Page 30 of Kiss of Fire

“But you’re fae too, aren’t you? Isn’t he your boss?”

“Technically. But I prefer to stay as far away from him as possible.”

“He’s the one you tried to warn me about, isn’t he?”

Magda hesitated, then spoke in a rush.

“Shade doesn’t want me telling you this in case it scares you off. But Aelfric had a thing for your mother. He tried to woo her and she was flattered. But in the end she rejected him. He was the reason she left when she found out she was pregnant by a human. She was convinced he’d find a way to harm you.”

Raya rocked backwards as she tried to take it all in.

“But he’s still there. What if he’s holding a grudge”

“I’m sure he is. But it’s one thing threatening an unborn child. It’s quite another to threaten the daughter of the head of a respected clan. Especially if she has her mother’s powers.”

“But I don’t, do I?” Raya hunched her shoulders. “I bet my mother can throw fireballs or shoot heat-rays from her eyes, or something. I can’t do anything like that.”

“Not sure about heat-rays. Fireballs, yes. She was notorious for them. But power is relative. Shade doesn’t need you to take down an army. He just needs you to bring the Vulcani to his side.”

“And how the hell am I supposed to do that?” Raya dragged a hand through her hair and started twisting the end of it. “They’re not going to believe I’m Aelah’s daughter.Ican barely believe I’m her daughter.”

“Then maybe you’d better look at these,” Magda said quietly.

She got up and went to a chest in the corner of the room. Delving into the dark recesses, she pulled out a battered photo album and placed it in Raya’s hands.

“Your mother sent me these after you were born. Just before she gave you up for adoption. Shade doesn’t know I have them and I’d really rather you didn’t tell him. I’m not sure my ear drums can withstand that roar of his.”

With shaking hands, Raya opened the thick pages. And for the first time in her life, she laid eyes on her mother.

She had tried to picture her mother so many times. Sometimes she was tall and regal, other times she was short and cheerful. But always she had long black hair and dark eyes, like her own. The truth was rather different.

Aelah stared into the camera with the ferocity of a she-wolf. Her hair was a deep copper red, short and spiky, barely covering the tips of her ears which Raya saw with a shock were gracefully pointed. Her skin was coffee and cream, warm and silky. And her eyes were a deep marmalade, the colour of a banked ember ready to leap into flame.

Raya stared at the picture and felt no connection at all.

“She doesn’t look like me,” she said in a small voice.

“She doesn’t need to. Look at how she’s holding you.” Magda gently turned the pages so Raya could see. “Look at how she cradles you as if you are the most precious thing in the world. Look at her face. She would fight to the death to protect you. You’re hers. Her blood is your blood. She even gave you that strand of hair colour in amongst your own. Trust me, child. She loved you.”

“So why did she leave me? Where is she now?”

“I cannot say. Somewhere Aelfric can’t reach.”

Raya swallowed down the lump in her throat. She leafed through the rest of the pictures, committing them to memory.

“Are there any of my father?” she asked. Magda shook her head.

“Aelah had to protect him as well. If Aelfric knew who he was, he’d send a shaitun to kill him.”

“Shaitun?”

“Type of demon. Sneaky buggers. They can slip into people’s heads for a while. Know what they know. See what they see. It’s hard to hide from a shaitun once they start tracking you.”

Raya bit her lip. In her mind’s eye, she saw the sly faces peering out from behind the eyes of staff at the hospital. The Mary-thing. And before that, the thing that had watched her from inside Nurse Phillips.

In a way, it was a relief. She wasn’t mad. She had been right.

“Can I keep this?” she asked, pointing to a photo of Aelah.

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