Chapter Thirty-Eight
After the Angels left, I had to do some PR work with the fairies who had witnessed everything from the safety of their homes. Once they were reassured that Heaven wasn't attacking us, Sever, Miri, and I went home to Twilight.
We found Killian, my father, Eibhleann, and Rowan out in the back garden by Eibhleann's tree.
We often gathered there since it was lovely, and Eibhleann liked to be near the tree she was connected to as a Dryad.
They were seated at the wood-slab table in front of the massive oak, the adults drinking from steaming mugs while Rowan made flower crowns for her Pixie friends.
Eibhleann saw us first, her leaf-green eyes going bright when they landed on Miri.
Dryads tended to be nurturers, and Eibhleann was a healer on top of that, so she adored the children.
A little stouter than her daughter Aideen, Eibhleann's tan skin covered some impressive muscles.
With her dark green hair—a color nearly black—she made a beautiful complement to my father's bright coloring and pale skin.
Eibhleann smiled and laid a long-fingered hand on my father's forearm.
Dad looked up, meeting my gaze with his purple, starry eyes—nearly identical to Miri's.
“My girls are home!” King Keir stood up, climbed over the bench, and came to hug Miri and me together. As he hugged me, he whispered, “Is everything all right?”
“Yes, and no. I need to talk to you, Kill, and Sever alone,” I whispered back.
He nodded as he eased back, taking Miri with him. “Oh, I've missed you, my little feathered girl.” He kissed her cheek.
“Grandpa, I made Uncle Gabriel shut up!” Miri's wings rustled.
Killian, Rowan, and Eibhleann stared at her with wide, wary eyes while my father raised his eyebrows at me.
“We had an incident.” I gave him a bright fake smile.
“Ah.” My father looked over my glowing armor and then went back to the table with Miri. “Sweetheart, could you look after the girls for a little while?” He handed Miri to Eibhleann.
“Of course!” Eibhleann took Miri. “You can tell Grandma and Ro-Ro all about your adventures.”
“Rowie, I went underground!” Miri said to her sister.
Unsatisfied with using everyone else's nickname for Rowan, Miri had to come up with her own. Gods forbid she ran with the pack. Not my lone wolf. But Rowan loved it. She handed Miri a flower as I stepped up to the table.
“Where did you go underground?” Rowan asked.
“L.A.” I kissed the top of Rowan's head. “I'll be right back, okay? I've missed you.”
“Okay, Mom.” She looked over my armor. “Why are you dressed like that?”
“Oh, uh. I had to shift in Seelie.”
“Would you like a robe?” Eibhleann offered as she set Miri down on the bench.
“Yes, please.” I followed Eibhleann into her tree.
The hollow interior of the ancient oak felt as magical to me as Twilight Castle.
It had magically grown this way, not been carved, and that boggled my mind.
Eibhleann and her oak had been born on the same day, the tree emerging from its acorn as she emerged from her mother.
As Eibhleann grew, so did her tree, forming itself into her home.
Every detail, from the kitchen cupboards to the lookout in the branches, was pulled from Eibhleann's mind.
It was truly the home of her dreams. Within the living trunk, I felt safe.
“I'll just be a moment.” Eibhleann hurried toward the staircase that wound up the side of the trunk and into the ceiling just a few feet above my head.
While she was gone, I ran my hand over the living wood surfaces.
A circular table took up most of the bottom floor, growing right out of it.
Chairs gathered around the table, though they were mobile and fashioned from other wood.
Acorns filled a bowl in the center of the table, waiting for Eibhleann to snack on.
The tree sustained her in more ways than one, and she sustained it in return with her love and magic.
“Here you are.” Eibhleann came downstairs with a green velvet robe in her hands. She was smaller than I, so I couldn't borrow a dress.
“Thank you.” I released the Light and pulled on the robe. Although harmless in that form, I didn't want to be walking around clad only in magic.
Eibhleann handed me a belt next, and I used it to hold the robe together. “Is all well?” she whispered.
“We saved Seelie, but we haven't found Danu. We were told that there would be more incidents in Unseelie and here.”
“Told by whom?”
“Tiernan's father.”
“His deceased father?” Her dark eyebrows lifted.
“Yes. Tiernan summoned the Shining Ones to defend us, and his father was among them.”
“Oh, what a blessing!” She held her hands to her chest and, as if sensing her emotions, the tree creaked happily.
“Yes, Tiernan got some closure, but now we have to prepare for something similar to the blight happening here.”
“The blight.” Her stare went up.
“Your tree should be fine within the castle walls. And we don't know if it will be another blight. Just something like it.”
