My father’s pale, freckled cheeks turned red, and Torn slapped him on the back.
“Go on, Willem,” he said.
“I will think on it,” he said.
I bit my lip. In all my fantasies of my father’s homecoming, this conversation had never happened. I tried to think of something to say, but Jinx broke the uncomfortable silence.
“At least now I’m not the last to know,” Jinx said.
“Come on, dear,” Forneus said, tightening his arm around her. “They were busy traveling to Faerie and back.”
“Now that is a story I would like to hear,” Willem said.
I swallowed hard, as Torn launched into a tale of his marvelous exploits, and my bumbling. I groaned, but I had to admit that Torn was one Hell of a storyteller.
He’d reached the point in the story where we were entering Donn’s castle. It was time to bring that tale to a close, or part ways. I didn’t want Jinx anywhere near when he mentioned Donn’s hearth. There was certain knowledge that wasn’t meant for human ears. The backdoor we’d used to enter to Faerie was a well guarded secret, and one that could get my human friend killed.
“Dad, are you staying with us?” I asked.
We were close to the building where Jinx and I shared a loft apartment. I didn’t usually invite people up, especially those who wore a cloak of tortured souls that might taint everything I owned with nightmare visions, but I’d searched for my father for months. I didn’t want to let him out of my sight.
He started to nod until he caught sight of the glowing lantern clutched in his hand. A dark look crossed his face, and he shook his head.
“No, sweetheart,” he said. “Get some rest. I will come by tomorrow.”
“You can stay at my court, Willem,” Torn said, nearly bouncing with excitement. “It will be like old times, and I can finish my story.”
Willem sighed, a weary smile on his lips.
“Good night, baby girl,” he said.
“Good night, dad,” I said.
An involuntary tear slid down my cheek as they turned the corner, my father disappearing from sight.
“He will return tomorrow,” Ceff said.
“I know,” I said, shrugging with one arm. “It’s just been a long night. Sparky being kidnapped, fighting Kaye, my dad showing up, almost losing you…my heart hasn’t quite caught up with my brain.”
He pulled me close, and whispered in my ear.
“I can think of ways to convince you that I am alive and well,” he said.
A shiver ran up my spine, and I licked my lips.
“Promise?” I asked.
“I promise,” he said.
As far as bargains go, it was a good one.
Chapter 56
Humphrey announced that all was well when we arrived at our building, and Father Michael and Sparky were asleep on the couch. I looked around for Arachne, careful not to wake the priest, and found a note in her handwriting on the kitchen counter.
I have something important I need to do. When I’m finished, I’ll go home.
She’d signed her name and drew a doodle of a beetle with a smiley face.
P.S. I got rid of Ivy’s curse. Sorry about the beetles.
I was dialing Arachne’s number before I realized I had a missed message from her cell phone. I’d seen a flash of purple hair just before someone had sent a second wave of air magic to help us destroy Herne’s horn. But that was over an hour ago. Was she okay? A lot could happen in an hour, especially in Harborsmouth.
I fumbled with the phone, and selected my voicemail.
Hey, Ivy. Don’t be mad, but I was down by the warehouses earlier. It’s hard to explain, but I had to help. I’m home now, and my mom is back from that place they took Kaye. She said Kaye’s sedated, but she can have visitors soon. Want to go with me? Okay, I gotta go. Hope you’re not mad.
The call ended, and I stared at my phone, shaking my head.
“Everything okay?” Jinx asked, her voice a whisper.
“Yes, everything is good,” I said. “I’m going to grab a shower.”
“Good, because I want some time with my man before those two wake up,” she said.
She grabbed Forneus, and dragged him into her bedroom, not that he wasn’t willing.
“Don’t use all the hot water, Miss Granger,” he said with a wink.
I looked into Ceff’s heavy-lidded gaze, stomach tightening with need.
“I make no promises,” I said.
I pulled Ceff into the bathroom, and closed the door on Forneus’ laughter. I turned on the shower, and Ceff pulled me close and slid a hand down my chest.
