Chapter 13 #2
“You’re not a lost cause,” I say immediately.
“You’re here. Look at you, you’re solid.
” Even as I say it, I can tell that she’s fading a little.
Some nights are better than others, and tonight isn’t a great one.
I hug her against me, but I can feel the fuzziness to her edges that often indicates she’s going to start disappearing fast. Soon my arm will pass right through her.
“I don’t want to make promises I can’t keep, Rose,” Evander says quietly, levelling his gaze at her. “But I will do my best to help you here, so long as it doesn’t put my family or my pack in danger.”
There are tears in Rose’s eyes, and I hate it.
I hate seeing her afraid, I hate seeing her sad.
I know these feelings already existed; that she fears the unknown the way I do, that she hates being torn away from this world before dawn every night that she is here.
I swallow back the lump in my throat as Rose lifts her chin as if in defiance at the world and the cruel nature of it. “Thank you,” she whispers.
The wolf brothers ask Rose if they can search the property. “I don’t know what we’re looking for exactly,” Evander admits. “Just anything out of the ordinary.”
We follow them from room to room, the lantern in my hand because I lack the eyesight these wolves have, and Rose points out how the personal items in all the bedrooms have remained far more preserved than the furniture in the front of the house, or the curtains and other furnishings. “Is it magic, do you think?” Rose asks.
Evander touches a finger to the small doll that lies on her sister’s bed. “It could be. That’s beyond my understanding of it.” His lips curl up in a wry smile. “I’m beginning to regret turning down my mother’s offers to teach me, all those years ago.”
“Yeah, same!” Seth says, his voice echoing down the hall from one of the other rooms. “Hey, are these your parents, Rose? There’s old photos on the wall.”
“In the master? Yes.” I trail after Rose’s silent footsteps, her soft green glow casting light on the tattered wallpaper as we pass by, Evander hot on my heels.
When we enter, Seth has already moved onto the wide bookcase in the corner, his fingers tracing over the spines.
I stand back and watch Evander freeze as he catches sight of the portraits, his eyes focused on the one of Rose’s father.
I’ve seen them before — a pair of large sepia toned photographs in oval frames made of dark wood, both her parents wearing equally serious expressions.
I can see parts of Rose in both of her parents; she has her father’s nose, and the shape of his mouth, though her features are much more feminine than the stern-but-youthful man in the picture.
The shape of her eyes belong to her mother; large, wide-set, and fringed with dark lashes, Rose’s are the prettiest eyes I’ve ever seen.
“Do you mind if I take a picture of these, Rose? They may be useful for research. I know it’s unlikely that there are other photographs around in historical records, but just in case. Has Zak told you about facial recognition software?”
Rose shakes her head, gesturing to the portraits. “I don’t know what those words mean, but you’re welcome to take a picture.”
“It means there’s technology that can read a face, the same way we read words, and identify who the person is. I forgot to ask about their middle names,” Evander continues, lifting his phone to each portrait, snapping a picture. “There might be a ton of Harriet Copthornes to wade through.”
“I believe we were the only ones in town at the time, but of course. Mother’s middle name was Rose. Father’s was James.”
“James,” Evander repeats, and there’s something strange about the tone of his voice that rings alarm bells. “Harriet Rose and Theodore James.” He frowns at his phone screen for a moment, Rose’s father staring back up at him.
“That’s him. He owned a bookstore on Queen Street, if that helps, under the name T. J. Copthorne Bookseller and Stationer.”
“Holy shit, you don’t show up on camera,” Seth interrupts, his phone pointed at Rose. “I didn’t realise. That really is ghost-like.”
“I could have told you that,” I say, pulling my gaze away from Evander and his sudden odd change in demeanour. “I said before, no one else on this street can even see her, and my flatmates are all non-human.”
“It’s the magic.” Evander’s jaw is clenched, his frown more pronounced than it was five minutes ago. “Seth, go shift and search the backyard, see if you can scent anything out of the ordinary. I’m going to look around inside a little more. It’s getting late, and I want to get back to Ellie.”
Seth nods and disappears without a second glance, the dynamic between the two — alpha wolf versus pack member — suddenly obvious.
“I don’t think there’s any ferries running this late that’ll take you back,” I say without thinking.
Evander nods. “There’s water taxis, and helicopters. I’ll go with whatever I can find.”
Of course. He’s filthy rich. He can do whatever the fuck he wants.
“Seth is out there now,” he says, nodding his head in the direction of the back garden. “If you want to see what a shifter looks like in his wolf form, Rose, feel free to go watch him do his thing; the moon should still be bright enough for you to see him in the dark.”
“I would quite like that, actually. I am still very new to this post-Unravelling world, as Zak calls it.”
