Page 63 of Love Beyond Wanting
Iknew this clearing.It had been what I’d dreamed of so many nights ago in Laurel’s apartment.And the man beside me, whose face had been blurry before, was now clear.I’d dreamed all of this.And now it was coming true.
We walked carefully into the clearing, for even the flowers seemed to be watching us.Machara’s father knew we were here.I could sense it.With every step we took, the land around us was changing.In the distance, a throne appeared—the same one from my dreams, but this time, it wasn’t empty.
While undoubtedly ancient, the man didn’t look it.If I didn’t know that he’d existed for, if not centuries, millennia, I’d have thought him not much older than Brachan.While his basic features were humanlike, he bore even less resemblance to humans than Machara.I found him terrifying to look at, and I had to strain every muscle in my legs to keep them from trembling.
“The lass may come forward.My grandson will not take another step.I’ll not speak to him, nor do I wish to look upon him.He is an abomination, a creature who should not exist.”
I glanced at Brachan uncomfortably, but he didn’t seem wounded by the old faerie’s words.
He winked at me, and something in the gesture gave me strength.
Slowly, I stepped forward.
It was time for me to see if I was worthy enough to play a part in Machara’s demise.
Chapter 43
“Ye are frightened, lass.Ye needn’t be.”
I took each step toward the faerie slowly, as I hoped the long trek would give me enough time to read his face.
He stood as I neared the throne, and I swallowed hard as he billowed up at least eight feet when fully straight.
“I doona speak in jest, lass.Ye can breathe and let go of yer worry.I’ll not harm ye.Nor will I harm Brachan.”
For the first time since seeing him, I spoke.“I’m not worried about you harming me.Why would you harm one of the women meant to destroy your daughter?I’m worried about you harming Brachan.”
He stepped down from his throne and walked toward me, offering me his hand to help me up the steps.
Reluctantly, I took it.The flesh of his fingers was smooth and wet, like that of a dolphin.It unsettled me, but then again, everything about him was unsettling.
“Precisely, lass.I’ll bring no harm to Brachan.Even if I may want those of my blood dead, I canna bring myself to end their lives myself.I simply create a way for someone else to end them for me.”
“Why?It’s still your hand in it—that is no different than doing it yourself.”
He shrugged and released my hand as he resumed his place on his throne.“Mayhap so, but it allows my conscience to be free.”
“I didn’t know you all had one of those.”
He bit his lower lip and anger flashed in his eyes.“There is much ye doona know, lass.Much ye never will.Come.Sit down.”A stool appeared beside him out of nowhere.Hesitantly, I moved toward it.“Tell me why ye have come.”
“Why do you want your daughter dead?What did she do to make you hate her so much?”
“She betrayed me.She betrayed her family.For centuries, the fae lived on this Isle unknown to mortals.Machara was the first to open the veil between yer land and ours.Her choice has only brought pain and destruction to both our species.Now.”His long fingers wrapped around the arms of his chair, and his knuckles grew white as he squeezed it.He was quickly losing his patience with me.“Enough of Machara.Why are ye here?”
“You want Machara dead, and I’m one of the women that can help make that happen, but there’s a problem I don’t think I can fix without you.”
“Brachan.”He said it as a matter of fact, not a question.
“Yes.Machara is bending him to her will, and he is unable to resist it.As long as fae blood runs within him, I stand no chance of surviving a fortnight.”
“Why not just kill him, lass?’Twould be the simplest solution.”
I decided to give him the one reason I hoped would appeal to his desires more than any other.“Machara won’t care if he’s dead.It would pain her so much more to know that the son she’d created was no longer hers to toy with.To see that she had no power over him, and he was his own man in every way.”
The faerie smiled so wide I could see that his back teeth were just a series of points.It caused me to visibly shiver.
“I doona eat humans, lass, nor do I tup them.The propensity that some fae have for humans is one I’ve never shared.”
