TWENTY-TWO

I SCRAMBLED TO my feet as Callie straightened.

"That"s not how this works. The one who holds the crown chooses the next ruler. You know that," she said.

It seemed someone had missed the memo that Travis wasn"t the ally he appeared.

I edged away, my gaze darting between the three of them. "I forgot to mention. He"s the reason the crown was lost in the first place."

The battle raged on the other side of the chamber. Liam and Nathan were occupied holding back the rest of the Scattered.

Inara streaked into the room, followed by the twins.

They weren"t the only ones, Arlan stood proud and tall, flinging powerful magic around him with precision. In his hand he held a blade and wielded it with a skill every bit as strong as Liam"s.

From a distance I could hear other fights. What little of the realm had been clawed back from the veil over the centuries had descended into a brawl, the stakes of which would decide everyone"s fate.

There was something I didn't like about the way Callie and Don were looking at Travis, like he was one of them.

He wasn"t.

It was time they realized that.

"I had a chat with the old king. Travis is the reason for all of this. He conspired with the other High Kings to imprison the old king. Brin had no choice but to close the realm to keep it from falling into his hands."

Callie and Don went still, their attention moving between me and Travis.

I held my breath. If they didn"t believe me, it was going to be three against one. Liam and the rest would never make it across the room in time to do anything but watch me die.

"Are you going to believe the daughter of a traitor?" Travis asked, seeing the hesitation on their faces. He seemed disbelieving. Insulted, even.

Callie didn"t speak as she studied the two of us.

Don shifted so he could focus the majority of his attention on Travis. "I would be less inclined to believe her if you didn"t smell of Owen"s magic. Would you care to explain why that is?"

I edged further away from them all.

If I saw a chance, I was making a break for it.

"Travis can shadow walk." Callie"s voice sounded in my ear despite her not standing anywhere close to me. "Be careful."

The tight feeling in my stomach loosened. At least one of them had chosen a side.

"You"re losing sight of what is important." He pointed his sword at the crown. "That is the only thing that matters right now."

"I disagree," Callie said, positioning herself almost protectively in front of me. "There can be no infighting. Attacking another Scattered is one of the worst crimes there is."

Travis shook his head in disbelief. "This is what has always been wrong with this court."

He was no longer pretending to be the charismatic leader. Instinct told me he'd already relegated Callie and Don to acceptable losses.

"The strong eat the weak. That"s how it"s always been," he said.

"Not here," Callie argued.

Shadows moved around Don, gathering around his head, the tentacles that resembled hair multiplying.

Travis"s mask dropped as he realized there was going to be no talking his way out of this. "And that"s why it"s been so easy to deceive you all these centuries."

The crown hummed. The future unfolded before me.

Travis would shadow step. Only he wouldn"t bother with the other two. His only target was me.

I could already feel the burn of the sword as he impaled me with it. The wound would be mortal.

I hovered in that in-between, the future not yet realized even as it was unavoidable. I held no weapon, nor could I run.

The shadow of a bird swept toward me, its dark wings blotting out my vision.

Briefly, I imagined it helping me. That it would stop the future I felt rushing toward me, unable to get out of the way of.

Why can"t it?

A good question. Why had I assumed it couldn"t?

He and the others are the guardians of the realms for a reason. You only need to ask, granddaughter of the king.

"Please," I whispered.

Time snapped into existence. Don"s shadows shot toward Travis.

My former captain wrapped himself in a veil of night, disappearing only to appear in front of me in the next second.

Over his shoulder, the bird descended, shadows from the ceiling flying toward it. The bird"s shape morphed, a giant dog with tentacles dangling from its chin forming.

Travis started to thrust.

The dog landed, crushing Travis. There was a terrifying snarl and then the dog grabbed Travis"s arm and shook its head hard. There was the crack of bone and a pained scream.

I swept up the sword as power arrowed at the dog.

He yelped and jumped back.

Travis roared as he came to his feet, his magic already gathering for a killing blow. I sank the sword intended to kill me into his stomach.

Shock replaced the rage.

