Page 177 of First Light

She frowned. “Kernow is Cornwall, right? Maybe the cliffs are the same in both?—”

“How did she see these places?”

Cadell stared at the pictures of the castles and the dragons. The bright fae and the dark kelpies. They were all things that Carys had seen with her own eyes now, so seeing them through her mother’s paintbrush was even more special.

Cadell seemed a little freaked out. “These things do not exist in your world.”

Carys felt a twist in her gut. “I told you, Duncan said that sometimes Brightkin dream of the Shadowlands through the eyes of their twin.”

He shook his head slowly. “Like this? Did you ever dream likethis?”

“Well… no.” Carys felt a chill creeping over her skin. “I don’t know what you mean.”

He stared at Carys. “We need to speak about your mother. You were born in the Brightlands, Carys.”

“I know. I have a birth certificate from a hospital in Caernarfonand?—”

“It’s very possible” —he looked at the paintings, then back at Carys— “it’sprobablethat your mother was not.”

“No. She couldn’t…” Could she?

Cadell raised one eyebrow. “It would explain some things.”

“Like what?” Carys let out a harsh breath. “How would she even?—”

There was a sharp rap at the door, and Kiersten’s bright voice sang through the house a moment later. “Hello-o!”

“They’re here,” Carys hissed. “We’ll talk about this later.”

“Yes, we definitely will.”

Kiersten walked into the living room, a giant smile on her face. “Oh my gosh, you have a cousin!” Her eyes went wide and her mouth fell open. “You have acousin.” She blinked. “Hi. I’m Kiersten.”

Cadell stared. “Hello.”

Laura was right behind Kiersten. “Hey! I brought Jim again so your cousin isn’t the lone male in the estrogen soup—I hope you don’t mind. He brought some fish he caught this morning so…” Laura froze when she saw Cadell, and her eyes went wide.

Cadell squared his shoulders and faced both Laura and Kiersten, straightening his posture in a way that made the giant man look even taller than he had before.

“Hello,” he said awkwardly. “Dudes.”

Kiersten blinked, then grinned. “I love the accent.”

Laura didn’t seem to be able to speak.

“Laura, Kiersten, this is my cousin Cadell. He’s a cousin on my father’s?—”

“Mother’s.”

“My mother’s side,” she said. “Right. He’s a cousin on my mother’s side, and he decided to come to California for a visit.”

Both her friends were still silent and gaping.

“Please don’t be rude,” Carys said through a tense smile. “He’s still getting used to it here.”

Laura looked at Carys, then back at Cadell. “Carys Morgan, why did you bring a dragon to Baywood?”

Kiersten frowned. “A what?”

Carys blinked. “What did you say?”

Cadell repeated, “What did you say?”

Laura opened her mouth, shut it. Looked at Carys, who was giving her “what the hell” eyebrows, then back at Cadell. “Right,” she finally said. She looked back at Carys. “Okay, this is awkward.”

“Yeah.” Carys nodded, then turned to Kiersten, who was smiling uncomfortably.

“What’s going on?” Kiersten asked.

Carys looked at Laura, then at Cadell, and back to Kiersten. She walked over to her friend. “So… doyoubelieve in fairy tales?”

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