Dianthe Rising (23 page)

“Daniel, will you offer Eloise a cuppa and we will be back in a minute, promise,” I said brightly.

Robin followed me out of the door and I turned on him with death in my eyes. Quietly I swore at him. “Raise your damned privacy shield around us now you freaking Faery.” Nonplussed, he did what I asked and stood back looking at me as if I were some strange new life form.

“What’s wrong, Dianthe? You seem overly distressed.”

“What’s wrong? What the fuck do you suppose is wrong? I come home from telling my mum about us and that was on top of letting her know I had met my birth mother. It has been a hell of a day. I am mentally drained and exhausted. My plan was to come home, have a shower, and go to bed.

"Instead I walk in to find you guys camped out in my flat with my bio-mum.” With a deep breath, I stormed on. “What gave you the right to bring her into my home? What were you thinking?” I threw up my hands before covering my face with them. I wearily sat in the hallway floor. “We’re still hidden right?” I asked.

“Yes, Dianthe, we are,” Robin conceded. “I’m sorry, my heart. I did not realize this would upset you so.” He stared at me forlornly.

“In what world did you reason this would be acceptable, Robin?” I sighed wearily. “This is my home, my sanctuary. I do not like the idea of a stranger being here.”

Robin wearily rubbed his hand across his face and sat down beside me. “I may have miscalculated on this one.”

“You think?” I snarled. Dropping my shoulders, I let out a breath. “Oh well, there’s nothing for it now. Let’s get it over with so I can go to bed. I need some rest.”

“As you wish, Dianthe,” Robin stood and held his hand out to me. He grasped my wrist and pulled me up. “I will drop the barrier now but before I do may I humbly ask for forgiveness?”

“Oh, Robin,” I sighed. “There’s nothing to forgive. You screwed up. We all do it. I’m not going to stay angry with you, I’m just tired and worn out, that’s all.”

My hand was trembling slightly when I reached up and cupped his cheek. I gently tugged him toward me. I kissed him gently to let him know we were okay. His arms swept around me and pulled me tighter against him. His tongue forged its way past my lips and devoured my mouth.

Robin pulled back from me, his eyes glowing with pent up emotion. “Thank you, my wife. I will never deserve you but I will spend every day of my eternity trying to.”

Damn, there went a little bit more of my heart melting into place.

We walked back into the flat and a nervous silence met us. No one mentioned our empty hands or the fact that we had not brought anything back with us. Eloise looked extremely uncomfortable and Daniel was setting a cup of tea on the counter while Kale set out biscuits.

I blew out a huff of air as I walked over to my other mother and sat down on the stool next to her. “I’m sorry about that. It was a bit of a surprise, as I was not expecting company tonight. Did the boys tell you why we wanted to see you?”

Her eyes widened and she nearly choked on her sip of tea when I called my guys “the boys”. I guess it’s not every day that millennia old Fae and wolf kings are called boys.

“Yes,” she settled the cup of tea on its plate. “They told me why you wanted to speak to me.”

A glint of hurt entered her eyes and I realized she had hoped for more. I reached out and touched her hand remembering mum’s admonishments to be kind to Eloise.

“Again, I’m sorry,” I said. “It’s hard to know how to react around you. This wasn’t a meeting I had ever really expected to have.”

“I had hoped,” she started. “No never mind,” she shook her head. “It was always a silly dream anyway. Do you have a good family?” she painfully finished.

“Yes,” I smiled warmly. “My adoptive family is all that I could ever have prayed for. I have wonderful parents and a brother and sister. They can be overbearing at times but it’s because they love me. I do want to thank you. If you had not given me away, I would never had experienced their love.”

Unfortunately, that was not the best thing I could have said. Eloise began to sob in great heaving gasps. “Oh, Dianthe, my poor wee lamb. I love you so much. There is no a day that goes by that I dinna dream of ye.”

Her brogue was thickening the more upset she became. I looked desperately around me for help but my so-called mates were looking everywhere but us.

“It’s okay,” I tried to console her. “You’re here now and you can help me if you want.”