"Oh," he said softly, touching the wound.

His gaze lifted to mine, lost and afraid. Even still, he reached for the crown, smearing blood on it. His grip was weak as he tried and failed to wrestle it to from my grasp.

I let go of the sword as he stumbled back. I could have ripped it free and watched him bleed out faster, but I chose not to. Despite everything, I hadn"t wanted his death.

"I told you to stop. You should have listened."

The blood he"d left behind on the crown soaked into the metal, tinging it red. The fighting around us came to a stop as if the imminent death required witnesses.

Cadell and Niall raced into the room, a swarm of vampires following.

They slowed to a stop as did the rest of those fighting, as if Travis"s wound had called a cease fire—at least temporarily.

Travis sank to his knees, still trying to take the crown. I didn"t move, letting him grasp and pull, all the while knowing his attempts were useless.

His hand fell to his chest as his blood pooled under him.

I tried to feel sadness for this man I"d once thought was friend, but all I felt was numb. He deserved this fate even if I hadn"t wanted to be the one who gave it him.

A choked whisper came from him.

I knelt down at his side.

"It"s mine. It was always supposed to be mine," he said haltingly.

I shook my head. "It was never yours. Maybe if you"d realized that sooner, you could have found an alternate path."

He hadn"t and this was the result.

I straightened.

Callie and Don stared at their former friend with complicated expressions. He would have killed them without an ounce of remorse and yet they regretted his passing.

Damn. I"d really hoped I wouldn"t feel any connection with them.

I knew those feelings: the rage and sorrow, grief and anger. All wrapped into a knotted ball of emotion.

You remembered the good times even as you realized it was nothing but a lie.

Until this moment, a part of me had believed I wouldn"t have to choose. I could have let the realm fall as my father had before me.

Standing here in the face of their confusion and hurt, I knew I couldn"t do that.

Other Scattered crept closer. They were a pitiful lot, many nothing but skin and bones. Others had haunted eyes I knew I"d see in my nightmares.

The former bird galloped up to me, sitting at my feet as it gave me a look of doggy devotion.

I didn"t know if it had chosen its current form or if it had taken it from my imagination, but this incarnation looked like a big black dog. It had a wide snout, almost like a hippopotamus's and there were wrinkles around its face. Tentacles extended from its jaw. Dark eyes stared out of the folds with the same intelligence I"d seen in the tentacle beast. Its body was powerful and strong.

Whispers at the sight swept the room.

Callie and Don stared at my new doggy buddy with awe.

"Alches," Don said with reverence.

Seeing my questioning look, Callie responded, "Alches was the old king"s personal hound and protector. We haven"t seen him since the realm fell."

And here I was thinking the dog was one of the guardian hounds Astrid had mentioned.

His head tilted and his tongue fell out the side of his mouth as if to say, how can you be suspicious of me when I"m this cute?

Unfortunately for him, he was more terrifying than cute. Travis"s body had long tears in the arm and gouges in the chest that hadn"t come from my sword.

Blood still mixed with the dog"s slobber.

Abruptly, power shut its jaws around me, clamping me in an inescapable hold and reminding me of my duties.

Like I could forget.

Those watching murmured to themselves, their gaze's hopeful. That hope stung, reminding me that I had considered abandoning them.

No more.

It was time to finish this.

Power filled me, my hair lifting and my pale skin glowing.

I didn"t remember moving until I was in front of a strange Fae with eyes as red as blood. The same ability that had allowed me to glimpse Callie and the rest"s future told me this Fae wouldn"t work either.

Nor did the next, or the one after that.

The faces of the Scattered passed in a blur. Later, I didn"t think I"d be able to recall more than bits and pieces. I moved through the crowd, the power tugging me along.

Searching. Hoping.

There was something specific I was looking for, yet with each new Fae I came up short.

Of those present only Callie and Don held the potential to possess the crown. The rest were too weak.

I came to Astrid and hesitated. She might work.

She would be a blood thirsty queen, but the realm would survive.

Seconds later, I moved on. I could do better.

