Page 87 of Faerie Hunted

“If he’s such a great guardian and an upstanding guy, then why the hell did he lie about my fated mate and practically give me away to—” I almost blurted out the name of my enemy before I remembered that his son was in the room. Meaning no insult to Onyx, I dropped my voice and uttered, “Kendrick Grimaldi.”

Dae straightened, frozen and expressionless.

I smirked at her reaction. “Okay, so you know who he is. He’s been around for ages using dark magic to maintain his youth. Uncle Will said the wolf council foresaw him as myfated mate.”

Did I even believe in those fairytales anymore? Of mates and destiny and happy endings?

“That’s ridiculous and impossible,” Dae blustered. Her cheeks went red. “There is no way William would do such a thing.”

“But he did. He insisted on it.” I wondered how much to tell her and when would be the right time.

The seconds ticked by and my anger gave way to frustration and fatigue. That desperate desire for safety and peace, as always, lingered around the periphery.

I turned to Mike to find him staring at me with his head cocked to the side, as though asking if I needed him.

I shook my own head quickly. “I think Uncle Will prizes the pack over family. He knew Kendrick’s pack was strong, and rather than make an enemy out of them, he gave me up.”

Dae touched my face and I jumped at the contact. “You didn’t allow it to break you.”

The current between us grew and pulsed with electric energy. Maybe Laina was right. About the connection between me and my mother.

I lifted my chin. “No, I didn’t. And I didn’t wait around to let Kendrick use me the way he wanted to.”

“You know, Faerie told me that you would come back to me one day. I never actually believed it.” The awe in her voice felt misplaced somehow based on the statement.

“Um, what?Faerietold you?”

But Mom wasn’t looking at me anymore. Her attention was caught on something over my shoulder and she broke away, striding across the small space to a bookshelf I hadn’t noticed before.

Instead of answering, she fumbled with the books on the shelf, grabbing titles at random and pushing them aside. Several she let drop to the floor. “I know I have it in here somewhere. Where did I put the damn thing?”

A bit manic, she dug around the books, a pulse ofsomethingcatching my attention. Not just books, I realized when I took a closer look. Spellbooks. There were decks of tarot cards, charged crystals, wands with pointed quartz edges, and ritual candles inscribed with runic sigils.

“It seems like the prophecy was true after all. Even though I prayed it wasn’t.” Livvy whispered the last part to herself but I was close enough to catch every word. “Now it’s time to make sure the prophecy comes to pass.”

She would have clawed the shelf empty if Laina hadn’t stepped up and took hold of Dae’s arm. Mom panted, tensed, before turning to the queen. A ripple of shock erupted the placid set of her lips and her brow furrowed.

Did she recognize Laina?

My insides surged against my ribs and the rest of me went tight and hot. “What are you talking about?’

The two women stared each other for a moment longer before Laina released Dae and let her resume her frantic search of the bookshelf.

She grabbed a book and spared half a heartbeat looking at the spine before she tossed it over her shoulder, forcing Bronwen to step out of the way to avoid being hit.

“It has to be here,” she mumbled.

“If I knew what you wanted then maybe I’d be able to help you look,” Laina offered.

Noren whined and leaned hard enough against my leg to throw me off balance. I reached out and grabbed the countertop of the tiny kitchen for support.

“No offense, Tavi, but your mom is kinda weird,” Bronwen hustled across the room to whisper against my ear. “What is she doing?”

I had no idea but I wanted to find out. Patting Bronwen’s hand, I moved into the fray and ducked to avoid another tossed book the size of a dictionary.

“Dae? Mom?” Nope, that felt too weird to say. “Er…Livvy, what are you looking for?”

I yelped and automatically caught another book she tossed but this one was at least closer to a notebook.

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