rogue shifter 07 - cut off (35 page)

"The Unseelie Court? Are you treated well there?"

"Oh yes, lord. Father takes good care of me."

"Your father is unseelie?" I asked.

"He is the Goblin King." Her look of surprise that we hadn't known this little fact was nothing compared to my gasp of outright shock.

Father gave Fionna a stern look then turned to stroke Zerian's lovely face. "You may live wherever you wish from now on, although I would be most unhappy if you did not return on occasion to visit me here."

She smiled widely. "Thank you, Grandsire. I promise that I will come to visit you whenever I visit with Mother."

There were a few beats of silence before he spoke again. "It will not be possible for you to see your mother ever again." Fionna began to weep quietly. "She has done great harm to our people, seelie and unseelie."

Zerian knelt at Fionna's feet taking her hands in her own, as if she were the mother comforting a distraught child. "I love you, Mother. I wish I could have been all that you wanted in a daughter. I wish you well on your journey and will often think fondly of you." She must assume that we were leaving this world and heading off to Tir Na NOg.

"I do love you, Zerian." They embraced one last time before Father sent Zerian off.

I stared at Fionna, still in shock. "The Goblin King? Your own daughter was a mongrel?" The irony was exquisite.

"As is Charles!" she spat out. "At least I mated with a pure-blood king and not a mongrel whore."

The blow sent Fionna spinning across the room, landing in a heap against the far wall. Father had not liked the reference to Jacqueline and neither had I, although I had not been the one to strike her. She wept more loudly now.

"Fionna stand beside your brother." He seemed impatient to get this over with, whatever he had planned.

She didn't move, so I helped her up. We stood in the center of the room like errant school children. The only mercy was that our demise would not take place in front of the entire court.

"I've decided to take the bulk of your magical gifts. Not block them, but take them away permanently. You will be average fae with average gifts, like most of the people you've harmed. You will never have access to this inherited magic again."

"Some of the court fae will seek revenge against us, Father, and we will be too weak to defend ourselves," Fionna choked out, rubbing her cheeks between sobs.

"They will not know it is you."

The pain was horrendous. We writhed on the floor for what seemed like hours, until finally, it ended. A mirror appeared with a snap of Father's fingers. I was now a male of approximately 6 feet, with mouse brown hair and violet eyes. Fionna was perhaps an inch shorter, with darker hair and eyes of a similar shade. Neither of us was particularly fair nor unattractive either.

This was not a shallow glamour. This was a complete and utter physical change, permanent and terrifying.

After giving us a few seconds to recover, Father spoke. "You are to say that you are cousins from the Bavarian Sidhe who have come to help the court recover from the devastation brought on by the former queen and her younger brother. I have arranged for living quarters, so you must pick suitable names. I have given you knowledge of the Bavarian Sidhe so that your story will ring true. However, I have not taken your memories. You will know who you were and how you failed your people.

"It will be spread about court that Fionna and Kennet were dispatched by me in a private ritual, so that their spirits could still journey to Tir Na NOg.

"I will expect you to work hard, as I expect everyone here to work to rebuild the court, myself included. When you are no longer needed for that task, I will expect you both to train for the war to come. You will fight to protect Faerie and its people, as will I. My blood still runs through yours, and I will not see it wasted.

"I will execute you on the spot if you harm an innocent, including half-bloods and demi-fey. You will face the same consequence if you go anywhere near Charles, Jacqueline, Garrett or any of their friends. The same is true of Caelen and his females or any of the fae who reside in Cascade.

"You may tell no one who you are nor leave the boundaries of court.

"If either of you dabbles in blood magic, I will bring you before the court and burn you alive. Do you understand?"

At the last, he had looked directly at me. I nodded. Fionna spoke, "My daughter..." I was shocked to hear a stranger's voice, although my father was nothing if not thorough.

"Zerian is out of your life forever. You will be found out if you are seen with her."