“What will you be doing in here?” I don’t know why I have the sudden sense that Evander is hiding something.
“Seeing if I can pick up the scent of fae anywhere. There’s certainly other scents present in this house right now.”
“Yeah, alright,” I say, feeling defensive. Is every fucking alpha I know going to directly point out that they smell my cum in this place? “She’s my mate, I’m allowed to —”
“I didn’t mean anything,” he laughs. He did, and I shake my head.
“Come on, Rose, let’s go watch this wolf.”
Rose is nearly as translucent as when I first met her by the time the wolf brothers leave, despite it not yet being midnight.
“You’re tired, eh?” I ask her. Her form is no longer solid, but I still hold my hand to her cheek, and she closes her eyes, her frown pronounced and her chin wobbling. “Oh babe, please don’t cry,” I whisper.
It’s a futile request. She lets out a sob, and I can’t even hold her in my arms anymore. It’s so fucking unfair. “It’s going to be okay,” I tell her. “We’ll find a way.”
“A way for what? For me to come back from the dead? Or out of wherever I’ve been kept? If fae have had me this whole time, what have they been doing with me? Zak, I’m so scared. Why can’t I remember any of it?”
“I know. I’m sorry. I’ve got you,” I tell her, but I don’t, and she fades out of sight and out of existence once more.
My phone rings at ten the following morning, waking me up. The name Evander looks blurry on the screen, but my heart begins to race, adrenaline spiking. I’m wide awake as I swipe the answer button.
“Hello?”
“Zak. I wanted to update you; there’s been a lot of developments in the night.
I don’t think I explained my mother’s history to you at all, but she was once a core member of the Maheras coven.
The current High Witch is my great-grandmother, and has expressed a lot of interest in Rose’s case.
She’s concerned that we may miss a window of opportunity, and wants to act tonight, given how unpredictable Rose’s form and appearance is. ”
It takes a moment to process what he’s said.
“I don’t know anything about the First Realm,” I admit.
“I’ve never heard of that coven. I’m the least non-human non-human you could find, in terms of knowledge about that stuff.
What do you mean about acting tonight? They’re not going to hurt her, are they? ”
“They won’t hurt her, not intentionally. The witches want to save her. I don’t think you realise how big this is. This situation is unheard of, and they think she might be the key to unlocking some new information about the Unseelie fae.”
“She doesn’t know anything.”
“I know, and I told them that. It’s not about what she can say, but more what they can observe.”
“She’s not a science experiment.” This is what I wanted, help, but it’s happening so fast and I feel like I can’t keep up.
“I know. Trust me, I made it very clear that the goal needs to be saving Rose. She’s the priority.”
“Why? Why do you care? I’m not trying to be rude. I’m just trying to understand why you’re so invested. I know you mentioned Ellie, but —”
“Ellie is the reason.”
“Yeah, but —”
“Look, I haven’t even had a chance to talk to her about this.
I haven’t even slept yet. I’ve been to the First Realm and back since I last saw you less than twelve hours ago.
” I hear him take a deep breath. “It could be a huge coincidence, but fae have long life spans. Much longer than wolves and orcs. It’s very possible that Rose’s fae parent might still be alive.
When it comes to people who are mixed fae and human, the parent tends to outlive the offspring, in terms of lifespan.
And someone has placed that ward on the house. ”
I hadn’t even thought of that. “You think her mum or dad is hanging around?”
“I don’t know, but that’s not why I care, or at least it’s not the core reason.
Rose said her father was known as T. J. Copthorne — that was the name of his store, right?
Well I know another changeling woman with a father who went by the name TJ.
Ellie. TJ is the only information my wife has ever had about her father; it was a one-night stand, her human mother didn’t know him well at all.
He left no contact details. It could be a coincidence, but if it is, it’s a really fucking big one.
Maybe I’m going crazy, because I’ve always thought Ellie looks like her mom, but I swear, every time I look at that photo of him I see my wife in there. ”
Holy shit. Holy shit.
“Rose kept doing little things that Ellie does,” he adds. “Little gestures, like playing with the fabric of her clothes when she’s nervous.”
“They have the same smile.”
“They do,” he agrees. “Their expressions — at least some of them — are identical. It’s personal, Zak.
My wife is an only child, but I think Rose is her sister.
It sounds ridiculous, but what doesn’t these days?
I’m a big believer in fate. I have to be, because Ellie is my fated mate, and we have the bites and the bond to prove it.
I think I have to believe that the universe is trying to tell us something here. ”
“Are you going to tell her?”
“Yes. I’ll leave it up to you to tell Rose, which you can do later, after we save her.”