Page 41 of The Rowan's Stone
“Well, when the mountain won’t come to you…” she begins, but when she sees my eyes, she freaks out. “What the hell? You’re Elven? Tell me you’re wearing contacts. I wanted you to be Fae like me,” she wails.
I hold up a hand. “Stop, no mountains.” When she frowns, I explain about the battle and the mountain coming down on Fallon and his men. “It was frightening to watch them all disappear in one fell swoop. I can’t even hear the word without wanting to throw up.”
“You were in battle, in the Underworld, and you didn’t think to call me?” she yells. “What if something had happened to you? I might not have active powers, but I’m sure I could have stolen some from somebody. And I know how to fight, ask Callyx. I’m kind of pissed and jealous right now. It’s a weird combination. Tell me more, and maybe I’ll forgive you.”
I tell her almost everything, including the part about the Primary, although I don’t tell her the Primary is behind my assassination attempts. It’s worth the risk. She seems to have a huge network of people, maybe even some dodgy ones from her past, who might have some knowledge to share.
Her eyes are wide and worried. “I may have someone I can ask,” she offers hesitantly. “She’s dark and will probably try to take advantage of the situation, but she also knows a hell of a lot more than what’s in the history books. Still want me to check with her?”
My gut churns, but I have a feeling only those vested in the outcome are going to know the answers. “Go ahead. Can you tell your friend you overheard the cadre talking about the battle and wondered what Alain meant? I’m sure most of the Underworld has heard about it since I broadcasted Alain and Lucifer’s fight to the entire battlefield. It’s not a secret or anything.”
“Good idea,” she says thoughtfully. “You’re not running off to another battle, are you? If so, you better take me with you.” When she glances at my eyes, she whimpers. “And Elven, seriously?”
Rolling my eyes at her demanding tone, I explain the rest. “Fallon helped unlock my Elven powers when we were training together.” I don’t want to share his new power with anyone. It’s not my secret to tell. “And I’m not going to battle. We found the MacAllisters, and I’m going to go and see what I can dig up. Hopefully, there’s a paper or something I can show to Caro to prove my heritage. If not, I’ll have to fight for her seat on the council,” I reply. “But the best part is I get to see Valerian’s home, since it’s in the Kingdom of Dragons.”
She trails a hand on the edge of the bag. “That’s wonderful! I hope you find the proof you need. But if you find something, promise me you’ll get Theron to video Caro’s expression when you show it to her. Deal?”
I laugh. “Maybe.” Looking around, I realize almost everything’s in the bag.
She twirls her finger in the air. “Now, let’s get back to the moment when Daire sprouted wings and saved you. I think that’s the best part of the whole damn thing. Who knew the First Vampire had wings? And silky black ones too. I bet it shocked everyone.”
I hold up a finger. “One second, I’ve got to get my makeup and armor.” Moving into the bathroom, I grab my toiletries and the Fae armor I handwashed and hung on the rod earlier in the week.
When I come back in the bedroom, I see Meri snapping pictures of the parchment and my mother’s letter. Frowning, I quietly step back into the bathroom. Standing still, my mind races. Why would she want a picture of those items? I’m not worried about the parchment, since it’s blank, but I try to remember what I told her about my mother’s letter. Not everything, I’m sure.
“Did you get lost in there? Fall in the toilet? Portal out to another battle and leave me here?” She throws question after question at me.
I step out of the bathroom. “Sorry, I couldn’t find my extra bottle of shampoo.” Stuffing the toiletries into the bag, I turn to her. “Everything’s okay with you, right? You know if you need anything, you can come to me.”
“Promise?” she says, a tinge of desperation in her voice, then laughs and waves it off.
“I promise,” I reply.
It’s getting late, so I close up the bag and give her a hug goodbye. My gut says she’s in trouble, but I can’t help her if she won’t ask for it.
Lying in bed later, I pick up the phone and complete my nightly ritual of sending a text to Astor.Theron says you’re late all the time.He’ll probably laugh at this one since he’s on time almost as obsessively as Theron. I wonder if the lies are working.
24
ARDEN
Early the next morning, I head down to the lobby in zombie mode again, where Theron is already waiting, of course. I drop my bag at his feet and keep strolling. I’m not going anywhere until I get coffee and breakfast. I hear him call my name, but I refuse to answer. My phone says I have five minutes, and I need every single one of them.
When I walk back to the lobby four and a half minutes later, Fallon’s standing with Theron. “Thirty seconds to spare,” I report cheerfully. Taking a sip of my coffee, I let out an appreciative moan. “Well, let’s go.”
Fallon grins and shakes his head at my antics. “One day, you’re going to push him too far.” He pulls me into his side and picks up my bag. “Theron’s going first. You’re going through with me, just in case someone’s waiting for us.”
I wink at Theron, feeling confident this morning after our talk yesterday. He huffs and steps into the portal. A second later, a ping sounds on Fallon’s phone. “All right” —he grabs my hand— “we’re up.”
On the other side, I’m surprised to see several people waiting for us. Besides Theron, Daire, Astor, and Valerian, a couple of large men, likely dragons, also stand nearby. They seem young by dragon standards but it’s hard to tell, and they’re dressed casually. I skip over them for now and focus on the grey-haired woman with piercing blue eyes, standing regally beside them. This must be the elder dragon. It’s always such a shock to see a supernatural with grey hair, because it means they are positively ancient. Too bad it’s not polite to ask. She’s the oldest supernatural I’ve ever seen in person.
The atmosphere is tense while she stands there studying me. Instead of giving my usual polite smile, I bow my head in deference to her status and keep my face serious. I want her to know how much this search means to me. It’s not a lark. “Hello, I’m Arden. Thank you for taking the time out of your day to show us the way. Heritage is important, and when it’s hidden from you, it becomes more precious than gold. I’m here to find out who I am.”
Her eyes glint with appreciation. “Fine manners for a witch. And you’re right—heritage is important. Yours more than most. I’m Glynnis. Agnes told me you would show up one day. I was starting to wonder if she’d lost her marbles, but I guess I’ll have to apologize to my old friend when I see her.” She cackles and taps the two men on the arms. “She’s not going to attack me. Go stand on the hill or something.” As if waiting for her signal, their eyes flicker from her to me to Valerian, then they leave to stand on a nearby hill.
Raising my eyebrows, I shoot her a mischievous smile. “You must teach me that trick. I usually have to resort to violence to make stubborn dragons listen.” I wink at Valerian, and instead of laughing, he tenses.Right, I forgot, we barely know each other.I want to roll my eyes. If it had been me, I’d have told the dragons we were mates. Hiding it only makes it worse, like it’s wrong. I prefer to believe and trust in the Fates. They know a hell of a lot more than I do.
She gives a hearty laugh. “I can only imagine. Been like that since he was a boy. Come along. We’ve got a fair hike in front of us.”