Fionna clutched at her middle, desperation in her eyes. I had no idea she had strong feelings for her child. How odd to think of my sister as a caring mother. This punishment would be harder on her than myself, although a small part of me had shriveled at the thought of never seeing my son or my mate—no, not my mate. Garrett's mate. Without my mental powers, there was no hope of ever claiming her as mine. Perhaps I had been a fool and there was never any hope. Father told me as much. My one comfort was that Charles would always be my son, my heir. That could never be taken from me.

"Sit," he commanded, and we did, although it felt odd maneuvering my shorter and more solid body into the chair. Father had lost his stern expression, his brow wrinkled perhaps with thoughts of all the work that lay ahead of him.

He indicated both of us with a sweep of his hand. "With this, I have given you another chance to live your lives with honor and purpose. I am not sure you deserve it, many would say you deserve only a painful death, but I could not bring myself to kill you nor to imprison you.

"You may take lovers, perhaps binding with another fae. If you are blessed, you may have children. Children bring purpose to an empty life. Although I can never acknowledge them as my blood, I would enjoy watching them grow. You will live an average life among your peers, an existence most supernatural beings would covet. This is an opportunity to change your fate. Think hard before you throw it away."

I cleared my throat and the stranger I had become asked a question. "May we speak with you from time to time?" The thought of being completely cut off from everyone I knew, was unsettling.

He hesitated before answering. "You are my children. As long as you follow the laws, I will never turn away from you. Send me a message if you need me. We have an open link and I will be watching your progress." He kissed each of us on the forehead and then dissolved, leaving me with a thousand questions and a weeping sister.

Much to my surprise, Fionna threw herself into my arms and sobbed. I couldn't remember her ever touching me before except to strike me in anger. I rubbed her back and stroked her hair the way I had seen others comfort someone, and she began to calm herself.

I had resigned myself to death, yet now was forced to go on living without the magical tools that had made me powerful. I'd been a male to be feared. Now I was...what? This was a punishment I had never imagined, terrifying, yet somehow elegant in its simplicity. Father was indeed a master and deserved to wear the crown.

A second chance. Did I wish to change? Not really. Was I capable? I was not sure. Was there a choice? None at all, unless I chose to end my own life, and that was not an easy feat for a fae. Falling on one's sword would only result in much pain and a long and painful period of recovery. Beheading oneself could be managed, I supposed, but the idea was not appealing. I sighed, a long exhale to mark a new beginning. Each day would bring more questions and hopefully, more answers.

I pushed Fionna away and helped her find a cloth to clean her face. Gone was the power-hungry queen who almost destroyed the Faerie Court. Next to me sat a vulnerable female needing direction. She and I would be forced to work together, at least at the beginning of this journey. That was the worst punishment of all.

"Cousin," I said as soon as I felt she could speak. "We must choose names. Perhaps you could assist me in this?"

"Fuck off, cousin."

And so it begins.

CHAPTER FIFTY-THREE

I was seventeen today. My friends and family were here to celebrate with me, only I wasn't really feeling like a party animal.

Jay, my closest friend, punched my shoulder so hard I'd have a bruise if I didn't use some magic. "Congrats, Char. Welcome to the world of the big players."

"My world hasn't changed," I grumbled. "I stand up to the scariest supernatural dude in Faerie, protect my mom from her arch enemy, who also happens to be my birth father, and then guess what? Nine months later, I'm still treated like I'm twelve."

"It'll get better soon."

"I'm not so sure."

"Don't forget, there's always plan B."

Linn had arrived early as usual, accompanied by her parents. She'd brought me a gift of a hand crafted sword forged of the same magic-infused metal as my dagger. Although it was newly made and not fused with the magic of the Arcane, it was still a formidable weapon, perfectly balanced and sized for my strength and reach. Working with Fin and Brina had added quite a lot of muscle to last year's scrawnier frame. Plus, I'd grown a few more inches.

Linn gave me a quick hug. "Happy Birthday, Charlie." She'd taken to calling me Charlie, maybe hoping it would bring us closer. Linn was smart, fun to hang out with and as beautiful as her mom, but for some reason I couldn't figure out, I wasn't attracted to her the way she was to me. We'd kissed a dozen times, but I'd never felt the urge to go farther. I tried to explain it away however I could, but the fact remained that Linn was my closest female friend and might never be anything more.