I stopped in front of Liam, swaying toward him. My lover looked like he"d had a fine time. His face was coated in blood and his eyes gleamed.

His future started to unfold before me. I looked away so I didn"t see. Some things needed to be a surprise.

I was selfish enough to know I wouldn"t give him to this realm. Not for anything.

A deep chuckle sounded in my mind.

Next, I passed Arlan. He tipped an invisible hat to me as I paused.

Now, there was a strong possibility. He wasn"t one of the Scattered but nothing said he had to be.

He had the power. It crouched in his middle behind diamond hard shields meant to protect it from people like me. What I"d seen before was only a taste.

He'd bring change and new beginnings to the world.

As I considered his worthiness, the twins drew close, their postures protective. Love moved between the three of them.

Their past came to me. Two boys in a dank cell, each taking turns protecting the other against the cruel adults who tormented them.

Baran and Breanden had been born after the fall of the realm, but they were still marked with its sigil. Their lives had been harsh and brutal until Arlan found and protected them. He was the one to seal their marks so no one would know what they were.

They weren"t the only lost souls he"d hid.

I could take Arlan, make him king, but he had another fate that was just as important.

My gaze moved on to the next Fae.

Eyes a soft brown, the shade of the land after weeks of rain. Ash blond hair fell over his forehead. Today, Niall was clad in silver armor, prepared for war. Cadell a step behind him.

I smiled. Niall was what I"d been looking for.

Power glowed in him, protected and shielded like Arlan"s so none would know how strong he was. It glowed like a banked fire, but I knew under the right circumstances it would blaze like a wild fire.

Choose. Choose. Choose.

Pressure built. The crown would no longer be denied. If I didn't choose, the crown would consume me.

My hand lifted almost of its own accord, both men pulling at me.

An indrawn breath from the crowd I had drawn warned me this moment would likely be retold and remembered again and again in the coming years.

The crown shone like a beacon.

Two possibilities. Two outcomes.

Both held potential. Both could end in disaster if they made the wrong choices in their lives.

I held the crown up between us.

"I had a feeling it would come to this." Arlan said, ever amused. His eyes met mine. "I think I will sit this choosing out."

He stepped back.

The magic squeezed me.

"Do you accept?" I asked in a voice that wasn"t mine. It was too deep, too masculine. The king had kept his promise, even if it wasn't in the way I intended. In this moment, I was his avatar, his shadows of night and twilight spilling from my shoulders like a mantle.

Niall hesitated. He and Cadell shared a look. Cadell"s shoulders lifted, telling Niall this was his choice.

Niall"s shoulders squared. "I do."

I set the crown on his head. Flames of shadow crawled around his head. Like a rubber band snapping into place, the power of the realm shifted.

Then it was lights out.

*

I woke to the king sitting at the edge of my bed, the edges of his form curling and fluttering as if they were no more substantial than smoke. He was focused on petting Alches where the monster dog rested his head on the king"s lap. Alches's eyes were closed as the King ran his fingers over his ears and forehead.

"Interesting choice, granddaughter."

I didn"t get out more than an inarticulate grumble. My body hurt. Every muscle in it felt like I"d worked hard in the gym. Past muscle failure to a place where only pain lived.

"Side effect of the crown"s power. It"ll take a few days to recover, but then you'll be better than new."

I relaxed into the bed.

Eyes of black fire met mine. "Your new king has his work cut out for him."

Alarm filled me as I realized I"d forgotten to warn them about the army waiting to descend when Travis got the crown.

"Funny thing about the old paths into the realm. They all burned away when the new king was crowned." The old king"s smile was filled with a dark humor. "Anyone who tried to use them was ripped apart in the attempt."

The king patted Alches.

"It seems my old enemies took a few losses," he said, sounding light hearted.

That hadn"t been my intent when I'd made my choice, and a small portion of regret tried to attach itself to my heart.

He caressed my hand, his touch as cold as ice. "Don"t feel too guilty. You probably saved them from a much more torturous fate. Had they breached my realm, my little pets would have gorged themselves on their flesh. Some of them can be quite sadistic."

