Page 54 of Within the Veil

"Good, my son will make a good Elite Shadow leader. It's time to truly combine our families. We will be the strongest in all magic communities," Sergio grins, his right eye twitching as he taps his foot on the marble floor.

As I take my seat, I eye Serio warily, half expecting him to break out into fits of unhinged laughter. I bite back a groan as we discuss the state of Darnica beyond the capital. I take my seat so we can discuss the state of Darnica. Though I could sum it up in a single word - "terrible" - I play my part, eager to finish the pointless conversation and get home.

The current state of the city is not anything I can fix at the current moment, but what I can control is the next steps I would take to secure the future of Darnica. Not only did I, finally, have a child to look forward to but one who I will guide, with love, to be the light that will counteract and vanquish the darkness that looms over our world. Because the Council is mistaken; there's no way to stop the people from discovering the true villain in their story. For those that dwell within the shadows will be dragged into the light of reckoning; where they will be laid bare, their chest cavities torn open as we lay witness to the depravity of their blackened souls-- the pleas to their gods falling on deaf ears as they bleed out on the very marble floor they once stood upon.

ChapterFourteen

Hudson

So I have a sister. Cool. Cool. Everything is fine. I'm fine. Wars, allies, stronger magic, a giant library of knowledge, and now I have to hunt down a soul sister? Essence sister? What the fuck do I even call her officially?

For an hour, we sit in the living room, taking in everything he has laid out for us. From the moment he said 'essence,' my jaw dropped. Okay, to be fair, I thought he gave this Eli guy a bottle of semen. Until he clarified. I had to ask twice. Just to make sure. Overall, I have to admit all of it was ingenious planning mixed with a heavy dose of fucked up circumstances.

So many questions bounce around in my mind. Shea confirmed that I have a sister instead of a brother and the idea excited me. I grew up an only child, not counting Zane. The chance to have someone, other than Remi, to talk to is mind-boggling. Though, with the state of that City, is she happy? Safe? Did she grow up to be the bringer of light or whatever philosophical shit Shea was spouting? What is she exactly? Fae? Witch? Is she going to grow old with me or would her life be cut short by mortality?

King sends waves of reassurance through our bond, while my mates take turns rubbing my back. I sigh in relief, my lungs expanding to take in the air that Shea stole with his bomb drop and I ask the first question that is plaguing me.

"Okay. What is her genetic makeup? Fae? Witch? Basically, I just want to know if she is going to be long-lived or die a horrible death at like 93 because she broke a hip, attempting to do the horizontal mambo?"

Ryder, Jensi, and Luca laugh, and everyone else groans. Well, I know who my favorite is, clearly whoever laughed.

I stand up and waddle back and forth, with purposeful, unbalanced, strides to ease the panic that starts to grip me but also to try to get my point across that the questions in my mind need to be answered before I flip my shit. The effect is totally lost with the waddling. "I mean, I'm sure you have thought about it to some degree. There you were, giving out your phallus essence like a mad scientist. Pollinating pea plants with your Fae miragrow like a warped Charles Darwin. Gaia gave me a sliver of her soul, but to be fair you're my father so I'm sure I would have cat-walking down the forever young road of Peter Pan and all that. So, what do you think?" I turn back to him, hands on my hips.

"Everything you say drips sexual shit...Hudson...It's extremely distracting," Zane, scrubs a hand across his face in exasperation.

I scowl, "Bulllshitttttt. I will not be blamed for your uncontrollable desire to flip through the pages of lust and sexual gratification that make up my layered psyche."

Shea looks back and forth between us as he blinks repeatedly, his face heavy with confusion.

Zane sighs, "Hudson, Shea has yet to be fully hit with a Hudson rant, and your power is leaking out. Reign it in," he says as he comes behind me and wraps me in his arms, my back to his front, and I sigh as my body relaxes into his warmth. This is the good stuff. Mates, cuddles, and banter.

"Shea, what my mate is trying to say is if you know about Charlie's mortality," Grayson asks.I said that, though. Didn't I?

He runs his hands through his hair and sighs, "Apologies. I will be honest. While I have been keeping tabs on Charlie, I am not sure what the effect will be on her years of life. It isn't clear. I also do not know if she will have multiple mates, like yourself. She has one mate right now, Pixie. They are very adept in magic and battle techniques. Charlie, is also beautiful, with a volatile temper and a penchant to save everyone around her. In fact, she looks exactly like you. Very slight differences in facial features and of course the hair. By that alone, I can surmise that she will be similar in genetic makeup as well," he shrugs lightly and sits down heavily on the nearest chair.