Every time I saw the hope in her eyes, I knew I was hurting her. I felt like a world-class asshole, but it wasn't only my fault. She was being stubborn, not listening to me when I tried to explain for the fiftieth time how I felt. I found myself avoiding her whenever possible, which only made her more determined. How did males deal with females like these? Or were all females this stubborn? My mom sure was, and I'd seen my dad practically pull out his hair in frustration over things she'd done.

Linn was waiting for a response. "The sword is amazing, Linn. Thank you." I went through a few moves just to see how it felt in my hand. It must have been made specifically for me.

"You look so handsome wielding it." Her eyes glittered.

I sheathed the weapon and hugged her in a friendly way. "It's perfect." She sighed and continued to lean against me, lifting her face into the perfect position for a kiss, then closing her eyes. I avoided the situation and kissed the top of her head, nudging her gently away from my body. Even though it upset her, I refused to be that asshole guy who'd pretend to like a girl just to get her into bed.

"Linn, why don't you greet your cousin and your friends? I need to discuss something with Charles." She frowned at her dad, then headed toward Grady as Aedus took me aside.

Oh man. I'd known this was coming, but did it have to be on my birthday? Maybe they'd given me the sword so I could defend myself when he came at me. Yeah. I'd last maybe three minutes against Aedus. Eh, maybe four.

"Charles. Happy Birthday. Thank you for inviting us." He was acting friendly but I didn't believe he'd stay that way once he found out the truth.

"Thank you, Lord Aedus, for attending, but also for the amazing sword. It's too generous a gift."

"Linn had it crafted by a master. She has talked of little else but your birthday for weeks now."

I took in a breath and met his gaze, surprised to find that I was much closer to his 6'6" height. "Linn's a good friend. She's...she's beautiful like her mom. But..."

I was surprised when he laughed. "Charles, you are very young. This is not the time to choose a mate. You have hundreds, perhaps thousands of years in front of you. Fae females tend to look at the available males, weigh their attributes, then settle down to wait, refusing to bind with another. Linn is very much like her mother."

"Lady Philladre is..." No words came to mind to describe a fae so beautiful. "Linn will be just like her."

He took hold of my shoulder. "Linn does not have the qualities you need in a mate." I opened my mouth to respond, but he held up a hand. "You are an adult and should take the time necessary to search for your path. You've learned what you can here."

"Do you mean that I should come to Cascade or to court?"

"No."

"But I thought..."

"Your fighting skills are far above your age level. Your magical skills as well. You are able to protect yourself outside of this circle." He indicated my house.

I was confused, but he continued. "Don't hesitate for long. Your life may be predetermined regarding the great war, but the rest of your life is yours to discover." He winked. Lord Aedus freakin' winked at me. I thought he was gonna punch me in the face for upsetting Linn and here he was winking at me. Was I in some alternate universe?

It suddenly occurred to me that he might be saying all of this because he and Philladre didn't want me to bind with their daughter. I wasn't a pureblood. "Linn should find a pureblood fae..."

"Don't think that I would not welcome you as my daughter's mate because of your bloodline. To the contrary, you protected your mother in the face of death at only sixteen. Our grandfather can be terrifying for a male my age, yet you stood up to him with great courage. The fae of my sidhe who've watched you grow into an adult feel great affection and respect for you, including myself and Philly.

"You have treated my daughter as a valued friend since the day she first came to your home. I would be proud to call you son, but only if Linn was the female you would chose above all others."

"I feel..."

"Confused?" I nodded. "This is normal." He shrugged in a very human way.

"Dad says the same thing."

"Garrett didn't find your mother for over two hundred and thirty years."

I placed my hand on my heart and nodded, feeling guilty that I hadn't done it earlier. "I'd be honored to be a member of your family, Lord Aedus. It's just..."

"You're already a member of my family. You and Linn are cousins. Binding with the wrong female would be disastrous. It would make both of you miserable."