Total pages in book: 182
Estimated words: 171176 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 856(@200wpm)___ 685(@250wpm)___ 571(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 171176 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 856(@200wpm)___ 685(@250wpm)___ 571(@300wpm)
I had no clue what fairy magic would mean in the long term. Maybe nothing. But what if it was something? I didn’t think it would become dangerous—Calia didn’t seem concerned, just curious—but what if Aurelia became valuable for whatever it was that she could do? Would her situation get that much more complicated?
I pushed it out of my mind. At the present time, it was the least of our concerns. I’d mentioned the drawing of Aurelia we’d found to Nyfain, and how that had played out in the Red Lupine kingdom. He’d agreed that, for now, Hadriel was probably the best to gather information within the castle. The queen sent for him right away, and he’d been quick to know what to do.
Now we had to wait. Wait to see if anyone else had damning knowledge. Wait to see if anyone had sent word to Granny. Wait to see if Granny showed up to claim her prize.
Wait . . . and hope we had what it took to capture Granny before she captured Aurelia and escaped to a packaging village hardly anyone knew existed.
I ran my hand down Aurelia’s back, unable to help hooking it on her hip and dragging her a little closer. She complied, watching Calia run her finger down the right side of the hilt and tapping the bottom twice. The blade slid back in, but the hilt maintained its luster. She slipped it into a pocket in her dress.
“If Granny knew I was a shifter, the lantern told her I was also a fairy, and my mom had no magic at all, you’d think she would be so horribly confused about my origins.” Aurelia shook her head, looking up at me. “I mean, what the hell am I?”
“Did you tell Granny about your bio-dad?” I asked her.
“Yes. I told her as much of my history as I knew.”
“Then I doubt she was confused.”
“She probably knew she’d found a diamond in the rough,” Nyfain said.
“Not a diamond in the rough.” I shook my head, placing my hand below the back of her neck now, stroking the bare skin within her jacket collar with my thumb. “A treasure she made sure was locked away. She wasn’t just isolating a village for her operation—she was hiding a woman from anyone who might have an interest.”
“Why would anyone have an interest?” Longing filled her eyes. The world had convinced her that she wasn’t wanted. It must’ve been surreal to learn that she was not only wanted, but hunted by several factions.
Fairies kept track of each other. The fairy king was going mad that he didn’t know where Calia’s sister had gone off to. They kept tabs on babies and powers, levels and status, making sure they were connected to any potentially potent or rare magic. Most of the kingdoms did. Bloodlines kept a kingdom strong.
Then there was her shifter side. Her bio-dad might not have wanted offspring with a woman with no magic, but he would have definitely wanted a connection with a child as powerful as Aurelia. Being a true mate to a wolf as powerful and high status as I was would also be an incredible perk. He’d want to stay close, able to keep an eye out for our brood, trying to entice them to Granddaddy’s kingdom and court so the bloodline could be re-established there.
“I’ll explain everything later,” I told her. “Let’s go see your new room.”
“I think I should be in on that explanation, old friend,” Calia said, her eyes narrowed at me but gleaming with mirth. She wouldn’t get cutthroat until she knew what Aurelia’s magic was.
“What about these, Captive Lady?” Vemar gestured at the books he’d stacked and organized.
“I’ll grab those.” I walked toward the table.
“I’ll help.” Nyfain met me, taking six of the ten Aurelia had chosen, looking them over as he did so. “I didn’t even know we had books about this in the library.”
“It’s interesting reading,” Aurelia said. “Creating and working with chemicals is way more fun than working with plants. For one, they explode or catch on fire way more often.”
Nyfain quirked an eyebrow, clearly not quite sure what to make of that. “I’ll take your word for it.”
We headed down the hall, people respectfully keeping their eyes on their tasks or straight ahead, the castle’s version of giving us our privacy. They often glanced at Aurelia, though, their cursory gazes sticking, traveling over her flashy, too-big, ruined clothes and the various burns and cuts and random pieces of glass on or in her person. She was an absolute spectacle, and though I could tell she noticed them looking, she showed no sign of it, a behavior befitting a member of the court. Her years of ignoring those she made uncomfortable had trained her for a life of high status, should she want it. What a change an invasion had made.