“Oh, more than anything, my babe, I sent you away from me to save you. Anything at all I can do to help you even if it means laying down my life, I’ll do it.”

I racked my brain for a way to proceed without sending her into more fits of crying. I tried to judge what to say.
Damn,
I deliberated to myself,
I really sucked at this
. I gave up on the idea of diplomacy and finally just asked her.

“Can you tell me about my father and his prophesy. Evidently, I have powers I’m growing into.”

She took a deep breath and centered herself. “Aye, I can do that. Please forgive me my outburst. It has been a very emotional few days.”

“Trust me, Eloise, I understand completely,” I deadpanned.

Once she had herself under control, Eloise was an easy woman to talk with. She was down to earth and full of laughter. We spent hours that night talking. She told me things about my natural family that I would have never otherwise known. There were funny family antidotes and tragic losses. When she told me the tale of my father and her relationship over the years, it sounded like something you would read in a Greek tragedy.

“Your father," Eloise began, “is the Celtic god Belenus.”

“My dad is a real god?” I gawked. Even though I had been told several times, the truth of it had only dawned on me.

“Yes,” Eloise smiled softly. “He’s a wonderful man but he is just that, a man. Being a god does not make you impervious to the fallacy of men.”

I imagined I heard Robin mutter something under his breath about that being the truth but ignored him to listen to Eloise’s story.

“As I told you, your father came to me when I was seventeen years old. I was walking amongst the stones of Callanish. He was so beautiful and he was the epitome of his name “the shining one”.

“He seduced me as the sun set between the stones and I conceived you. It was as I told you before, once you nestled in my womb he told me of your legacy. How you would bring great power to your mate. I was as horrified then as I am now with how he hoped to use you. I hid my thoughts from him and carried on with the pregnancy as if I had no concerns.

“Your father is married to a beautiful goddess who is as kind as she is breathtaking. I’ve met her several times.” She smiled wistfully at her memories.

“You mean she wasn’t wild that her husband cheated on her with you?” I was shocked by how calmly she was telling me all this.

“Not at all, Dianthe. She is a goddess of life and love as is her husband. The concept of jealousy is foreign to them. Bel loves us both and he often comes back to the stones to visit me. Sometimes Belisama comes with him.”

She blushed furiously at this.
Hmmm, my bio-mum is perhaps kinkier than I realized.
Maybe the whole group-sharing thing came naturally to me,
I laughed to myself. Then I realized I was thinking about my mother.
Ewwww.

“Anyway,” she continued, “they both watched eagerly as you grew in my womb. They loved you as much as I do. Plans were made on how to raise you and wed you at the appropriate time. But I couldn’t stand the notion of it. Bel was away when you were born so I secreted you to London and hid you from them. When he came back, I told him you were stillborn. That lie will cost me more than you can ever imagine. Once he finds out, he will never forgive me. He grieved for you for years.”

Tears streaked silently down her face.

“Bel is a god of light, fertility, and healing. In you, those abilities amplify. Combined with whatever gift your mate or mates may possess they will only grow. There is no limit to the power held by the one who has you. We knew you would be in danger by those power hungry in our world. In my mind, it was a choice of locking you away until you were grown or hiding you in plain sight. I choose the later.

"Unfortunately, what I did not consider was there would be no one to show you how to manage your gifts. I did you a great disservice there, my darling girl. The only way I can make amends is by sending you to your father so he can teach you. Already he is probably feeling the spikes of your emerging power. It will most likely confuse him greatly as he has no concept of your survival.”

“How do I find him?” I asked.

I didn’t really want to but from what everyone had said so far I don’t suppose I had much choice.

“The safest thing to do is to go to the stones at the break of day and call his name. The best time would have been Beltane as that’s his day.” She smiled sadly once more. “It’s also your birthday.” Eloise straightened and stiffened her spine. “The next best time is on the solstice. It is the longest day and his strength will be at its peak." she paused, taking my hand. "Go to him and call upon him. He will know you and guide you to where you need to be. I wish I could give you more but that is all I have. Know that I always wanted what was best for you. I hope you don’t hate me too much for what I’ve done.”