“But I keep mine,” he said.
Oh yes, he was very good at keeping his promises.
Chapter 57
“Ivy, get up,” Jinx said.
“What?” I asked, brain fuzzy. “Is my dad here?”
I blinked around the room, eyes lingering on Ceff’s tanned chest, trying to remember where we’d left our clothes.
“No, he’s not here,” she said.
“Then go away,” I said.
“I second that decision,” Ceff said, mumbling into his pillow.
“I hate to be a buzzkill, but there’s something you’ve got to see,” Jinx said.
“Can’t it wait?” I asked.
I groaned, and threw an arm over my face. What time was it, anyway? Sun streamed into the room. From the angle, it must be before noon.
“Something happened at sunrise, out in the industrial park,” she said. “Come on. You really have to see this.”
She threw a bundle of clothes at me, and I sighed.
“Fine,” I said, reaching for the clothes. “Give me a second. I’ll be right out.”
She tapped her foot, a slow smile tugging her lips.
“You too, lover boy,” she said.
Ceff sighed, and rolled over. He stretched, making his naked muscles flex, and I blushed.
“A little privacy here?” I asked.
“You sure?” she asked, with a wink. “Ceff’s been through a lot. I could help him get dressed.”
A muttered curse and footsteps coming from the kitchen meant that Forneus hadn’t missed that comment. Knowing Jinx, that had been the point.
I rolled my eyes, and Ceff shook his head.
“That will not be necessary,” he said. “But I believe Ivy requires coffee.”
“Make that a barrel of the stuff,” I said.
“You got it,” she said with a wink.
Jinx shrieked, and was pulled from the doorway. I tensed, reaching for my blades before my sleep addled brain registered the playful laughter coming from the other room. Forneus had finally had enough of Jinx’s flirting with Ceff, and had dragged her off into the kitchen. If her delighted squeals were any indication, he was obliterating thoughts of any other man from her mind. So long as she remembered to make a pot of coffee, and they didn’t leave any sex visions on the kitchen counter, I was cool with that.
The last few days had been Hell, for all of us. And if reports were to be believed, the nightmare wasn’t over. Mab was still out there, a black widow manipulating the threads of our future. As if that wasn’t bad enough, my psychotic birth mother had friends. We hadn’t seen the last of the rogue vampire and fae factions. Jinx and Forneus deserved what moments of happiness they could steal.
Ceff stood and crossed the room, shutting the door with a sigh.
“Wishing I lived alone?” I asked.
I pulled myself out of bed with one last longing look at my comfy mattress, and shrugged into the jeans and long-sleeved t-shirt Jinx had tossed at me. Ceff was still staring at me, the silence stretching between us when I sat on the edge of the bed and started pulling on my boots.
“What?” I asked, tilting my head. “You okay? You can stay here if you’re not up to it. Who knows what Jinx has up her sleeve.”
Ceff strode toward me, and knelt at my feet. Clothes materialized to swirl and wrap around his body as he moved, a displa
y of his kelpie shapeshifter magic and a sign that he really was okay.
“I am fine,” he said. “I will accompany you.”
“Then what is it?” I asked, reaching toward him, but stopping before we touched.
We didn’t have time for a vision.
“When we marry,” he said, lips so close now I could feel his breath on my face. “Will you live with me?”
I frowned, trying to puzzle out what he was asking. Ceff was a kelpie king. His domain was beneath the waves. I couldn’t travel there, let alone live with him.
“That’s not really possible, is it?” I asked. “And…I…I have duties here. I can’t leave the city unprotected.”
That realization, and the weight of it, settled heavy on my shoulders. I slumped, and stared at the boot laces in my gloved hands. What were we doing getting married? How would any of this even work?
“I would never ask you to shirk your duties, or to abandon those you love,” he said, voice gentle but firm. “What I am asking is to build a new life together, one that includes both of our worlds. I cannot reside on land at all times, but when I do, I wish for us to do so together.”
