hair. He wrapped his arms around me and kissed me fiercely.
When we finally came up for air, I took his face in my hands. “I know how hard that was for you, and I’m sorry. Caelan was…” I exhaled. “Dangerous. The power you Lords hold is terrifying.”
“He really would have enslaved his people?”
I nodded. Rowan sighed. “I want so badly to hate that bastard.”
A laugh bubbled from my lips. “Me too.”
“You did the right thing, Evie. Even if he didn’t deserve it.”
“His people are blameless.”
Rowan snorted. “Garrett and Simone are blameless. The rest of them watched him treat you like shit and did nothing about it.” He paused, then begrudgingly said, “Though no one deserves to be enslaved.”
“Right,” I agreed. “I did it for both. Caelan, because of how desperate he was, and his people, because no one deserved a consequence like that.”
“And those trees?”
“I’m hopeful everything can be done at a distance.”
“Good.” He rose in a fluid motion, taking me with him. I wrapped my legs around his waist.
“I plan to keep you busy for the next twenty-four hours. Text Moira and tell her to eat breakfast with Ethan.”
I cackled. “Careful. She’s the kind to kill you in your sleep.”
“As long as I was beside you, I’d die a happy man.”
The things he said to me…
True to his word, the world was quiet while Rowan kept me happily trapped in the bedroom, coming up for air only for food and bathroom breaks.
Two mornings later, someone banged on the front door.
A deep male voice shouted, “None of us are going into your den of sin. Evie’s father is here! Get your ass out of bed and let her train.”
“Fucking Declan,” Rowan growled.
I snickered and rolled over. A proprietary grip on my hip kept me from sliding out of bed. “One more round?”
“Rowan! I’m tapping out. I need a shower, food, and fresh air.”
“How you wound me, woman.” His chestnut hair was mussed, and his hazel eyes were twinkling as he watched me. He lay on his stomach, his face turned to watch me.
I reached over and ran my fingers through his hair. “I will always be yours. No one, no matter our history, will ever tear us apart. The moment that bond solidified between us, there would never be another. You are mine, and I am yours.”
Rowan’s eyes turned that strange mix of colors. Silver, gold, and watermelon tourmaline. “Mine,” he growled.
“Yours,” I promised.
I slid away to his groan of protest. “Now get up and shower.”
His eyes lit up. “With you?”
I laughed and took off running. “If you can catch me!”
“Any word on Danu?” I asked Dad half an hour later.
“No. She’s lurking close. I feel her oily presence.”
“I can’t keep ignoring her. The longer I do, the more time she has to plan something else.”
Dad frowned at the magic in my hands. “Too much Chimera,” he lectured. “Focus only on your fae half.”
Easier said than done. “My magic mixed a while ago. I can’t separate it on a whim.”
Dad rolled his eyes. “You can do whatever you want. Once you get used to tapping into different parts of yourself, this will all seem so much easier.”
“Says you.”
Dad snorted. “Mom and I have decided enough is enough.”
The magic I held fizzled and died. “Excuse me?”
Dad smirked. “If we are to unite our people, we can no longer be neutral.”
His words were a drastic turnaround from the last year or so when he and Mom flat out refused to get involved in anything involving the gods. “What changed your mind?”
Dad gently smacked my hands once more. “Try again.”
I rolled my eyes and started to gather magic once more.
“You had zero compunctions about killing our people if they stood with Danu.”
I dropped the sputtering magic once more. “Danu is wrong.”
“We’re ancient, daughter. Right and wrong are never concrete in our eyes. But we’ve realized as rulers, we have the right to dictate the state of things. All we can do is try to be fair and just. The world doesn’t belong to one people. It belongs to all of us.”
“Glad my murderous intentions opened your eyes,” I said dryly.
“No. Your words didn’t change our minds. Your intent did. If they hadn’t left, you would have taken them all out. I felt the intent behind your words.”
Dad paused and watched the small ball of power grow between my palms. “Killing them would have devastated you, and I know you still would have made the choice.”
Rowan listened intently from the sidelines, his gaze resting on me. Our bond warmed. He, of all people, knew how much I struggled to make the right choices and how so many times, those choices had awful endings—even if they were the right ones.
“I rarely see you hesitate in taking anyone out. What made you and Mom wait so long?”
Dad inhaled a slow breath and sighed. “There are not as many of us as there used to be. Infighting and skirmishes with other supernaturals have dwindled our numbers. We always tried to err on the side of preservation. Perhaps we should have been more focused on the future.”
“Danu still gathers our people to her side. Apparently sharing is caring wasn’t taught in school during her formative years.”
Dad chuckled. “Fae aren’t so great at sharing. We like to hold onto things, no matter if doing so hurts us in the end.”
He took my hands and shaped them, sending a small pulse of power through my fingers. “Like this.”
Pure fae power sifted through my fingers, no trace of the Chimera to be seen. “Whoa.”
“Don’t drop it,” he warned. “Look inside and see what’s different.”
I closed my eyes and dipped into my vast reservoir of power, far deeper than it was a few months ago. The Chimera magic swam with the fae power, but a small siphon of it rose from that well, up through my body and into my palms. “Huh.”
“Drop it and try again without my guidance.”
I did as he asked, my mind half focused on other things. I’d been mulling a proposal for a while and didn’t see the harm in bringing the idea up now. “What if we made some of the fae Lords or something similar?”
Dad frowned. “You want to give the fae official territory like your Rowan has?”
I lifted my shoulder in a shrug. “Why not? The Lords have territories. As long as we don’t encroach on the humans, it shouldn’t be an issue. There’s plenty of property for sale all over the country, and it’s better for the fae to own it than a developer.”
