Page 116 of A Wolf in the Garden

“Ellie doesn’t know the back history. There’s so much I wanted to tell her over the years and couldn’t. I’m so pleased you’re officially part of the family now, darling,” she adds, directing that last statement to Ellie.

“Thanks.”

“What happened after you were granted an audience?” I ask, redirecting the conversation back on track.

“Oh, that’s when we were introduced to Lylia — or re-introduced, I should say, because Lyliawasmy great-aunt Bethyl, thirty-one years ago when I last saw her. Fae have been hiding in House Maheras all along, and I was completely oblivious to it.”

“Wait, what?”

“When she drops the glamour, she looks entirely fae.” Mom’s eyes are wide and compelling as she speaks. “She’s half-were; she turns into a perfectly normal werewolf under the full moon, I have this on good authority, but without her glamour, in this form she looks fae, it’s uncanny. Her mother was from the Unseelie Court and mated a Maheras werewolf centuries ago — they were a fated pair too. I had no idea Lylia existed, because she uses glamour to hide her true face and her age.”

“And you said she was youraunt?” Ellie asks, her voice rising in a question.

“She was pretending to be my great-aunt, using glamour to fit in with the family at that time. She’s over three hundred years old. In truth, she’s really a much earlier…relation?One of my direct ancestors was a sibling of her father, so she’s from the same Maheras line as myself and Van, but of a far earlier generation.”

“Who is she pretending to be now?” I ask.

“Another Maheras family member — a young one. And she’ll age herself in terms of her glamoured body as this generation ages,” she adds, pointing to us, “and then when the time is up, she’ll disappear for a short time and reappear as a different family member again, and only the head witches will know about it.”

“Why?”

“Because she’sfae, Van,” Mom says, exasperation lacing her tone. “Like I said, she’s their secret weapon. Fae — high fae in particular — have much deeper reserves of power than us wolves.”

Ellie sits up straighter on the bed. “Is that what I am, then? High fae?”

Mom nods. “You’re descended from one of those subspecies. The Unseelie are in that group too, but Lylia doesn’t believe you’re directly related to them. It’s the Unseelie that are behind the Unravelling, the kidnappings, and so many issues in the First Realm, really.”

“Van mentioned once that there’s lots of different types of fae.”

“There are,” Mom replies. “There’s so many, and they really are very secretive; I don’t know if anyone other than the fae knows of all the different kinds out there. The high fae classification is an old one, and it’s fallen out of favour because it implies everyone else islowfae, but it relates to power levels I believe.”

“To magical abilities?” I ask.

“Yes. High fae just means powerful, which makes sense, given how Ellie’s magic has manifested. You have some powerful abilities, Ellie, when it comes to borrowing magic from Van. I think we’re close to you finding out what the full extent of your magic looks like, and that’s something that Lylia wants to help you with.”

“Can she be trusted?” I ask, the growl entering my voice unintentionally. Mom glares at me in response.

“I know people say there’s no such thing a dumb question, but darling, that was a dumb thing to ask. Of course she can be trusted; I’m not going to bring someone that could cause harm to you or your familyhere.”

I look at Ellie, and she shrugs her shoulders, before turning her attention back to my mother. “So, what happens next?”

“A proper, Unseelie-level protection ward, attached to youtonight, and powered by your own fae magic,” my mother answers. “And those fuckers will never be able to touch you or your mind ever again.”

* * *

“Ihave to apologise,” I begin as I pull out a chair, the legs scraping noisily against the wood of the outdoor deck. I smile, ignoring the way my wolves push at me, making their disquiet known. Opposite me, Lylia raises her brows as I take a seat beside Ellie.

“Oh? What for?”

“For the way I initially reacted to your presence. My wolves are instinct driven at the best of times, let alone after the full moon from hell. They’re having a hard time differentiating friend from foe at the moment.” Even now they stir, unsettled, but it’s nothing like the red fury of earlier.

“I understand. After all, I have a wolf too.” There’s something about Lylia’s smile — about the look in hercurrentlyyellow eyes — that belies her age. I’ve seen the same look on Nerilina’s face from time to time, in people from species that look perpetually youthful but are in fact ancient and — hopefully — wise. “It wasn’t completely the full moon from hell, was it?” Her eyes dart to Ellie’s shoulder and then back again. “You gained a mate.”

“Iclaimeda mate, she was already mine. And I was already hers, long ago. You’re right though; there’s things Ellie and I would love to be able to celebrate, but our happiness has been hampered significantly by the threat hanging over our heads. The fact that the fae were able to control her body the way they did, and harness my alpha bark… it’s incredibly concerning. We already had wards in place, and I mean this in the politest way possible, but I’m finding it hard to believe that whatyoucan do is going to be any different, even with my mother assuring me otherwise.”

Lylia shakes her head. “It’s not what I alone can do, it’s what Ellie can do, what shewilldo. She and I are going to place the spell on her body together, one unique to high fae like us. Her own magic will maintain it from there for the rest of her life. It’s as simple as that.”

“If it’s so simple, why is this not common knowledge?”

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