Chapter 17
Chapter Seventeen
The tour of the house took longer than Sierra anticipated.
Even though Sierra had been able to tell that the house was large from her view of the street, she had not realized how far back it went.
There were rooms upon rooms; she was sure this house would cost a fortune if it was sold today, but she was reasonably sure that Braan and Aodhan’s family had owned it for a long time, or at least knew the person who did, to be able to afford it without all the requirements Aodhan had mentioned previously.
As Aodhan took her from room to room, explaining the function of each room and who had visited, when unease settled in the pit of Sierra’s stomach.
For some reason, the looks Kaye had given her during their teatime were in the forefront of her mind.
Something about them had brushed her the wrong way, but she couldn’t say why.
Sierra hmmed and oohed at the appropriate times as Aodhan explained yet another statue sitting on a table in this hallway, which she now swore went on forever. The hairs on the back of her neck prickled.
Sierra spun around, only to set her eyes on the empty hallway behind her. Once she was satisfied that there truly was no one there, she turned back to find Aodhan studying her curiously.
“Are you okay?” he asked, his eyes alternating between searching her face and the empty hallway, which had drawn her attention away from him.
“Yeah, I thought I felt someone watching me.”
“Hm.” Aodhan looked over her shoulder. “Could be one of the servants they have on staff.”
Sierra laughed. “I still can’t believe you guys have servants.”
The corner of Aodhan’s mouth ticked up. “What can I say? I’m privileged enough to be able to live with some pretty wealthy Fae.”
Sierra’s eyes widened as she thought of something she had yet to verify. “The servants, are they human?”
He nodded. “Of course.”
“Even in...The Hills?”
He nodded a second time. “Obviously. How do you think the bloodlines started mixing in the first place? While I can admit your world is pretty liveable now, I know for a fact it was no walk in the park in the 1400s and 1500s.”
“Hm.” Sierra responded, not sure how she should feel about that. The way Aodhan had mentioned humans as ‘obviously’ being servants made her feel like he thought of them as less than the Fae.
Before she could pursue that thought further, Aodhan pushed open the door they had stopped in front of. “And this is my bedroom.”
Sierra poked her head in, cataloging the large king-size bed covered in a black bedspread.
The bed itself looked to be made of white wood, which matched all the other furniture in the room, most of which was in pristine condition and looked newer than the furniture she had seen in the sitting room.
While it was certainly a nice room, she also felt it lacked character.
There was nothing in here that told her anything about who Aodhan was, and it looked as if he hadn’t really brought much from home when he had come here.
Aodhan walked up behind her, slipping his hand into hers and leading them to the bed. As Sierra sat stiffly next to him, the uneasy feeling she had felt in the hallway only increased.
“Are you sure you’re alright?” Aodhan asked, running one of his hands up and down her arm which was covered in goosebumps.
Sierra knew he was just trying to be comforting, but his touch only increased her anxiety.
Without thinking, Sierra stood up, not realizing that was her intent until she was standing in front of Aodhan, who was leaning back comfortably in her presence.
She opened her mouth to say something, then closed it again.
“I can feel your emotions, you know.” His eyes remained trained on hers. “Now tell me what is wrong.”
“I…uhh...” Sierra knew she couldn’t talk about the odd looks she received from Kaye and Braan here, as she wasn’t sure just how good Fae hearing was, but she figured asking about his room was innocent enough.
“I guess I just thought your room would tell me more about you. But…there isn’t much personality in it at all. ”
Aodhan took his eyes off her face to look around the room. “You’re right. I guess when I came here, I didn’t expect to stay long, so I didn’t bring much.”
“That makes sense,” Sierra replied, but she still felt apprehensive for some reason. Even though she was only living in Dublin for a year or two, she had done way more to her space than Aodhan had.
“Come, sit.” Aodhan patted the spot on the bed next to him, and Sierra sank down into it. While she had hoped his explanation would calm her nervous stomach, it hadn’t.
Aodhan placed his hand on her knee, probably still able to feel the apprehension rolling off her. “Do you want to stay in here?”
Sierra knew what he was alluding to, but there was no way she would be in the mood for a make out session, or more, anytime soon. Not with her stomach like this. “Uhh. Not today.” She said, trying to let him down easy.
Aodhan didn’t seem upset or disappointed as she thought he might be. Instead, he just nodded, grabbing her hand and leading her to the door. “Do you want me to walk you home?”
“Should I say goodbye to Kaye and Braan first?”
As if they had been waiting to hear their name, the two of them stepped out of a doorway a little further down the hall.
“Leaving so soon?” Braan asked, answering Sierra’s questions about how powerful Fae hearing could be.
“Yes, but I would love to come back another time.”
“Of course!” Kaye beamed as they approached. When they were close enough, she leaned in to give Sierra a hug, and Braan followed suit. “Feel free to come anytime. Even if Aodhan isn’t here. I really miss having girlfriends since I can’t really tell anyone about Braan's heritage.”
Sierra understood, and what Kaye said reminded her of something else she needed to ask Aodhan.