Was it weird that my Fae grandfather was trying to console me by pointing out they"d likely had an easier death because of my actions?

I wasn"t sure. This whole encounter felt more surreal than the one in his realm.

"When you see my son, tell him I wouldn"t mind a visit in the future." He hesitated. "But perhaps not for a small spell. That crown is a bit contrary. It"d be best if it bonded with the king before we tempt it with another."

My grandfather stood to go.

Alches lifted his head but didn"t move otherwise, seemingly content to stay where he was.

Wait, I tried to say, the word not quite making it out of my mouth.

Turns out speaking wasn't necessary as my grandfather paused to look questioningly at me.

What about Alches? Shouldn"t he take the dog monster with him?

My grandfather"s expression lightened with amusement. "I think he'll stay with you. Evidently, he now sees you as his new master. Your need was what called him back from the shadows where he was sleeping, after all."

My grandfather walked into the dark shadows in the corner of my room before I could gather myself to argue.

Seconds later, my eyelids grew heavy again and I dropped back into sleep, not knowing if the last few moments had been a weird waking dream or not.

*

The next time I opened my eyes the room was shrouded in soft darkness and my head pounded the way it sometimes did when I had slept too long. Unlike the last time I thought I remembered waking, my muscles only contained a slight soreness.

"You"re awake—finally," Thomas said from a chair next to my bed.

A lamp clicked on.

Thomas was dressed casually in jeans and a comfortable looking long-sleeved t-shirt. In this environment, he seemed younger and less like the manipulative master of the city.

Beside him on the floor, Alches opened one eye, his tail thumping a greeting before he closed his eye again.

Thomas glanced to where I was staring. "Do you see something?"

"Just a shadow."

Alches yawned and rolled onto his side, stretching.

"How"s Connor?" I asked, Thomas"s presence reminding me of something very important.

"He"s fine," Thomas said with a glance at my door. "His pride is hurt, and he has refused to leave his post at your door since we brought you here, but he"ll survive. Your medusa was kind enough to inject him with a sedative that had no lasting effects."

A harsh breath left me as relief flooded me.

With everything that had happened, I hadn"t been able to let myself dwell on his fate. Somehow, the bastard had wormed his way under my guard. If he"d died, it was a wound I wouldn't have recovered from for a long time.

"That"s good," I said.

Thomas"s lips quirked. "Indeed. I think so as well."

I went still, glancing at my sire out of the corner of my eye. It occurred to me that he might not be entirely happy with me dragging Connor into such a dangerous situation.

Picking up on my tension, Alches lifted his head.

"Don"t look at me that way," Thomas said in a chiding voice. "Connor is his own man. Much as I"d like him to be safe, I know he'll make his own decisions. I will never blame you for them."

I watched him carefully, deciding whether I should believe him or not. This was a surprisingly evolved outlook. Or maybe I had never really understood Thomas in the first place.

"You need to check my apartment. There was a woman there that night. I don't know if I stopped the petrification process in time or not, but either way she could be a problem," I started.

"Connor already warned me," Thomas said, stopping me. "She was gone by the time he woke, so I'm going to assume she's still alive. I have my people looking for her already. She is proving surprisingly resourceful at evading us, but we'll find her and deal with her."

I had a feeling the way he dealt with her would be of a permanent nature. In the past, I would have protested under principal. Human life should be protected, I would have argued.

This time, I found myself remaining silent, unable to voice those objections. Pelt was a loose cannon. I'd seen her eyes when she shot me, an unarmed woman. She thought she was doing what was right. Someone like that would have no problem hunting others of our kind and killing them based simply on the fact we were other.

I didn't want her dead for the same reasons I'd stopped the medusa, but if Thomas couldn't compel her, there'd be no other choice.

I didn't know if something had changed in me when I held the crown, or if it was the recent betrayal by Travis, but I had no intention of arguing with Thomas about this course.

"I thought you compelled everyone involved. How did you miss her?" I asked.

"I'd like to know that myself." There was a grimness to Thomas's voice that said when he found the answer, there would be a reckoning.

