“How do you know about fae?” I question.
“My mother is a reaper, and my father is a hellhound, the alpha of the biggest pack in Hell,” he starts to tell me, and he pauses for a moment. “No one knows I exist; my mother made damn well sure of that, and my father killed anyone who found out. They both want the throne, and I’m the tool to get them there. My mother was in the academy once, but she was badly injured in one of the tests.”
I don’t say anything, unsure why he is telling me his whole life story. “The best way for my mother to keep me safe was to send me somewhere no one would look for a half reaper and half hellhound shifter. She placed me in the care of her dear friend, the royal housekeeper at the castle.”
Knowing the castle is full to the rim with Unseelie fae slaves, I’m gathering where he is going with this. “You made friends with the Unseelie fae in the castle?”
“I was one that looked after the prisoners from time to time. Did you know there are four thousand Unseelie fae here in the dungeons?” he asks me, watching me so closely for my response. I try not to flinch, but I fail, unable to hide the horror in my eyes at learning that number. So many of them are still alive, still trapped.
“What do you think of that?” I question, sliding my hands into fists under the water. I dig my own nails into my hand to control the anger burning through my body.
“What do you think?” he questions. “I grew up watching the suffering and the near genocide of the Unseelie fae, but then again, I never saw the fae war. I never saw the brutality and cruelty that they supposedly caused.”
“There are always two sides to every war,” I remind him.
“Perhaps,” he agrees, watching me closely. “But say, if all those fae were freed. What do you think would happen? Do you think they would go back to their ruined and burned-down lands? Or would they take the Seelie lands? Kill the Seelie king and declare war on the reapers? How long do you think it would take before they killed us all and then set their eyes on Earth?”
“Who are we to make that decision? No one short of a god could make that choice,” I murmur.
“Isn’t it strange that a demi-god has been sent to us, no?” he replies with a calculating gaze.
I clear my throat, looking away. If Torfinn has been sent down here to decide the fate of the Unseelie, then I am doomed. I saw how quickly he killed the Unseelie rebels that attacked us.
“I have a clue for you. For tomorrow,” he says into the silence. I turn my eyes to his, the sharp blueness of them reminding me of the cold ice of winter.
“Why would you help me? Only one of us can win this,” I question.
He smirks. “It doesn’t matter to me who wins this.”
I frown. “So you want to die?”
I’m more confused when he laughs and stands up. He stretches his arms up and clicks his fingers. Flames start appearing above him in a swirl and slowly touching his fingers. “When you’re alone, look for the mirror that shows you nothing but the truth.”
The flames smother his body quickly, and then he is gone, leaving nothing but smoke in the room. The smoke drifts to the ceiling as I rest back in the bath, finding it’s not as relaxing as it was before. I pull myself out of the warm water and drain the bath before drying myself. I change into the pyjamas Velia packed for me, a simple white cotton T-shirt and checkered cotton trousers.
“Were you talking to yourself in the bath?” Mossy asks, sitting on the counter with a homemade cookie in his small hand. I chuckle and pat my shoulder.
“It’s complicated. How was your day?” I question, heading for my bedroom.
“I hacked the castle security and made several alarms go off,” he snickers, and I shake my head at him. “The guards spent all day running from one side of the castle to the fucking other. So funny.”
I can’t help but laugh. “You’re going to get caught.”
“Never,” he gasps like I’ve insulted him. “I am smarter than them all, and we both know it.”
“Eat your cookie and get into bed. I’m shattered,” I instruct around a yawn.
“Bossy,” he mutters but does as he is told. I snuggle into the bed, pulling the quilt around me, and Mossy makes himself comfy at the end of the bed on a pillow I found for him. The second my eyes shut, I feel myself drifting to sleep, hoping my dreams are of anything other than Hell.
Opening my eyes, fully aware I’m dreaming, I feel myself floating in water, staring up at a cloud of blue smoke that fills the space around me. This doesn’t feel like a dream, it feels all wrong, and I can taste magic on my mouth, in the air, and feel the sting of it across my body. I try to move my hands, but they won’t move. I wiggle, but nothing else will move, and I start to panic, my breaths coming out fast and harsh as I struggle to move at all. A shadow looms over me, and I look up, seeing a man hidden in a cloak. The cloak is a dark blue colour, and the hood falls so low I can’t see under it. I’m guessing a man by the big bulky nature of his body and his wide shoulders.
When he starts to sing, my body goes still and I’m sucked into a weird trance.
“When the fae had begun,
the world was done.
The song was sung
of the cursed one.
Bearing the runes,
she will bring about doom.
The fae curse is smothered in blood,
so mighty, the beloved.”
The man stops singing the haunting song and lowers himself down to his knees at my side.
“Daesynnnn,” he hisses as he climbs on top of me. I try to scream, try to move, but nothing changes except the fear that creeps into my body. He wraps his large hands around my throat. His hands tighten so hard, and the world seems to darken ever so slightly every moment, even as he sings one last sentence to me, the thick magic of his song lulling me into a deeper trance.
“The forbidden child will bring about doom. The forbidden child holds the cursed rune.”
Chapter 15