Aodhan and Braan said goodbye in their native language, which Sierra assumed was ancient Gaelic, and the pair made their way down the stairs. Once they were on the sidewalk and a few steps away from the house, Sierra asked her question.
“Is there a punishment if someone finds out you told me that you are Fae?”
“No,” Aodhan replied as they started the walk to her place. “There aren’t really any rules. The Fae and humans have always lived in harmony in The Hills, and even if you could find the entrance, you would need a Fae to get beyond the forest. There’s no need to worry about proverbial witch hunts.”
“You don’t think someone would hurt you if they knew?”
Aodhan glanced at her out of the corner of his eye.
“While I am still relatively young for one of my kind, I know that sentiment about us comes and goes with the ages. If I was alive during the witch hunts a few hundred years ago, I might be more careful, but right now, feelings about us and other beings from my world are at the best they’ve ever been.
” He paused, considering her original question before continuing, “If someone really wanted to hurt me, they could try, but with my shifting ability, I would probably avoid it. Plus, in Ireland, the Irish have always been very…accepting of us. Perhaps if I traveled somewhere else, I would worry. But here, I feel quite safe.”
His answer only led to another question in Sierra’s mind. “So, are the Fae stronger than humans?”
“Somewhat. I wouldn’t say we are as strong as human bodybuilders, but we are more in tune with our body, more physically fit, and we have many more years to work on building our strength to the best it can be. You humans have so little time to really come to your full potential.”
Sierra’s feet came to a stop on the sidewalk. They were just around the corner from her apartment, but she couldn’t keep her thoughts inside her mind any longer.
“Aodhan, I need you to be 100% honest with me. This—” she motioned between them, “—is it even possible it will work?”
Aodhan looked at her, and Sierra could see that the answer he was about to give was painful for him. “I…I don’t know.” He let out a breath, his shoulders sagging in her presence for the first time she had ever seen. “I want it to,” he added, bringing his hand up to cup the left side of her face.
“Is that why Kaye and Braan were giving me weird looks? Because they know it won’t work?” Sierra asked, at last, the burning in her stomach calming the minute the words passed through her lips.
Aodhan lowered his hand from her face to clasp her hand in his. “I can’t lie to you. I felt doubt coming from them. But I don’t think it had anything to do with you being human. They don’t judge like that.”
Sierra removed her hand from his, turning away to walk more quickly to her home.
Aodhan had no problem keeping up with her brisk pace, and right before she reached into her pocket to grab out her key, his hand landed on her wrist. “Give us a chance, Sierra. Just because we’re going on a few dates doesn’t even mean this will be long-term anyway.”
Sierra pulled her wrist from his hold, grabbing her key. “You’re right.” She took a deep breath, unlocked her door, and began her walk up the stairs. Aodhan followed silently.
Once they were both inside her apartment, she closed the door behind them. “I’m getting ahead of myself. It’s just meeting them, it felt a bit…permanent to me, and the way they were looking at me made me nervous.”
“I understand. I wasn’t planning to introduce you to them so early, but there was no way for you to see my place without meeting them. As you saw, there is no way to evade their attention in their home.”
Sierra bit her lip. She wanted to add that she was uncomfortable with the way he had referred to the human servants, but she held back.
That was a conversation for another day.
Plus, he probably didn’t mean it the way she thought he did.
She was overreacting and on edge because of the discomfort she felt.
“I understand,” she told Aodhan before her eyes landed on her messenger bag. “I did have a good time with them today, I just didn’t feel comfortable at all.”
“I could tell.” Aodhan reached up, brushing a loose tendril of Sierra’s dark hair from in front of her face. “But I would like the four of us to spend more time together. You’ll get used to them; I promise.”
Sierra nodded. “Okay, we can try that.” She had no idea what time it was, but she felt like she needed some time alone, and she definitely needed to study as she had barely done any studying all week. “If it’s okay with you, I’m going to study for the rest of the day, I think.”
Aodhan was a bit disappointed, but he nodded in understanding as he pulled her into a tight hug. “Are you working at the library tomorrow?” His voice was muffled by Sierra’s hair.
“Yes, are you?” Sierra answered from where she was, tucked into his chest.
“Yes. I will see you there, mo ghrá.”
“What does that mean?” Sierra asked, tilting her head to the side.
Aodhan’s lip turned up at the corner. “You’ll have to learn Gaelic, I guess.”
Sierra opened her mouth to argue that she wanted to know now, but before she could even breathe a word, he leaned down, capturing her lips in a kiss.
Sierra moved her lips against his, feeling some of the tension drain from her body as his arms came up to embrace her.
The kiss felt like just what she needed to soothe her worries about their relationship, and as Aodhan held her tightly, his mouth pressed to hers, she considered changing her mind about being alone.
But before she could, Aodhan stopped the kiss, hugging her tightly once more before letting go.
“Until tomorrow,” she whispered, as he ran his hand down the side of her face.
“Until tomorrow,” he repeated before disappearing from her room.