I couldn't help but be grateful his resolve wasn't pointed in my direction for once.

Thomas set aside the book he'd been reading. "You"re probably wondering why neither Liam or I answered your call that night."

I blinked at the sudden change of subject.

It had never really occurred to me. I figured they"d been busy dealing with their own stuff. Even if either of them had answered, they never would have made it to me on time.

Guilt and regret were strange emotions to see on a man I"d always been determined to paint as the villain. "We didn"t realize we"d stumbled into a Fae maze until too late. Evidently, the medusa anticipated we"d follow her and set a trap to get us out of the way."

A Fae maze was a little pocket of time and space that looped in on itself. They were difficult to escape once you blundered into them since every path you took doubled in on itself. Decades could pass before you found your way out.

"When we escaped and realized you"d been taken, we went to Arlan." Thomas"s lips quirked.

I didn"t have to ask how that meeting had gone. I was willing to bet there"d been a surplus of yelling and pounding on chests before they realized they were all on the same side.

"It wasn"t until Arlan learned the twins had been kidnapped that we decided to set aside our differences," he said.

"How did Cadell and Niall get involved?" I asked.

Thomas"s expression was wry. "Your roommates. They found them when we couldn"t. Evidently, the two are skilled at finding portals. They"re the only reason we were able to find the realm where you were taken."

That matched what little Inara had let slip.

"Nathan and Makoto were transported to an oubliette by your friend with the umbrella. It"s a frequent dungeon of sorts he uses when he doesn"t want to kill his prey," Thomas admitted. "Liam finished freeing them and sent Nathan to find you and act as a decoy."

So that was how he came to be wandering the halls by himself while dragging a sword.

"I"m surprised you"re not more upset at me." I let my head sink into my pillow, already tired.

He arched an eyebrow. "Upset? I should be paying you. We now have alliances with the lord of the barrow and a newly crowned King of a realm. I"ve just become the most powerful master on this continent."

A soft sound of amusement left me. Of course, Thomas would have already figured out a way to turn this to his advantage.

"I wouldn"t argue if you threw a couple of bucks my way." This entire situation had sidetracked me for the last few days. I"d survive but I could have used the money from jobs I would have done under normal circumstances.

"We"ll see what we can arrange," Thomas said standing. He hesitated in the act of reaching for the door. "You should consider getting a bigger place, now that you"re head of a house. I have several lovely properties you could choose from."

Once a manipulative vampire, always a manipulative vampire.

I glared. "I"m happy where I am."

His smile warmed his eyes. "Just a thought for when you"re ready."

He could keep those thoughts to himself. I"d never be ready. I wasn't moving out of my apartment anytime soon.

He opened the door. Connor glanced inside, his expression wry as if to say what are you supposed to do. I shook my head and rolled my eyes up to the ceiling, gratified when Connor hid his smile.

The door shut again, leaving me in peace.

*

Days later I woke up wrapped around Liam. He had one arm folded behind his head as he stared up at the ceiling.

I shifted closer. "Those look like some serious thoughts you"re contemplating."

He let out a masculine sound, not looking away from the ceiling.

I pressed a kiss into the side of his chest. "Would you like to share?"

"I almost lost you."

That had me lifting so I could see his face better. "That"s a grim observation."

"But true." His eyes seared mine. "Or am I wrong?"

I looked away.

His fingers touched my chin. "How close was it?"

I couldn"t hide the answer in my eyes. Closer than I wanted to admit. If I hadn"t found Niall and Arlen, if I hadn"t chosen, the crown would have burned me to cinders.

There were probably mere seconds between my death and my choosing.

He nodded slowly. "That"s what I thought."

I put my head down on his chest.

"Why Niall?"

"He was the only one with the potential to resist its darkness." Even as I said it, I felt the lie in my words.

There had been two others who would have worked.

Arlan—and Liam.

He seemed to sense what I wasn"t saying, his big body relaxing under mine. His arms closed around me and he rolled so he was on top. He looked down at me like I was a treasure he intended to cherish. His smile was slow.