Dad’s lips twitched. “True. Though the fae believe sharing to be such a human concept. I’ll run it by your mother. Could work, provided we can convince them they don’t need to take the Lords’ property when they can have their own, and sharing would benefit everyone.”
I managed to make a lopsided ball of pure fae power. “Hot damn! Look at me! I’m a wizard, Dad!”
Rowan burst out laughing.
As expected, Dad didn’t get the reference, but he beamed with pride, nonetheless. “There! Now practice until you can conjure it in your sleep.”
I groaned.
“Every little bit helps, Evangeline,” he said in a no-nonsense tone. “Until you can master the basics without thinking they’re silly—” he did a perfect imitation of my whiny voice “—you won’t be able to master the deeper parts of your power.”
I opened my mouth to argue that I was doing just fine, thank you very much, but Dad shook his head and speared me with a look. “There’s no argument about how powerful you are, daughter, but you haven’t tapped even twenty percent of your power.”
Shock made me blink at him owlishly. “What.”
Rowan sucked in a breath. “Holy shit,” he murmured to himself.
“I know you feel that vast well of power living inside you. The lock made you rely on what you had, not your potential.”
“Danu is such a bitch,” I muttered.
“I suspect Titania also had a hand in the suppression.”
At my sour look, Dad sighed. “They must have gotten to you when you were away from your human parent’s observation.
Perhaps even Lugh helped. He’s a talented illusionist, as you no doubt learned.
Regardless, the lock is gone, and you’ll never be taken unaware again.
Now is the time to hone your power to the best of your ability.
Soon, once you learn how to mold your will to your magic, you will be unstoppable. ”
“Kinda thought I was already.”
Dad gave me a savage smile. “Imagine how people will tremble when you come into your true potential.”
My true potential sounded scary as hell, if I were being honest because sometimes, I even scared myself.
Twenty percent of my power. Jaysus, Mary, and that other guy.
That lock on my power must have happened in childhood because I couldn’t imagine for a single moment having that kind of magic during puberty.
I might have opened a wormhole into another dimension or something.
Rowan sent a pulse of love through the bond. When I glanced at him, his eyes were warm with empathy. Meanwhile, all I wanted to do was put my head between my knees and have a panic attack.
“Dad. I don’t think having that much power is a good thing.”
My father’s first reaction was a thunderous frown, but he paused and slowly nodded. “Absolute power corrupts absolutely. Is that what the humans say?”
“The quote is attributed to Lord Acton,” I said. This quote had played on repeat inside my head after my attack and I was wrestling with the unholy power burning through my veins.
“Unchecked power will ultimately lead to corruption and moral decay,” Dad added. “He is not wrong. But you have never been the norm, Evie. You are the queen our people needed. Your mother and I have always struggled to solve problems without using force or manipulation.”
“Have you forgotten the threatening that went down a few days ago?” I asked dryly.
Dad chuckled. “No, but you gave them the choice, and that’s the important thing.”
I wasn’t so sure. “The choice was my way or the highway. Not much of a choice, is it?”
“You always want the best for everyone. Danu’s side wants to take and give nothing in return. You want to distribute and live in harmony. Big difference between the two, yes?”
“Well. Yes.” I doubted I’d ever be completely comfortable with being a queen because I didn’t like telling people what to do.
When I was younger, I used to believe most people were ultimately good.
I wasn’t sure I believed that anymore. Not after dealing with the fae and the Lords, not to mention the Chimera who’d repeatedly tried to kill me.
Ruling people felt like a power no one should have. But one could argue a good ruler is better than allowing a bad one to come to power. I could, and had, argued with myself over this many a night since taking the crown, but Dad was right.
I had a burning desire to do what was right.
People should be free, but there should also be someone powerful and good to ensure they stayed that way.
Swaying people to my way of thinking made me feel squicky, but the Lords didn’t deserve to lose everything they’d worked for.
Neither did the fae deserve to lose their homes because they didn’t have land.
My destroying their tree had worsened everything, and few people knew what I had done. After visiting Caelan, I had an idea on how to fix the bridge and remove the cursed power. No idea if my idea would work, so I planned to experiment before I said anything to anyone.
If it worked, I could solve most of our problems quickly. If I told people and it failed, I might not have to worry about becoming queen officially because I’d have hordes of angry fae after me.
“We lost her,” Rowan said, his words penetrating my whirling thoughts.
I blinked. “Sorry. I was off on a philosophical roller coaster.”
Dad brought my palms together and extinguished the still burning magic. “Get out of your head, daughter. You are a natural leader.”
He looked at Rowan. “Make sure she gets to bed early tonight. She’s exhausted.”
Heat colored my cheek. A slow smile worked its way onto Rowan’s lips. “You got it, Dad.”
I let out a surprised laugh. My father rolled his eyes. “Cheeky bastard. I like you less than the other one.”
“The difference between me and the other one is I don’t care.” Rowan’s smile took on an edge.
Dad huffed. “Three days from now, we’ll train again.”
Without waiting for my response, he disappeared in a shower of light.
“Do you think you’ll ever get along with him?” I asked.
Rowan rose and pounced, scooping me into his arms. He buried his nose into the crook of my neck and loped toward the house. “I didn’t marry him.”
“Rowan! I’m starving. Food first!”
“Dirty girl. What thoughts are running wild in your head? I was merely carrying you to the kitchen to make you a sandwich.”
“Liar,” I said with a laugh. “But I really do want a sandwich.”
His drawn out groan made me grin. “Five minutes. That’s all you get.”
He kicked the front door in, shattering the door jam. “I’ll do it in three.”
Rowan loped through the house and tossed me onto the bed, kicking the door shut. This time, it held, the result of reinforcement after the last time he broke it.
Having a bear shifter for a mate was hard on indoor structures, but I wouldn’t have it any other way.