Page 35 of Secret Origins
But it was worth it.
22
“You need to start being smarter.”
Forcing one eye open, I tried to figure out what I was looking at. Ancient eyes peered down at me from a young face. Flicking a glance, I realized I was back in the empty room where I met the creature who showed me my lost memories. I also noticed I wasn’t in pain, which was always a good thing. Lifting on an elbow and a lot of blinking later, I brought the young girl into focus.
“Am I dead? Is that why I’m here?”
“Ridiculous.” Huffing, she plopped on the blood-red floor next to me, curling her knees up and wrapping her bony arms around them. “It’ll take more than a few broken bones to kill the daughter of Érenn and Delbáeth. Not to say that you can’t be permanently out of commission. In which case, they will find a way to remove the crown and then you can be killed.”
As a reaction to her words, my hand was already up, my fingers brushing the circlet still sitting on top of my head. The weight of it was not as heavy here as in the human realm, so I had forgotten it was even there until she mentioned it. Back where the cow was probably grinding my bones at the moment, I felt its presence as if I was wearing a hat the whole time. Slight pressure that would give me a headache with prolonged use type of thing.
“Can I go back now?” It wasn’t like I was looking forward to being in pain, but I didn’t want Fenrir to end up hurt, or Fates forbid dead. Could he die at the hands of the cow? “I was kind of in the middle of something. You know, getting beaten up.”
“I didn’t call you here.” The creature was eyeing me as if I’d sprouted a second head. “Nonetheless, it is good that you came. I forgot to tell you a few things about your origins. Why they were a secret.”
“We can chat another time. When I’m not about to be turned into pulp. Scouts honor.” I even lifted my hand like a good girl, which only made her glare at me.
“The Unseelie royal will keep you alive at the cost of his own life. You have time.” She shook her head, her golden hair bouncing around her shoulders as a small smile played on her thin lips. “So much like your father, that one.”
“If he gets hurt, I’ll rip your throat out.” I threatened through clenched teeth. “Repeating it for eternity if I have to.”
“Let us not waste time then.” I didn’t like the look on her face. It was like she knew something I didn’t, and it set my teeth on edge.
“Speak and get it over and done with,” I prompted her by twirling a hand in her face. “I have places to be, people to kill.”
“After your mother joined your father in the afterlife, Danu took the child and raised it as her own.” Her voice got a faraway quality, which made me squirm. This looked like it might take a while. “You see, Danu wanted to get her favorite daughter back. She lost Érenn due to her own stubbornness and arrogance. With the child, she can redo things, change history.”
“I was the only child.” That much I knew for certain, and I knew it deep in my bones.
“Danu knew that, too. Until your powers started flaring up and brought her attention to you.” She wiggled a finger at me. “I left you with the Daywalkers in Sienna for that purpose. Their wards, along with the Old one keeping it standing with his life, were enough to hide you from her notice.”
“Soren? You let that nut case hide me? No one can keep him awake long enough to have a full conversation with the Dragon Blood. Well until Francesca. She got his ass into gear alright.” I snickered at the picture in my mind.
“I could’ve sworn as long as you were in Sienna, Danu would never know about you. In that I have failed.” She looked so remorseful that my mouth opened, and I was spilling my guts in no time.
“Umm, about that.” More squirming was involved at this point. “I left Sienna decades ago.”
“You what?” She was on her feet, her voice coming from all sides and nowhere all at once, and it was loud enough to burst my ear drums.
“Hey!” I jumped up, too, glaring at her. “Don’t you scream at me. I had no idea who or what I was, and they were poking through my head. What the fuck did you expect me to do? I had enough nightmares to know all too well I didn’t want to remember anything. So, fuck you and your fucking plans. How about that?”
The vast room rocked on its foundation, forcing both of us to stumble. My arms shot to the sides as I tried to balance on my heels, while the creature stood there with daggers shooting from her eyes. Not a hair moved on her head. It was as if she had somehow defied gravity. Stupid creatures, and stupid Faerie realm.
“Well, what is done is done,” she said on a sigh after our staring match. “Now that Danu found out about you, she believes that there were two of you. The child she raised follows her orders to the T. She is the perfect daughter, the one she always wanted. You, on the other hand”--Her head tilted to the side in that bird-like manner, and the movement prickled my skin—“are a wild card. Someone she has no control over. And when you come across an obstacle that can mess up your plans and all your hard work, you remove it.”
“Great. She’ll have a hard time removing this speedbump.” I pushed the words through clenched teeth, still pissed off that she yelled at me. “I have no intention of being easy prey. Danu might eventually kill me, but she’ll have a hell of a time until I kick the bucket. I can promise you that much.” Rubbing a hand over my face, I groaned. “Talk about family drama.”
“All is not lost.” The creature was trying to placate me, which irritated me more. “I made a plan after we saw each other last.”
“We only saw each other once,” I pointed out.
“That’s what you think.”
“Let me hear your plan so I can go back and ignore it.” Getting tired of it all, I kept my eyes closed. I knew I’d be looking over my shoulder after her comment to make sure she wasn’t stalking me. Look at me, raising up in life.
First a crown, now a stalker.
