Page 19 of Tragic Ink
“The night she died, she mentioned it. But I was only a baby when I left. How would they know I have thisgift?”
Rhys grimaced. “We suspect they didn’t know for sure. But since your mother has it and your father was a seer, they’re betting you’re going to be valuable to them in someway.”
“And now that they found Aelwyn, they know for sure,” Ifinished.
Rhys didn’tanswer.
“My gift,” I repeated, twisting the word with as much cynicism as I could muster. “More like a curse.” Rhys opened his mouth to respond, but I redirected—mostly because I was not ready to address any of the crazy, unbelievable things he’d just said about who I was and where I really came from. “Tell me where you took Aelwyn. Tell me how to getthere.”
“There’s a portal about three miles northwest of Aelwyn’s house. It leads directly to the outskirts of the Seelie Court’s territory, where Aelwyn is from. Last night, I took her through it and delivered her to the Seelie guard on the otherside.”
“You actually went to Faerie...” I wanted to ask about my real mother, but I held back. I couldn’t let my emotions run away with me. Not now. Not while I still needed answers. “How? Wouldn’t the Court here sense the portalopening?”
He nodded. “They did. I had authorization, so it wasn’t aproblem.”
I stared at him, but it was like staring at a stranger now. He’d gotten special permission from the Court to open a portal? The only way he could have managed that was if everything he had said were true. He was a Protector. A special agent from beyond the veil sent here for the sole purpose of protecting me from the worst of the worst. Like Ada. I snorted. No, whoever was after me was worse than Ada. That made meshudder.
“What happened to make them send you here?” Iasked.
“What do youmean?”
“For ten years, it was just Aelwyn and me. So, did something happen for them to think we needed you? Did someone come afterme?”
“No. You had another Protector. An older fae named Leif. He lived just past Fred and Betsy, the human couple nextdoor.”
“Oh.” I let that sink in, remembering the older man Aelwyn had mentioned when I was younger. A friend of hers who liked to bring us fresh vegetables from the farmer’s market in town, until one day he just stopped coming around. I barely remembered himnow.
“When you were six, Leif retired, and I was sent in hisplace.”
“You were only ten,” I said, still a little stunned that he’d received a mission soyoung.
“My age was an advantage they believed outweighed myinexperience.”
I snarled, the betrayal twisting further. “Because they knew you and I would befriends.”
His expression mirrored the pain I felt. “Gwen—”
“Was any of itreal?”
“What?” heasked.
“Our friendship. Was it all part of your mission to make me trust you? To make me spend time with you. Or was any of itreal?”
“Gwen.” He softened. “Of course it was real. Every second of it was absolutely real. You are everything tome.”
His words sounded so sincere, but I couldn’t reconcile them with his rejection. I gripped the glass tightly in my hand, desperate not to relive the moment that had ended our friendship three years earlier. “What was my mother’sname?”
“What?” Rhys blinked atme.
I scowled. “If you want me to believe what you’re saying is true, then you need to give me something I can verify. What was my real mother’sname?”
“I don’t see how that will help you verify anything. It’s not on any recordshere.”
“Humorme.”
Rhys sighed. “Her name isMoonlaith.”
The words were so soft. So certain. And an exact match to the name on the strange letter I’d uncovered in Aelwyn’s study. Which meant Rhys wasn’t lying. Not about any of it. Knowing that didn’t make this anyeasier.