I peer at him closely, he is pretty much my match in every way. White hair, pointed ears, tanned skin, same full lips and almond eyes. It's a wonder anyone ever thought I was ever Chancellor Jacobs daughter to begin with. Shea, dressed in heavy, dark green combat clothes, looks every inch a war general and less of a prince. However, when you look closely, despite the fact that Fae are beautiful and forever young, the signs of strain are clear. His clothes are slightly ruffled, and his hair is out of place as if he can't stop running his hands through it. It makes sense, considering he is running around like an infiltrating chicken without its head. The weight on his shoulders must be painful. Worse is when you feel like you have to hold it close to your heart because the only person you could trust is now dead, at the hands of the same person you have to pretend to side with.

It is one thing to be a Prince and deal with the expectations that come from that position, but when you are the only male in your family in a matriarchal society, and not able to take the crown in an official capacity, stuck with regulating on a Council it has to grate on you. Then you add in being the force beyond a rebellion working covertly for Nici but not, being forced to watch the person you love go mad, fathering a prophesized baby that you could never see for her safety, sending Kallan to protect and guide me, and still working in the background like a secret ninja...I mean, despite my overall feelings for Shea sometimes, he truly was out here doing the damn thing.

With everything on the table now, I have to admit that he deserves some grace. Granted, his response about Charlie is underwhelming. With so much he had to know...he knows nothing, Fae Jon Snow here,I think. wryly. Ryder bites back a laugh at my thoughts, and I resist the urge to roll my eyes at his pictures of Shea dressed as Jon.

As I look at Shea all I can feel is...sadness. I've been in Tír na nÓg for a while now, but most of that time was spent in a coma. The rest has been planning and he has been gone. I have yet to connect with the man who is my actual father. I assumed he was off-gathering intel and although that is not far off the mark, he is always doing so much more. Having him here now, it felt strange. He may be my actual father, but in reality, he is a sperm donor with pointed ears and longevity.

Chancellor Jacobs was the one who raised me. WAS is the operative word here. He may have made sure I was the best in all my classes but his emotional detachment after he discovered that I wasn'ttechnicallyhis still hurts. Kalen took over that mantle, giving me all the love and support any girl with a sword and a bomb-ass roundhouse kick can ever ask for. Now he is dead, Chancellor Jacobs is on the opposite side of the Veil, and Shea is the only father I had left. One who did everything he could to protect me despite the dangers.

I look down at my swollen belly and wrap my arms around my children the only way I can right now. I would do the same thing Shea did. I would do anything to protect them, even if it meant leaving them behind to ensure my enemy couldn't follow me right to them. But I knew I would never have to, unlike Shea I had my mates. He was lonely then and he is even lonelier now. I can make peace with all my daddy issues, I understood it all to some degree.

My mom, though? Yeah no. Fuck her. Sure, being around a Faerie of extreme power can break a mortal's mind, but my mother isn't just human, so I call bullshit on her excuses and clever acting. You can plead insanity because of good dick, you may have even loved the owner of said dick, however, that is never a good enough reason to push your child away, in favor of a bottle and numbness.

My thoughts make my heart pang for Dad, though, and I wonder if he thought about me. Or how he explained away my absence, as I'm sure, "going off to live her destiny with the Fae", isn't a viable excuse. I want to reach out to him but even more so I want to connect with Shea. We look so similar that it is easy to picture us together laughing and spending time with one another after everything in Tír na nÓg is back to normal. I want to take the two fathers I have left and do the best that I can to fix all the things that have kept us apart. And as that thought is planted, it immediately takes root as I realize just how much I truly want a father-daughter relationship. Not only for myself, but for the babies as well. I want them to see what a happy, healthy family is and I am going to do everything I can to make it happen, at least on my part.

I shake myself out of my thoughts forcing myself into the present, "Okay, so we can figure that out at a later time. I would like to meet her. Beyond the need of her help, I want to connect with her. How can we make that happen?" I ask, flipping through the possibilities and steps I will have to take to make that happen. I can always pop up and say hey, I'm your your sister...

Oberon clears his throat, cutting off my planning, "Mate, do you truly think that is a wise decision? Think about it, if someone, or in your case somebeing,pops up and declares herself your sister how would you initially respond?" I open my mouth and Oberon holds up his hand, shushing me, "if the first thing out of your mouth isn'tstab that female dogthen it is a lie."

I laugh outright at his reluctance to use the word 'bitch' and thought about what he said. Damnit, he is right. And if she is as strong as me, then she could, in theory, hurt me.

"Okay, accurate. So popping up may not be the best idea, but it is not like can send her a letter. It would be like those emails you get from a south african prince who needs to send you a million dollars but you have to give them your bank account information. I would toss that shit right out," I say, cut off by laughter. I'm not that funny... okay thats a lie, I'm hilarious.

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