Page 6 of The Tides of March

“No… That’s really confusing,” Tony said with a laugh. It sounded much more natural for Tony than the disappointment and defeat Ronan sensed.

“Well, yer a Roman and a child of Epona, so I imagine that’s why it went after ye. And yer in MacIlwraith’s service, aren’t ye?”

“A child of Epona?” Tony frowned, shaking his head slowly. “My mom’s family is from Rome and I visited a few times when I was a kid, but I don’t know that I’d say we were Roman…”

That got a hard snort out of Ronan. “I know a Roman when I see one and there’s horses and temples in yer ancestry. I can see that too,” he stated with a firm nod.

Tony cracked an eye open. “You can see it?”

“Aye…” Ronan squinted and listened through the crackling of the fire and the howling of the wind outside the cottage and he could hear the thunder of horses’ hooves and he saw the bodies of women, swaying around a fire. “Yer people were Roman and they worshipped the horse goddess and the god of wild things, the Dagda.”

“Where did you—?” Tony forced his eyes open and blinked groggily at Ronan. “I know that Nox is some variation of the Dagda and that he’s been hiding that from everyone—including me—but I’m not magick like him. And I’m not in his service, I was just his TA and now I’m kind of like an apprentice professor.”

“Sure… Ye wouldn’ have any magick…” Ronan agreed hesitantly. “The Epona folk were mostly women and priestesses, but they revere the Dagda and their devotion helped keep his spirit alive.”

“Ha! I’m not a woman,” Tony noted, pointing at Ronan.

“But ye were born to one and I’d bet she was a disciple. An important one at that.”

“I think I’d know if my mom was a—” Tony started to contradict him but Ronan interrupted.

“She a teacher too?”

“Yes, but?—”

“She ever marry? Where’s yer da?” Ronan asked and Tony’s jaw fell. “Ye don’ have one, do ye? And I bet if ye ask yer other fae friends, they don’ either. I don’ have a da and me mam left me on a fisherman’s doorstep after she got tired of lookin’ at me.”

“Nox had a dad. So did his dad,” Tony said, making Ronan snicker.

“Aye. They would because they’re a different kind of fae. They’re Fae—with the big F—and that kind of magick is passed from parent-to-child. It’s potent and it’s wild and it’ll kill ye, if ye aren’t extra special, like that last MacIlwraith. Regular fae magick—the kind with the little f—fades if ye forget it and it’s rarely good for much more than vexing children or the odd seaman.”

“Unless you collect a lot of fae magick,” Tony said with a scowl. “So that shitty zombie kid used your magick to attack me so I can’t help Nox and make him stronger.”

“That would be my guess. Unless ye have another motive.”

Tony managed a weak shrug. “I’d need to know a lot more but I’ve been kept in the dark about pretty much everything until recently. Until that kid sucked the life out of me, I thought Nox was a human like the rest of us and there was no such thing as monsters.”

“I can see how that would be a rude awakening,” Ronan said with a sympathetic grunt but Tony shook his head.

“It was rude. Still waiting on that awakening Nox promised. Any time now would begreat.”

He sounded almost as peeved as Ronan did to find a man dumped on his beach and into his care. But for once, Ronan was glad for the company and he kind of liked this man.Kind of.

“I’ll get right on that and have ye on yer way as soon as possible.”

Three

Tony had forgotten about Pegasus.

With all that had happened over the last month, it wasn’t surprising, but Tony was overjoyed when Nox flipped back the tarp and revealed his beloved baby blue VW Beetle. Tony had left it at the school the day he was attacked but it had been relocated to the narrow driveway next to Nox’s townhouse.

“My baby!” Tony said as he threw his arms over the car’s hood and pressed his cheek against the warm metal.

“Nelson moved it and he’s been keeping an eye on it,” Nox explained as he handed Tony the keys.

“I owe him one,” Tony said, unlocking his door and leaning back as he cautiously opened it. “I left a sandwich in here so it’s probably going to smell ripe after a whole month. Thought I’d finish it for dinner,” he warned but Nox shook his head as he headed around to the passenger side.

“You think Nelson would allow that on his watch? He gave Pegasus an oil change last weekend so you should be good for a while.”

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