She nodded. “I see.”
I put a hand on her arm. “I've got to talk to my father, but I'm sure he'll explain it all to you later.”
“Yes, of course. Don't let me keep you.” Eibhleann motioned toward the door, and we headed out.
Back at the outdoor table, I pointed at Mirielle. “You be good for Grandma.”
She stuck her tongue out at me.
“Miri!” I pointed harder.
She giggled.
“Don't stick out your tongue like that again.”
“You do it to Daddy.”
I grimaced. “Only when he deserves it. Don't do it to me.”
She just giggled harder.
“I'm a horrible parent,” I muttered as I smacked Killian on the shoulder. “Come on, babe. We've gotta talk.”
“Yup.” Kill got up, stroked Rowan's silky curls, and then went with my father and me back to where Sever waited.
Together, we went inside the castle and into the Blue Parlor—named not for its color scheme but for the collection of Ming Dynasty porcelain displayed there. My father loved to collect human treasures.
I took a seat at the carved teak table near the window, its surface polished to a mirror shine and protected with a sheet of glass.
Lining the walls were floor-to-ceiling glass display cabinets full of precious porcelain items adorned with blue artwork.
Everything from massive vases to little chopstick holders rested behind the glass.
Instead of making me feel peaceful, all of those breakables made me nervous.
Or maybe it was the coming conversation.
“I left my scry phone in Seelie.” I looked around the table. “Can I borrow one of yours?”
Killian pulled out his phone and slid it across the table to me. “Who ya gonna call?”
I snorted a laugh. “You know, it would be accurate if I said, Ghostbusters. Tiernan kinda did some busting with ghosts today.”
“What?” My father leaned forward.
“It's a line from an old movie, Dad,” Killian said.
“Yes, I know.” Keir patted Killian's hand. “I'm asking about the busting with ghosts.”
“Actually, we need two phones,” I said, dodging his question. “I want Raza in on this as well.” I considered scrying Dax, but he was safe on Earth. I'd scry him later to let him know about everything, including Sever and Miri coming home.
“I'll scry Raza.” Sever took out his phone. “King Raza Tnyn of Unseelie.”
As he scried Raza, I scried Tiernan. “King Tiernan Shadowcall of Seelie.”
Tiernan's face filled the crystal slice seconds later. “Are you alright? Miri? Sever?”
“We're all fine,” I said. “A group of Angels led by Gabriel came to bind Miri's Angel Magic.”
“What?!” my father growled.
“It was necessary, Dad. Trust me.” I motioned to Sever, who was bringing Raza into the conversation.
“When Sever took Miri to Earth, she got upset and opened a rift to Heaven. She wanted to see Henry. Sever closed it, but the Angels noticed. And then, while we were discussing things with Gabriel, Miri removed his mouth.”
My father gaped at me.
“What do you mean, 'removed?'” Killian asked.
“She pulled a 'Twilight Zone' and banished his mouth.” I waved at my face. “Like, it was just bare skin there. Really gross. And when I told her to put it back, she put it back vertically just to mess with him. I had to tell her to put it back correctly.”
“No shit?” Killian snorted a laugh. “Damn, that little girl is gonna kick ass. She's got your sense of humor too.”
“Yes, but she's too young to understand what she's doing.” Sever swiveled the scry phone so that Raza could see all of us before he aimed the phone at me. “I agreed to the suppression as long as I could direct it. It gave me control over the magic so I can release it when I deem appropriate.”
“Good.” My father nodded. “If anyone should be in charge of her magic, it should be one of her parents.”
“What happened with the blight?” Raza demanded.
“We found the Garden of Regret, which was really beautiful, by the way.” I turned Kill's scry phone in toward the table so Tiernan could be a part of things too. “It had Danu's dark emotions in it as well.”
“Danu's?” my father asked.
“Yes, it was her pain—heartache over her brother leaving her—that birthed the Garden,” Tiernan said.
“Danu wanted to create the races of Fairy, but she was held back by her sorrow. So, she removed it and put it in the earth. It bloomed into the Garden of Regret. The ancient queens and kings of Seelie found the Garden and added to it with their dark emotions. After centuries of pruning adding to the Garden, it became sentient and produced a king.”
“The King made the blight,” I stepped in.
“But it was all a ruse to get me to the Garden and trick me into destroying it. Once I destroyed the Garden, it freed the sentience, turning it into a silver mist. Half of the mist condensed to become the King in flesh, but the other half belonged to the Goddess. It was her pain. It swirled around the King and then rushed away.”
“So Danu has her pain again,” my father murmured.