Page 20 of Prince of Ruin

“Similar traits to some.” They pin me with those gray eyes, not a hint of humor to be found in their expression. “They’ve been coming to get you. You’re a Fae king, Clav, cursed to live in a human body.”

The room begins to spin. “Mom. I…”

“But you belong to that world,” Mom is saying as they slip on their shoes and stand. “And I’m going to take you back.”

I’m pretty sure I’m going to puke again—until it hits me. God. Oh my god. There’s no way—

“Is this…a surprise birthday party thing? Because that’s not really your jam.”Or mine, to be honest.

Mom is throwing their knitted woolen shawl over their shoulders and placing their woolen witch’s hat upon their head. They glance at me, but no smile cracks on their face.

“No, Clav. This is very, very real, and I need you to understand the severity of the situation, the world we’re about to step into.” They jerk their chin at the crown in my hands. “Put that on.”

I nestle the antler crown on my head.“So, um, where are we going?”

“We’re going to the portal,” Mom answers.

Of course. A portal, like the one Tarsus stepped out of. The portal that leads to the Fae realms, which opened up when I was born, because I used to be Fae but now I’m human somehow. Cool, cool. I chew my lower lip, my panic threatening to swallow me whole as I follow Mom outside. My hands are clammy again, the world threatening to spin out of control, but, somehow, I manage not to pass out.

“You’re not even going to say bye to dad?” I ask, suddenly breathless.

They pause and look at me, then look past me in the direction of the house. “He’ll only try to stop us.And when he fails, he’ll follow us.” Mom clicks their tongue. “Your father wouldn’t survive a day in the Fae realms.”

“He’s more resilient than you think,” I mutter, following close behind. I mean, he battled these so-called demons—Fae—for years. “So, if I’m a Fae, are you even my real mom?”

They stiffen. “I’m…your aunt.” They look back at me. “I begged to carry you, birth you, and raise you, so I could watch over my sister’s child. Humans are so frail and you wouldn’t have survived a day out here as an infant.”

“You’re…Fae…too?” An even larger wall seems to erect between us. The lies.

“Yes.”

“Where are your pointed ears?” I’m honestly not sure whether to laugh or cry right now, to be honest.

“You’ll see them soon enough, Clav.”

Mom seems to know exactly where they’re going. We cross a log over a creek and I peer down into the laughing brook that seems to be mocking my confusion, moonlight glinting off the black ripples. Trees groan and creak around me, though there’s no wind. It’s almost like they’re talking to each other in some ancient language, as if our presence is a serious disturbance to their age-long slumber.

We take a turn downhill, and I keep my ears open to any strange sounds around me. The thing is, every sound seems strange in the forest at night, even my own feet as they crunch through the autumn leaves.

“We’re here.”

I look up for the first time, studying my surroundings. It doesn’t look much different from the rest of the forest. I’m by a bog that has always given me the creeps, with a constant mist hanging over the black water. The trees are covered in more moss than usual this time of year.

Mom steps into the water, walking deeper and deeper until it’s up to their waist.

“Mom…what are you doing?” Mom has always done things out of the ordinary. Danced beneath the full moon. Made charms out of bones. Left milk and oats out every night for “wandering souls”. But swimming in the dead of night….

They turn to look at me. Standing waist-deep in the black water, with the moonlight dancing off their bone-white hair, they look unearthly.

“Come on, Clav. No need to be afraid.” Then Mom disappears beneath the still surface.

I wait for them to emerge, because what sort of portal involves walking into water? Where’s that wormhole I saw earlier? I wait, and wait, and wait, until I start to worry.

Kneeling by the water, I dip my hand in, breaking the glassy surface. There’s a gentle pull tugging me, like a current beckoning me to follow it. It almost…it almost feels like my very blood is pulling me toward the water, toward the bog. I jerk back, my heart racing. But Mom still hasn’t emerged from the water. Ever so slowly, I reach into the water again.

This time, the current doesn’t let me go. It wraps around my arm like skeletal fingers and jerks me in with such a force, I hardly have time to drag in a gulp of air before cold water rushes into my face and over my body. The shock of cold water snaps me out of my head.

Holy hell. This is all real. None of this is a hallucination induced by some drug. None of it is a staged or themed birthday party. Everything Mom said was true. The portal Aden and Tarsus walked through was real. The bat person Dad nearly killed…was he real too?

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