He heaved a dramatic sigh. “All right, then. I know a place that’s a bit out of the way. It’s less secure than I’d like, but…” He shrugged.
With a groan of pain, I forced myself to my feet. “Lead the way.”
The inn Ethan took me to was tiny, a bed and breakfast rather than an actual hotel. It was built straight into the side of the mountain, and made rather a pretty picture with ivy clinging to its walls and window boxes bursting with flowers—but no roses of any color, which told me the inn was probably human-run. I was sick of the Fae in general, so I was glad.
Ethan made me wait outside while he got a room. He didn’t think it would be a good idea to have me come face-to-face with the innkeeper, and I supposed he had a point. I was a little young to be renting a room in a B&B, and I was American to boot. That would make me just a bit conspicuous.
It was getting close to midnight, and the streets of Avalon were quiet. There were no pedestrians, and only occasionally did a car pass by. Obviously, the nightlife in Avalon was uninspiring.
While I waited for Ethan to tell me it was okay to come in, I crossed the street and once more stood at the guardrail, looking out into the distance past Avalon. It was much harder to see the shifts in the dark, but the way the lights in the distance winked on and off depending on where I focused my gaze, proved they hadn’t miraculously gone away—or been an illusion cast by Ethan.
I turned away when the view started to make me dizzy again. Ethan was just coming out the front door of the inn, and I saw the momentary alarm on his face when I wasn’t standing exactly where he’d last put me. Then his eyes found me, and he let out a sigh of relief.
He darted across the street to join me, not trying to get too close. He was very aware that he’d taken up permanent residence in my dog house, and though he deserved it, I couldn’t help missing the easy humor and flirting. I think his smiles and jokes had helped me keep the worst of my fear at bay, and I wished I could have that back.
Ethan leaned against the railing, looking out into Faerie, and I leaned my back against it, looking at the inn.
“I had to wake the innkeeper up to get a room,” Ethan said. “We should give him a quarter hour to get back to bed before we go in.”
I snorted. “What makes you think we’re going in together?”
“Because I’m not putting you in that room until I’ve checked it out myself and made absolutely sure it’s safe. And I’ve got the key.”
I arched an eyebrow at him. “You think maybe Aunt Grace is hiding under one of the beds?”
It was pretty dark, so I couldn’t be sure, but I thought he actually blushed at that.
“Guess I’m being paranoid,” he said. But I couldn’t help wondering if he’d had hopes for what would happen if we were alone in a cozy bedroom together.
I held out my hand. “Give me the key.”
He put something in my hand, but it wasn’t the key, it was a cell phone. “I programmed my home number into it. And Kimber’s home and cell are both there, too. If you have any trouble whatsoever, or if something makes you nervous, give one of us a call. Preferably me, since I can spell myself invisible and get here without leading anyone else to you. But I’ll understand if I’m not your first choice after…” He shrugged.
“Thanks,” I said, tucking the cell phone into my pants pocket. “Now give me the key.”
There was no missing how reluctant he was, but he handed the key over anyway. “It’s room 201, right at the head of the stairs. Please don’t leave the room until you’ve heard from Kimber or me. If your dad is still in jail, we’ll try to find a better place for you to stay. This inn is pretty out of the way, but I had to secure the room with my credit card. If someone gets hold of credit card records—which doesn’t seem like much of a stretch for Grace—then my putting a hotel room on it will be like a big, blinking billboard shouting ‘Dana is here!’”
Oh, goodie. One more thing to worry about. But tonight, I was too exhausted to waste energy on any more worrying.
I gave Ethan a brief nod in place of a good-bye, then crossed the street and went into the inn without a backward glance.
I slept like the dead that night. Which was a good thing, because if I hadn’t, I’d have been obsessing, but not about the right thing.
I figured I had every right to obsess about my situation, about my fears for the future, about whom I should trust. But when I woke up the next morning, what was the first thing I found myself thinking about? Ethan’s kiss. Has anyone seen my sense of proportion anywhere? Because I’d obviously lost it.
I tried not to think about it as I did the pre-coffee shuffle-walk to the bathroom. Then I tried not to think of it as I showered and brushed my teeth. I tried once again when I was getting dressed—still wearing Kimber’s castoffs, because, of course, I had nothing to my name.