"You made me a few promises while I was drunk," he drawled. "I intend to collect."

His mouth descended, burning a path down my neck as his hands moved my shirt up.

I moved against him, liking where his mind was going. "You definitely should."

Warmth heated my skin as he dragged his fingertips along my body.

"I think I should also pay for stealing your sword," he said playfully.

I nodded. "I think so too."

Hours later, after we"d worn ourselves out, while we lay there sated and replete, Liam"s arms closed around me.

"Thank you for not choosing me," he whispered.

I nudged him. "Don't worry; I"m a selfish bitch. I had no intention of sharing you with an entire realm."

His lips curved against my skin. "I"ll consider myself warned."

*

A week after the events in Noctessa, I drove toward my apartment in my fully restored car. While I"d been out to the world, Liam had it fixed. That"s what he claimed anyway. A part of me didn"t believe him.

No mechanic worth his salt would have recommended fixing a car where the frame had been that bent. Something told me Gwyneth had gone to a grave in the scrapyard and this was Gwyneth 2.0.

I figured as long as my suspicions weren"t confirmed, I didn"t have to protest the money he'd spent on me. We were both pretending, but that was alright.

I"d learned sometimes being stubborn wasn"t worth it. I was willing to accept the car and not look too hard at everything else.

Besides, I was in much too good a mood to spoil with an argument I wouldn"t win anyway.

Today, I was going home for the first time in almost two weeks. It was going to be glorious. There was going to be solitude and lazing around in my pajamas for the entire night. Maybe a couple Netflix marathons too.

For that reason, I'd sent Alches to check on Niall and his realm. Surprisingly, he'd gone.

I pulled onto my street, frowning as I caught smoke billowing into the air. Was one of my neighbors barbecuing?

That was unusual. Most of them didn"t have backyards conducive to grilling.

Immediately after that thought, I caught a glimpse of my apartment, flames curling out the windows as smoke poured into the sky.

I screeched to a halt in the parking lot, staring at the sight in dismay. I sat frozen as I watched the fire destroy my place.

A thought galvanized me.

Inara and Lowen. They were due back from a visit with Niall and his realm today or tomorrow. It was possible they were still in there.

I shoved out of the car, racing toward my stairs, already screaming their names.

A sharp crack and then an explosive force hit me in the back. I crashed into the wall, my lungs suddenly not working right.

Blood smeared the brick as my legs went limp. I sat, struggling to breathe through the pressure in my chest as my gaze locked on the woman approaching me, her gun drawn.

It occurred to me now, when it was much too late, that Pelt had never been taken care of. That perhaps sending Alches away so I could have some alone time on my first night home was not my best idea ever.

Pelt lifted her gun so I could see. "Silver nitrate. The others told me it was much more effective against your kind than normal bullets."

"Hun-ter," I managed to studder.

Pelt's expression was ice cold. "Thanks to you. I didn't believe them when they first approached me. Then I met you and nearly got turned into a statute."

Not my fault, I wanted to say. An impossibility since I could barely speak.

Already, I felt the poison of the silver spreading through my veins. It was killing me.

This gunshot wound hurt so much worse than the last one.

"Lucky for me, they've dealt with your kind of evil before. They managed to reverse whatever that woman did to me." Pelt's lips twisted. "The process was a bit excruciating, but beggars can't be choosers. Better alive than dead, I guess."

Her emotions pressed in on me. A tangle of darkness and cruelty threaded throughout. I'd misjudged her before. She wasn't an innocent who got caught in the wrong place at the wrong time. She wasn't exposed to my world by mistake. She'd gone looking for it, intent on rooting out anyone different than herself.

She got off on power, intent on causing others pain and suffering and never once feeling an ounce of guilt. It'd probably started off small, but then it grew until it was stamped into her very soul.

That's what I got for interfering. Should have let the medusa finish the job.

"Once you're dead, I'll have passed the initiation process. Then I'll go after the rest of your friends. Every monster you came into contact with over the last few nights."

Emotion finally touched Pelt's face, her smile blissful, the thought of murdering a bunch of people giving her intense pleasure.

