Page 31 of Shifting Winds
I would not ask her where?—
“I’ll have some delivered to your home, Evangeline,” Mom said as she poured the tea.
Dammit. “Thank you.”
“If you wish to walk among our people, you must learn to control your facial expressions. Every emotion shows in your eyes.”
“Who said I want to spend any time with the fae?”
One of her eyebrows quirked up. “Your attendance at Cernunnos’s dinner was a fluke?”
Fae spies sucked. “I was invited. Curiosity doesn’t mean I want to move to the fae lands.”
“Regardless, my point stands. Even if you do not entangle yourself in your kind, your relationship with the wolf will require your presence in delicate political situations. You must learn to position yourself as neutral, even if you burn inside.”
My mother was making…sense. Why did it make me want to stick my tongue out at her and refuse to drink my tea?
“Why did you call me here?” I took a sip of my tea and wished it was coffee.
Mom rolled her eyes, wiggled her finger, and the scent of the brew changed into a dark, rich Colombian roast. Where was this mom when I didn’t want to eat my vegetables?
“You swallowed the World Seed. Did you even once think about the consequences before you made such a foolish choice?”
“Bonding time is over, I guess?”
Mom set her teacup down and leaned forward, her vivid blue eyes burning. “You are a living gate, Evangeline. Your life will never be the same.”
“My life hasn’t been the same since a Chimera attacked me almost eight years ago. What’s one more thing?”
“So flippant,” Mom murmured. “Soon, when the worlds stop reeling from your decision, you will have the gods at your doorstep. You are their key home. But some won’t be so magnanimous. Some will try to tear the power from your heart.”
“And you?” I said, willing my heart not to thunder like a scared rabbit. “Will you tear it from me?”
“You think me terrible,” she said. “A bogeyman in your life. Every decision I made was one that kept you strong, kept you alive.”
“And my father? What about him?”
Her eyes flashed with fury. “I suspect you know who your father is. After all, he’s taken quite an interest in you, hasn’t he?”
Cliona wasn’t stupid. Every time a god dropped by, they left a mark of power, an indelible stain denoting their presence that took weeks to fade. Cernunnos’s touch was over much of my land. Cliona couldn’t enter my property, but she would know he was in Joy Springs.
“And if he has?”
“The Fae King is bored. Such is the way with immortals. You are a new and shiny thing. Do not be surprised when he casts you aside for something else.”
“Gee, Mom. You should go on the road with motivational speeches like that.”
Mom reached down beside her chair and picked up a small suede pouch. “I have something for you.”
“Beware gifts with teeth,” I muttered to myself.
“This is your heritage,” she said, ignoring me. “And your anchor to my lands. If you keep it in the pouch, you can use it to travel here at will. If you plant it…” Mom’s voice trailed off. “Well, we will see what you choose. Either way, what is in the pouch and what comes of it belongs to you.”
I did not take the pouch from her outstretched hand. “Is it a bomb?”
“Use your magic. It is nothing more than a seed made by my own hand.”
I tested it before I took it, sending a questing tendril of magic toward the pouch. My magic seeped through the suede, touching the seed. I felt deep, earth-shattering power, a touch of Tess. No. Banshee magic and blood, soaked in greenery and earth magic.