Obviously, trying not to think about it, to wonder how much of my enjoyment had come from me and how much from the spell, to wonder whether I’d overreacted, wasn’t going to work when my mind had nothing else to focus on. So I decided to focus my thoughts elsewhere.
I dug Ethan’s cell phone out of my pocket, then stared at it for a long, indecisive moment before dialing my mother’s number. Yeah, it was oh-dark-thirty back in the States, but I didn’t think she’d mind. I also didn’t think she’d be able to help me—it’s hard to get a heck of a lot accomplished when your brain is sloshing around in a pool of alcohol. But it would be nice to hear a familiar voice, even if she did spend the entire call screaming at me, which I fully expected.
Foolishly optimistic of me to think I’d get an answer. She was probably pretty upset about me running away like that, and I knew what my mom did when she was upset. I wondered how long this bender was going to last.
I hung up without leaving a message. What would be the point?
I glanced at the clock. It was a little after nine, and I had no idea when I’d be hearing from Ethan and Kimber. Kimber had told me my dad was coming up before the Council sometime today. It was too early to hope he’d be home by now, even if the Council saw him first thing.
I reached under the neck of my shirt and ran my fingers over the cameo. In all the … excitement last night, I’d forgotten about how it had heated up once again. It felt cool and normal now. Maybe it was like a mood ring. I tried to think of all the times I’d felt the strange heat, and a pattern started to emerge: every time it had heated up, someone near me was using magic. I hadn’t noticed it
every
time magic was used, but then it was only in contact with my skin when I tucked it under the collar of my shirt.
I frowned. The very first time I’d noticed the cameo getting hot was when I’d been singing in the cell beneath Lachlan’s bakery. Maybe there had been magic at work then and I just hadn’t known about it. Or maybe I was just making up a pattern where one didn’t exist. After all, I couldn’t specifically remember whether the cameo had been over or under my shirt all those times I hadn’t felt the heat when magic was used.
Even though I’d just decided it was too early even to hope my dad was out of jail, I picked up the phone again and dialed his number. After all, it didn’t hurt to try.
He answered on the third ring. “Hello?”
I was so surprised that for a moment I couldn’t answer. Had I really just gotten that lucky? Or had the story about him being in jail been a big fat lie? “Hi, Dad,” I said when I found my voice.
“Dana!” His cry was so loud I had to hold the phone away from my ear. “Where are you? I’ve been worried sick about you!”
I swallowed hard, wishing I could quiet the alarm bells that were clanging in my head.
“Aunt Grace locked me up in a dungeon,” I said. It was a slight exaggeration. The room she’d locked me in had been quite comfortable, but still …
Dad sighed heavily. “Dana, honey, I’m so sorry. I should have known she’d pull something like that, but I sometimes have a blind spot where she’s concerned. She wouldn’t have hurt you, though. That I’m sure of. And I would have found you before long and gotten you out of there.”
“Well someone else got me out of there first, and I have to admit I’m feeling gun-shy.”
“I can’t imagine how you wouldn’t after what you’ve been through. Tell me where you are, and I’ll come get you immediately.”
I yearned to just blurt out my location, to let my dad come get me and take care of me, make all the bad stuff go away. But, biological connection or not, he was a stranger to me, and I wanted some answers before I ran headlong into his arms. “Aunt Grace told me you were in jail.” I tried not to make it sound like some kind of accusation.
“I’m afraid that’s true,” he admitted. “I suspect Grace engineered it, to make sure she could get to you before I could.”
A lump formed in my throat, because instinct—or cynicism—told me I wasn’t going to like the answer to my next question. “When did you get out?”
“Just yesterday,” he said, and despite having anticipated the answer, my knees gave out and I sat heavily on the edge of the bed. “I’ve been searching for you since the moment I was free,” Dad continued. “Grace said Lachlan was attacked and you were kidnapped. I knew bringing you here would cause some drama, but never anything like this. I’m so sorry.”
Yesterday, I had told Kimber a secret I’d never told anyone before. I’d actually allowed myself to
trust
her. And the whole time, she’d been lying to me, just pretending to be my friend so she could keep me away from my father. The knowledge made me ache from head to toe. All my habitual caution, and I’d fallen for her act hook, line, and sinker.
