Page 98 of The Shadow Path
Nothing was born in the Shadowlands except by magic.
Her mother was Shadowkin. She’d crossed the gates to the Brightlands just as Lachlan had.
Don’t be curious, my Carys. Leave the rabbit to the wolf. Never follow the lights. They want to lead you away from me.
Carys murmured, “They want to lead you away from me.”
Her mother had known. Somehow Tegan had known that even though she’d crossed into the light, a little of the shadow lingered in a place where the gates between myth and reality were thinner.
Rhiannon’s daughters walk between worlds.
Go back now!
“Carys?”
She looked up and realized that Duncan had led them off the main road; they were standing on a residential street where white-tipped dogwood trees arched over the narrow lane, dropping petals on them as the breeze rustled their branches.
“I’m okay.” She wiped her cheeks and tried to get her bearings. “I’m… okay. It was a shock. I was just surprised.”
“Of course you were.” Laura was still clutching the paper bag from the market. “Do you want to go to Duncan’s house?”
“No.”
Go back now!Rhiannon’s words pushed her toward the fae gate.
She frowned. “We should head back. We need to go back.”
“You’ve had a shock,” Duncan said. “Are you sure?”
We’ve been gone too long.
“I’ll be fine.”
“You’re not fine.” Duncan bit out the words. “I cannae imagine what you’re feeling, and I’ve met both my parents’ Shadowkin.”
She looked at Cadell. The dragon’s eyes were steady on her, and his face was stoic. “We knew. I knew. I think as soon as I crossed the first gate, I knew.”
There was a reason the shadows had always felt familiar. There was a reason the gates tried to grab her and hold on.
“Your mother must have pleased the gods greatly.” Cadell’s voice was soft.
“Why do you say that? She left the Shadowlands.”
“But they gave her a child.” Cadell smiled. “Even when she crossed into the Brightlands, she would not have been a mother without the help of the gods. And from what you have told me, being a mother and having a family was Tegan’s greatest joy.”
“It was her.” Rhiannon. Epona. The Celtic goddess of horses, the Welsh mythical queen.“Your mother knew me once.”
She looked at Duncan. “I dreamed about Epona. I think it was her. Or Rhiannon. Or maybe they’re the same. I don’t know. But in the car—earlier today—I dreamed about her.”
“And then your mother’s Brightkin just happened to run into you at the grocery?” Duncan shook his head. “What is happening?”
Carys looked at Cadell. “She said I pulled her into my dream. How is that possible?”
“I don’t know, but I agree with you,” Cadell said. “We need to get back across the gate.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
Crossing the gate with their smuggled coffee tucked in pockets, all Carys could think about was the woman in the market and her mysterious dream in the cab.
