Page 77 of Wake the Dream

Oona held up her hands before looping them behind her head. Her shoulders dropped and, along with them, her act of selfless mother. She’d heard his every word. Damn Fae. “Okay, yes. Yes, there is something going on. I’m so sorry to tell you, but I didn’t want our first meeting after many years to be sullied with negativity.”

Illaria bared her teeth. “Tell me what?”

“Yelena is the one controlling the vampires.” Oona let her chin drop toward her chest, dark hair like a flowing river around her. She actually looked contrite. And if Kieran didn’t know any better, he’d even say remorseful. “She’s...changed.”

What the hell?

Until that moment, Kieran had considered Yelena the victim. A casualty of an old Fae woman’s bid for power. Oona just blew his theory out of the water. “Yelena?” he questioned.

“Yes. She needed to wake up. I showed her the way, and she did the rest. I’m worried about her, and I know that the only way to stop her is together. I’m here now, Illaria. Come. Daughter, this is embarrassing.” Oona held out a hand for Illaria to take. “Come here. Your fun times are over. It’s your turn.”

“To wake up?” Illaria shook her head. “I don’t think so.”

“You need to return to your people. Your real people, not these mortal shells, their lifespan brief and dying by the second,” Oona responded, her tone chill.

The sky darkened overhead and Kieran spared a glance at the roiling clouds. They’d exploded into being out of nowhere, crackles of lightning illuminating them from the inside. A storm? Out of nowhere?

“Illaria...” he began haltingly.

“What did you do to Yelena, to wake her up?” Illaria snapped at her mother. “Huh? Tell me that and maybe I can begin to trust you. Not likely, but it will be a start.”

The wind whipped at Oona’s dress, turning the voluminous layers into something deadly, wrapping them tighter around her thin frame until she looked made of stone. “What makes you think I did anything to her? Yelena has always had a mind of her own. Never one to step back or bow to anyone. Least of all me.”

A laugh exploded out of Illaria’s chest. “Are you seriously trying to tell me that my sister is the one who sent the vamp to find me in the club? She’s the one who told them to attack us in the nest? I’m calling bullshit here,” she spat. Then tossed her hair over her shoulder, looking more confident than Kieran knew she felt. “You’re trying to cover your ass by placing the blame on someone who isn’t here to defend herself. Like you always have. Instead of taking responsibility. Just like you wouldn’t take responsibility for your part in locking us out of Fairy.”

Oona’s grin turned poisonous. Yet she didn’t deny her eldest daughter’s allegations. “There’s no need to place the blame this time. There’s no need to defend myself. Illaria, stand with me or stand against me. I’m here to take you home. Your sister has done her part. She’s found the raw power needed to open a side door. Where will your loyalties lie?”

Illaria opened her mouth to answer, thunder howling closer with each passing second. Kieran raised his head to the sky. Electricity crackled around them and brought each fine hair on the nape of his neck to attention.

“Too late.”

Her fingers snapping together, Oona’s call raced out across the park with a clap of power to rival the sky. Black hair stood out in a halo around her and within seconds, the place was crawling with vampires.

Chapter 19

Illaria

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