Page 17 of Shifting Winds
My nose crinkled. “Really? I spent like fifteen minutes on this do.”
“Evangeline,” he groaned.
I pointed at my head. “A little help with the pins? Otherwise, it will take me all night to get them out.”
As one, every single pin fell from my hair. “Cool.” I shook the curls out, but he wasn’t done.
The smell of fresh tuberose tickled my nose, and petals brushed my ear. I hurried over to peer in the mirror.
“I look like I stepped out of one of those Ren Faire photoshoots.” Flowers bloomed all over my head, the stems wound into my curls. “Are you sure all of this is necessary?”
“Very.” He held out his arm.
I hesitated. “One more question. If you don’t want everyone to know who I am, why are you taking me to a fae dinner?”
“Because I trust everyone here tonight.” He paused. “As much as one can trust the fae.”
“They won’t tell Mom?”
Cernunnos laughed. “Come. It’s time to introduce you to your heritage.”
I touched his arm, and the world swept out from under me.
Chapter
Six
My mother was considered one of the most beautiful fae alive today. As her daughter, I guess I wasn’t too hard on the eyes either, but standing in this room full of insanely beautiful fae made me feel like one of Cinderella’s stepsisters.
Gems and gold glittered everywhere, but even if every fae was dressed in rags, I couldn’t ignore their splendor—my father included. We stood at the entrance to a grand ballroom filled with fae and creatures of all kinds. Women and men with bodies of goats. Shadows in dark robes that whispered across the room. Creatures with skin of bark and glittering blue eyes. Something too fast for the eye to catch swirled around the ceiling, trailing green and blue sparkles in its wake.
My heart pounded against my ribs.
“Easy,” my father murmured. “Everyone can hear your panic. Slow your heart rate before they notice.”
My fists clenched at my sides. I took a deep breath in and slowly blew it out, sending a small trickle of magic through my veins, the cooling sense of flora surrounding me.
“Good,” Cernunnos said. “Are you ready?”
“No.” I glanced up at him. My father’s face was carefully blank, his gaze sweeping across the room. “Are you?”
His lips twitched. “I’d rather absorb myself into the ground and disappear in a gust of wind.”
I blinked. “That’s oddly specific.”
“You’ll see in a minute.”
“I thought you said these people were your friends.”
A faint smile. “They are.”
Cernunnos nudged me into the room.
As soon as we stepped over the threshold, every eye in the room swung to us.
“By my side, Evangeline,” he murmured.
I took a larger step, my fingers curling over his muscled forearm.