“Yeah, that’s pretty much what happened,” I said, my voice raspy with the tears I refused to shed.
“Are you all right?” he asked, sounding exactly how a concerned dad was supposed to sound. Was his concern an act, too? Would anyone in all of Avalon tell me the truth about anything?
“I’m fine,” I lied.
Dad hesitated. Any idiot would be able to tell from my voice that I was anything but fine, but I wasn’t ready to talk about it now. Maybe I never would be. Thankfully, he let it pass.
“Let me come get you,” he said. “We can talk more in person.”
“I’m at the Stone’s Throw Inn,” I said. “Room 201.”
“I’ll be there in fifteen minutes at the most.”
“Okay.” I closed Ethan’s phone without saying good-bye, leaving it on the nightstand.
The fifteen minutes I spent waiting for my dad to arrive provided me with ample time to wonder how my meeting him was going to shake out. Everyone I’d met in Avalon so far had lied to me, and in a way, my dad was one of them. After all, he’d sent me the cameo without telling me wearing it would be like saying I root for Team Seelie. And I’d always wondered why he’d sent for me as he did without once asking if my mom was okay with it. I’d been willing to overlook that little detail because I’d wanted what he was offering so badly, but now I thought I should have asked more questions.
I thought I’d hear my dad’s footsteps on the wooden stairs before he arrived at my door, but I didn’t. His sudden knock made me jump and gasp, and at first I didn’t answer him, my feet practically frozen to the floor.
“Dana?” he asked. “Are you all right, honey?”
I let out the breath I hadn’t realized I was holding and wiped my suddenly sweaty palms on my pants. Then I unlocked the door and swung it open wide, getting my first glimpse of my father.
The Fae, once they’ve reached adulthood, at least, are ageless. Intellectually, I knew that. But it didn’t lessen the shock of opening the door to a man I knew was my father and seeing someone who could have passed for twenty-five.
He had a typical Fae build, tall and slender, but he exuded a sense of wiry strength. His hair was very blond, cropped short around his aristocratic face. His eyes were the same cold blue as Grace’s—and mine, for that matter—but there was a kind of … weight to them that made him look older. Despite the youthful appearance of his face, his eyes were not those of a young man.
“Dana,” he said, his voice sounding almost awed as he looked me up and down. I felt like I was being inspected, but since I was doing the same to him, I could hardly complain.
For a moment, I thought he was going to hug me, and I tensed. I’m not a real touchy-feely person in the best of times, which these weren’t.
I was more relieved than I could say when he reached out his hand for me to shake instead. Ah, the famed Fae reserve. I’d almost forgotten about it, since Ethan didn’t fit the mold.
I shied away from thoughts of Ethan.
“Hi, Dad,” I said, feeling inexplicably weird calling him that. It hadn’t felt so weird on the phone.
“My poor child,” he said softly, giving my hand a firm squeeze. “I can’t imagine what you’ve been through these last few days.”
I shuddered. No, he probably couldn’t.
“Let’s get you home,” he continued. “I’ve collected your suitcase and your laptop from Grace.” He smiled. “I suspect you’ll be more comfortable in your own clothes.”
“Before we go,” I said, “I’d like to ask you something.”
He nodded gravely. “All right.”
“Why were you so eager for me to come to Avalon?”
He blinked in surprise. “I discover I have a daughter whom I’ve never met, and it’s a
surprise
that I would want to meet you?” he asked incredulously.
“But you never even asked about my mom. You never thought it was funny that you only ever talked to
me
about the plans. There’s more to it than just wanting to meet me.” My throat tightened, but I think I managed to keep the pain of that declaration out of my voice.
Dad sighed. “Dana, I knew what it meant that your mother disappeared from my life without telling me she was pregnant. I knew it meant she wanted to keep you away from me. From the first time you and I talked, I knew you were going behind her back, and she would have stopped you if she’d known.”
It sounded plausible, I had to admit. But if there was one thing I knew for sure now, it was that all my mom’s warnings about my difficult place in Avalon politics were true. Maybe my dad really was eager to meet his long-lost daughter just for my own sake, but I didn’t think so.