Page 35 of The White Stag
Oisin was bustling around the kitchen while the guys gulped that potion. By the time breakfast was ready, they’d all burped out their hangovers and had perked up.
“So, let’s talk about your mum while you eat,” Finnan said.
“Estrella is a big kitten,” Tucker said. “Don’t let the whole Nemean lioness thing fool you. The murder mittens only come out for people like Alastair. She became my drag fairy godmother after attending a performance at my school. We do love some human musicals, and we were doingCats.I can get my leg up higher than any straight girl, so I played Victoria. If they weren’t crying after Grizabella belted outMemory,they were when I put my hand in that dramatic bitch’s hand so she could go to cat heaven. Your mom was ahugefan of my performance.”
“She’s into anything with singing or talking cats,” Oisin said.
“She criesevery damned timeMufasa dies, and I’m pretty sure she has that movie memorized,” Finnan said.
“She once asked me how I’d kill the butler inThe Aristocatsfor what he did to Duchess and her kittens,” Cyrus said.
“Estrella was supposed to be out in public for one of the moon parties. She stopped the whole fucking parade to lure this ugly, one-eyed cat out of the gutter with some shrimp she bought from a food stand. It scratched her face up and bit her finger, but Estrella was in love. That smushed-faced bastard is now a spoiled palace cat who hates everyone but your mum. You’re probably the only one she’ll allow to badmouth that cat. It tried to murder me once, and she sided with her cat,” Finnan said.
“We all sided with the cat. You stepped on his tail and had it coming. You’re seriously going to sit there and act like you aren’t a total drama queen when someone steps onyourtail?” Cyrus said.
“That’s fair,” Finnan agreed. “Stepping on someone’s tail is just rude, and it hurts.”
“We aren’t talking about your fucking tail. We’re trying to tell Reagan about Estrella.” Cyrus grunted.
“Well, I happen to knowfor a factthat when Estrella is shifted into her lion, she also dislikes anyone messing with her tail.”
“Every Fae with a tail hates that.”
“Not totally true,” Tucker said. “One of my friends is a stripper at one of the top-scale clubs. They bought a new car with tips from this Imp who liked to have his tail—”
“If you finish that sentence, I’ll throw you over the border myself,” Cyrus growled. “We aren’t here to kink-shame other Fae. This is about Reagan and Estrella.”
“No, you’ve given me a lot. I didn’t think we’d have a single thing in common since she’s an Unseelie queen, and up until recently, I thought I was human. I enjoy singing cats, I also cried when Mufasa died, and I befriended more than one ugly cat when I was younger.”
“Maybe you’re also a Nemean lioness,” Finnan said. “They are all fire signs and obsessed with everything feline.”
“Girl, everyone is obsessed with cats,” Tucker said. “The humans used to worship them like gods, and now they’ve taken over the internet in their realmandours.”
“Alastair wouldn’t let me have a phone or use the internet, but even I know that. But I think I’m ready to make that call now.”
“Do you want privacy or a support system in there with you?” Oisin asked.
“I need to do this alone.”
I did. Yeah, she was this terrifying Unseelie queen, but maybe I built that up too much in my head. She was probably also a lovely person if everyone here adored her. We probably liked the same things. It sounded like we did.
I owed it to both of us to do this alone.
Reagan
Cyrus made the call from his laptop. At first, I wasn’t even sure if she would be available. She had no way of knowing I picked this exact moment to talk to her, and she had an entire kingdom to run. But she picked up right away.
“Is she safe? Is the detox still bad?” I heard her say.
“Everything is still quiet here. She’s here with me now. Why don’t you ask her yourself how she’s feeling?”
Cyrus got up, and I took his place at his desk. I finally saw my mother for the first time. I had always wondered what she looked like. She was utterly ethereal. Her purple hair was pulled back in a messy ponytail, showing off her pointy ears. She wasn’t dressed like a queen. She was in yoga pants and a tank top.
“You’re so beautiful,” I whispered.
“My child, we look alike, even if many of your Fae traits haven’t come in yet. That hair is all your father’s, though. We’ve missed you so much. So if you need to tell me how angry you are with me or that you hate me for the life you led, just get it out. It’s my fault you’re detoxing right now.”
“No, it’s not. I refused to take those pills when the hospital prescribed them after getting hurt on the playground. They drugged my food. I remember my monsters telling me we needed to run, and it was probably because they found that out. I was the one who didn’t like what it felt like without them and kept taking them. I had the chance to go off them when we ran, but I convinced them to leave me alone and pick them up to taper off it. That’s when Alastair got his hands on me.”