And she called me the monster.

"I confess I didn't think it'd take so long for you to turn up. I'd just about given up on you coming. I thought if I set fire to the apartment, it would draw you out. Looks like it worked."

I struggled to get up, knowing if I continued to lie there, she would execute me. My body refused. No amount of willpower could make my limbs work properly. I was a sitting duck. Defenseless.

Pelt aimed her gun at me.

For the first time, I noticed a mark on the back of her hand between her thumb and pointer feeling. A bow with an arrow nocked—the mark of the hunter.

That was new. I would have clocked it if she'd had it during any of our other encounters.

"Time to die, monster."

Hands appeared on either side of her face. With one quick movement, the person wrenched her head around. Pelt"s neck broke and she fell to the ground like a doll with its strings cut.

A stranger stood over her.

A few inches taller than me. His hair brown with a reddish tint in it, just like mine. Eyes the same shape and color as mine looked me over as I gasped, trying to draw breath through damaged lungs.

"Daughter," Bryan Volsk said in greeting.

My gaze moved from him to the dead body at his feet. My mouth moved, struggling to form words.

He walked toward me, crouching beside me.

Pain raced through me as he dug one finger into my wound.

The fire from the silver nitrate and the constriction around my lungs eased. He withdrew, tiny balls of silver clinging lovingly to his fingertip. Suddenly, I could breathe normally again. The pain was still there, but nowhere near as excruciating as it had been before.

"Why did you do that?" I asked.

"Would you rather I let her kill you?"

Definitely not.

On the other hand, I never expected our first meeting to happen over a dead body. It was a tad disconcerting.

I looked up at my still burning apartment and tried to rise. I didn"t make it. He"d healed my lungs but left most of the damage from the wound.

"The pixies aren"t in there," he said without looking away from me.

I let myself relax, grateful for the reassurance.

"I assume you have questions."

So very many.

Somehow, I got the feeling he didn"t intend to stick around long enough to answer all of them.

"Why did you leave us?" I asked.

Eyes that looked like they had seen the birth and death of entire worlds focused on me. "You seem to be laboring under the assumption I loved your mother. I didn"t. She was narrow minded—incapable and utterly unwilling of seeing the world as it was. You were the result of a passing fling."

I didn"t blink, taking the sting from those words and burying them deep.

Little girl me cried at the cruel words. She wanted to believe she was the product of a deep and abiding love.

Adult me understood that how I came to be was less important than the fact I was here.

He"d done my mother a favor not sticking around, making way for my stepfather to be part of our lives. My life would have been poorer if my stepfather hadn"t been part of it. To say nothing of the fact Jenna wouldn"t have been born without him.

My biological father"s eyes warmed. "I didn"t love your mother, but I can't say the same about you."

My heart stopped, then started beating again.

"Beings as powerful as me can"t go unnoticed for long. Had I remained, I would have drawn the others to you many years before you were ready. I could protect myself." He glanced at Pelt's body as if to say ‘you still can't'.

I didn"t blink as I listened to him.

Grief touched his face and was gone in the next instant. "Thank you for doing what I couldn"t."

It was strange being thanked by a person I"d never met, yet wanted a connection with so bad I could taste it.

He rose.

"Wait," I said before I could think.

His features were coldly impatient, but he paused anyway.

"Your father invites you to visit," I forced out.

He looked away and I thought I caught something of relief in his posture.

"Though, he says to give it some time so the crown doesn"t revert from its new master."

One side of his mouth quirked. "You"re more than I ever hoped you would be. Until next time, daughter."

This time when he walked away, I didn"t try to stop him.

I pulled myself upright as he disappeared into the shadows at the corner of the building.

As fathers go, he wasn"t going to win any awards. On the other hand, he had saved my life. That had to count for something.

I reached into my pocket and pulled out my phone. I hit the button and held it to my ear.

"Connor, ready for you first job? There"s a tiny situation I need you to help me clean up."

The call finished, I let my head thud against the brick as I stared at the flames above me. Looked like Thomas was going to get his wish of helping me find a new place after all.