I reached out and hugged her tightly. “Thank you for your sacrifice. I have never thought poorly of you. My other mum taught me from the beginning to be thankful for you. She said you loved me enough to give me to someone who could provide what you could not. That was true sacrifice and I should always respect you for that ultimate gift. And I do,” I whispered. “If not for you I would not be where I am today.” I kissed her on the cheek. “Thank you for loving me enough to give me up.”

Brushing away tears, she nodded toward me.

“That’s as it should be. Oh dear, look at us, a couple of weeping women. It’s past time for me to be off, girly. If you ever want, I have left my details with your employer. Please feel free to contact me. I would love to get to know you.”

“I would like that,” I whispered. She leaned into me, kissed my forehead, and said her goodbyes. Robin carefully took her hand and folded away.

I sat there for a few seconds before turning to Daniel and Kale. “If you don’t mind, guys, I would like to be alone tonight. I have a lot to consider. Can you let Robin know?”

I still did not have a clue how to contact Robin and I didn’t really care tonight. I wanted to shut down for a few hours and absorb all that I had done and learned today. Daniel kissed me on my nose telling me good night, and Kale snuggled into my neck for a moment.

“Our details are in your phone, Dia. Call us if you need us. We love you.”

With that, they quietly left and another piece fell into place.

Chapter Twenty-Two

With a few minutes to myself, I sat in my flat thinking back on how my life had changed in such a short time.

So…I’m the child of a god it seems. Where do you go from there? I’ve been racking my brain the last few weeks over what I should do. It’s now mid-June and the guys are pushing to head up to Scotland. I have never been there and I’m scared.

Eloise told me the best time to catch up with Bel was on the summer solstice.
Yeah, how is that going to work?

It's not like I can just go into the stones and shout “Hi,
Dad, it’s your long lost daughter come home to visit.”
That wouldn’t make me look crazy at all.

The logistics are crazy. We need to find somewhere to stay. On a little island, it’s not going to be easy. I’ve been doing some research and I found out the freaking BBC is going to hold a live stream on the stones. Evidently, they are second only to Stonehenge. They are older and more mysterious. It is just that Stonehenge is more famous. Therefore, BBC Scotland is going to be streaming the stones to the world. Great.

Let’s see how we work around that one.

Other than the pressure to go meet dear old dad, my guys have been wonderful. We have grown closer every day. Robin has somehow turned my bed into a monster. It is seriously huge. I measured that thing, it is now eight feet wide and eight feet long. I’m glad he conjured up some bedding because there is no way you can buy any that size. They moved in with me. Kale still spends his days in Bean at his home. Working with his wolves and doing Alpha things. Daniel has been looking for another nightclub job. Cable shut down right after my night out there. It seems Network Rail owns the bridge, so they took it back and plan to do something with the trains.
It’s too bad. It was a great club and I would have liked to go back.

Daniel said he would try to get on with another club that catered to others. He is still an active operative so whatever secret work he is doing is ongoing.

As for Robin, my wonderful Puck, I don’t know where to begin. I have fallen in love with all three of my guys. Robin, he is something special though. I would never tell any of them this. It’s like a mother having favorites. They say they do not but they do. Robin needs me so much more than the others do. He is the one that leads fearlessly but deep inside he is almost like a scared little boy.

My family, on the other hand, is another story. Mum was right about their reactions. Dad had a meltdown. He called me many bad names before blaming everything on Daniel. He accused him of corrupting me. Mum is still working on dad and we have spoken several times on the phone but it is stilted and awkward. My sister, Mara, won’t even speak to me. I’m no longer welcome in her home and I have been banned from seeing the munchkins. That one hurt. It’s not as if I’m going to infect my nephew and niece. Mum is trying to hold them together and talk them around, but she keeps telling me to stay strong, that it will take time.

The biggest surprise was Sean. I thought he would take dads and Mara’s side. However, mum was right again. He showed up at the flat and proceeded to beat the shit out of Daniel, then went after Kale and Robin. It took all three of them to hold him down so I could talk to him.