“Oh,” I said, voice catching in my throat. “You mean, give up the loft?”
He wanted me to leave Jinx? Did that also include Sparky too? Ceff narrowed his eyes, and his hands twitched where they gripped the bed on either side of me.
“I would never ask you to abandon a child,” he said.
“But…you said…” I stuttered.
“Keep the loft,” he said. “All I ask is to consider living with me part of the time. To find a place that we can call home. That you and me and Sparky can call home.”
My vision blurred, and tears trailed down my cheek.
“Really?” I asked.
“I want a family, Ivy,” he said. “And I want you.”
“But he’s a demon,” I said, wiping a hand across my face.
“And I will adopt him as my own son,” he said.
Ceff’s face was deadly serious, and I gasped.
“But your people, what will they think?” I asked. “That would put Sparky in line for the kelpie throne, wouldn’t it?”
“Yes, it would,” he said with a nod, his entire body rigid.
I felt lightheaded, mind spinning at the possibilities and repercussions of what Ceff was suggesting. If we married, and he adopted Sparky, then the kid would become our son. That idea was enough to make my head explode, but it was what the kelpies would gain that had my heart racing without so much as a drip of the heavenly coffee brewing in the kitchen.
We would gain a son, and the kelpies would gain a prince.
A demon prince.
But first thing was first. We still needed my father to approve of our engagement.
Chapter 58
I had to blink away happy tears as Ceff and I followed Jinx and Forneus with Father Michael at our backs and Sparky skipping back and forth between us. I was so busy watching the floppy-eared kiddo that I nearly stumbled into Jinx and Forneus when they came to an abrupt halt.
“I told you that you had to see this yourself,” Jinx said.
I lifted my head, jaw dropping at the sight before us. At the edge of the city, where we’d fought the Wild Hunt, and where the most rundown section of the industrial park had grown like a rotten sore on the face of Harborsmouth, nature now took hold.
“What…how?” I asked.
“Nature free,” Marvin said, lumbering up to us.
“Aye, Lass,” Hob said, hand-in-hand with a female gnome. “Ye freed the nature spirit when ye broke the dark queen’s spell.”
“The nature spirit?” I asked.
“The spirit of the forest that Mab forced inside Gwn Ap Nudd to create Herne,” Torn said.
He walked up to us with my father at his side. I smiled up at Willem, and he smiled back before frowning at Torn.
“I told you never to speak her name,” he said. “That name invites nothing but pain and torment.”
Torn shrugged.
“I was just explaining her twisted ways, not asking the dark queen to dinner,” he said.
“Right, so mom’s an evil bitch, got it,” I said. “What about this nature spirit? Did we free it when we killed Herne?”
Willem gaped at me, but I ignored his surprise. Evidently, Torn hadn’t told him that Kade had spilled the beans about my parentage. I wasn’t looking forward to that conversation.
“It appear so, Lass,” Hob said. “Though Marvin and I missed that fight.”
He kicked at a rock on the ground, and slouched.
“You helped us win, you know,” I said. “Even helped bring Ceff back to me. For that I’ll always be in your debt.”
A heavy weight settled on my shoulders. I’d acknowledged my debt to Hob and Marvin, but it was one I’d gladly pay a million times over. They were family, and I’d do anything to help them. That included finding Hob a new home.
“We help?” Marvin asked.
I nodded.
“You went and convinced the pookas to join us, and they were the ones who stole Herne’s horn,” I said. “They also helped to fight Herne’s giant owls.”
Gretchen shivered, her conical gnome hat twitching, and huddled in close to Hob. He blushed, but patted her arm.
“There, dear,” he said. “I’ll let no owl near ye garden.”
“Speaking of gardens,” Jinx said, waving an arm at the vibrant blossoms that burst from plants as far as the eye could see. “Holy wow, right?”
The river was back in its original location, but there was no sign of the abandoned lots that had been on either side. Cracked pavement and tufts of grass had been replaced by flowers, trees, and flowering shrubs.
Greenery had erupted from Herne’s corpse, his body feeding the nature spirit we set free. Flowers scented the air, erasing the smell of blood and death, and pookas flit from blossom to blossom. Even the river water appeared cleaner and clearer than before.
“Your handy work?” I asked, pointing at the river and raising a questioning brow at Ceff. “Or was that from the nature spirit as well?”
“Our magic would have aided in this river’s recovery, but it would have taken time,” he said. “This cleansing is the spirit’s handiwork.”
“It’s a miracle,” Father Michael said, eyes blinking owlishly.
“But it didn’t come without a cost,” I said.
“The important things rarely do,” Willem said.
Chapter 59
My father stayed in Harborsmouth for a week. I monopolized his time, though he did spend his nights out carousing with Torn. When I asked if he wanted to visit my mom, his human wife, he’d gone sad and quiet. He came with me when I went to help the gnomes and pookas move out of my mother’s garden, but he didn’t speak to her. He stayed behind a tree at the edge of the woods near her house, an extra shadow beneath its branches.
But he’d helped carry the lumber from the old treehouse when we left. The gnomes and pookas had outgrown my mother’s garden, so we were relocating them to the new gardens along the river.
The faeries didn’t have much, but the pooka refused to leave the neon painted treehouse behind. We erected it in a tree overlooking a bright red patch of poppies, a shrine to a man who’d given his life in the battle below.
I spent days walking those gardens with my father. We shared stories, laughed and cried, and I learned more about why he’d left, and why he couldn’t stay.
The lantern he carried held an ember from Hell, and that cursed thing brought disaster and destruction wherever it went. For that reason, my father would once again travel far away to somewhere remote where he’d do the least harm. I knew he was leaving to protect me, but it still hurt.
I vowed to find a way to free my father from his curse. No more cursed lanterns and cloaks of tormented souls. I thought back to the grief stricken look on my father’s face when he watched my mother from the shadows. My family had suffered enough. I would travel to Hell and b
ack if that’s what it took to bring him home for good.
But for now, we had to face goodbye.
“You know I must leave, baby girl,” he said.
I nodded, blinking rapidly. It took more than one attempt to say the words I needed to say. The old me would have given up and run away, but I’d learned the importance of sharing my feelings with the people I cared about. The past year had taught me a hard lesson about regret. My voice quavered and shook, but I choked out “I love you” through a cascade of sobs and tears.
My father, Will-o’-the-Wisp, turned and walked away.
I’d lost him for twenty years, and now he was gone again.
*****
Even after my father left Harborsmouth, I walked the gardens along the river. In that place, I felt close to him. I also had a few friends to visit.
Engineers from the Hunters’ Guild had helped to build a footbridge over the river, and it hadn’t taken Marvin long to move under it. He said it was because it was so clean, but I suspect the bridge troll also wanted to keep an eye on Hob.
The hearth brownie had taken Kaye’s madness hard, but he didn’t respond whenever he was asked about his hearth back at the Emporium. One day he just helped Gretchen move to the garden, and never left. He was staying at her place, but I wasn’t sure how permanent the arrangement was. They’d built a hearth that was tiny by human standards, but seemed to work, for now.
I stopped by their place daily, only missing a day when I went with Arachne to visit Kaye. I’d worried that our visits might agitate her, but Kaye seemed to have vented all her rage. Sadly, there wasn’t a lot of the spunky woman left. She knitted and talked about the weather, only becoming animated the day I brought in Midnight.
Torn had asked me to bring the cat, and I had to admit that Midnight seemed content to curl up on Kaye’s lap. I’d offered to take him with me when I left, but he’d hissed and shown me his teeth. I’d check with Torn next time I saw him, but I figured that meant the cat wanted to stay.
Unlike Midnight, Humphrey wasn’t so forgiving. When I asked if he wanted to visit Kaye, his hackles rose and his ears flattened to his head. He was here to stay and that was fine by me. He was the only one of my friends who got my jokes, and it was reassuring having a gargoyle guarding the building.