Loving Ean (The Fae Guard Book 2) (28 page)

Nevertheless, I am firm in my decision to confront this evil being and get some answers. I step confidently under the gable and wait. It only takes a moment for a man dressed in an outrageously expensive, black Armani suit, to step from the trees and stand before me. He is familiar to me and I study him, trying to obtain as illusive memory that will tell me how I know him.

He is tall, thin, and his posture almost regal. His eyes are empty and hollow, black, like the long hair that hangs stick straight down to his lower back, and meets in a deep widow’s peak on his forehead. The angles of his face, his thin lips, and patrician nose, hint at former royalty or at least a member of the aristocracy. When his lips curl up into a sinister smile, it hits me, he looks like Taran and from Aden’s description, I’m also certain that this is the man who’d sent Aden back with a message for me.

“Hmmm . . . I can see that you recognize me from your friend’s description.” His voice is contemptuous, but his expression betrays his triumph, clearly believing that he has lured me into a situation where he holds the upper hand. “I wonder,” He muses, “Do you also recognize where you have seen my features before?” There is an upper class lilt to his speech, a superiority that makes the listener feel inferior. The tiniest of accents also colors a word occasionally. Definitely Victorian England, he obviously didn’t get the memo that titles are pretty worthless these days.

I cross my arms over my chest and take wide stance, my booted feet rooted on the ground. “You’re related to Taran, right? Let me guess, father?” I studiously keep my tone and expression bored, not wanting to give him any hint as to my frame of mind.

“Very good. Although, I suppose any dimwit could have figured that out. So, let’s see if you are smarter than you look, shall we? Have you deduced the reasoning behind my little visit?” His right eyebrow moves up, emphasizing its sharping angled peak to match the one on his forehead. I want to roll my eyes at the not-so-veiled insult.

I just sigh instead. “Why don’t you just speed things up and tell me? This pretty boy needs to get home and gets some fucking rest.”

The man’s face tightens and his eyes narrow, only minutely revealing his disgust. “Your language does not improve your impression on others. But, I digress. My name is Aodhagan, and you are correct, I am Taran’s father.” If I was expecting to see any grief in his countenance, I would have been sorely disappointed. I know better.

“We both know this isn’t about vengeance for the daughter you loved so much,” I scorn, “Please, enlighten me so that I can get on with my day.”

Aodhagan’s seemingly unruffled by a casual observer, but my trained eye catches the minute narrowing of his eyes and the subtle tension that tightens his face. “Love might be a bit of a stretch, I suppose. However, she was very . . .” He pauses, as though searching for just the right word. “Useful.”

My insides coil in loathing as his meaning becomes clear. “You sent her to start a relationship with Rònan.” It’s not a question, I already know the answer.

“She was ideally suited for the job. Eventually, she would have set him aside and moved on to the next assignment.” His explanation is clinical, as though he wasn’t asking his daughter to prostitute herself.

“Let me get this straight, you pimp out your daughter to turn just-marked Fae?”

This time, Aodhagan doesn’t attempt to school his expression and his face screws up in disgust, as his chin lifts haughtily. “I was not a ‘pimp,’ as you so eloquently put it.” His arms remain at his sides, but the quotations around the word pimp are implied in his tone.

I shrug, “You say tomato, I say pimp.”

The wind begins to pick up and swirl around us.
Now were getting somewhere.
Daddy is getting mad.

“You’ve left me without my best tool for accomplishing the council’s goal. Put me in a bit of a spot, actually, because I need to find a new way to become useful again. I’m rather upset at the trouble you’ve caused me. So, I have been a little more diligent in my efforts to continue what Taran started and target my efforts specifically on your halfs. Two birds with one stone, so to speak.”

Fury begins to burn in my soul, the warmth of my magic turning into a searing heat. I want to take him down, to rip him apart piece by piece and leave him in the sun to shrivel up and die. However, there is a rational voice in my head, attempting to convince me that he could be beneficial in our pursuit of answers. He mentioned the Fallen council’s goal, but I don’t want to spook him into running back and warning them.

I’ll take the information back to Fate and the council and see how they want to handle it. Aodhagan has given away his method of stealth, the idiot. I’m not complaining, I’m just saying, the guy is far too pompous and conceited to realize that he’s provided me with the tools to find him. Most likely, we’ll put surveillance on my charges houses and then we’ll know where he is lurking about.

The only thing left right now, is to find out why he has chosen to confront me. From our conversation, I’m pretty sure that he’s not here to harm me. Today, anyway. “What the hell do you want, Aodhagan? Is this little tête-à-tête,” I sneer the pansy word, “your idea of a power play? Letting the prey know they are being hunted so that the catch is that much more satisfying?”

Aodhagan clasps his hands in front of him, the clenched fists betraying his irritation. “What fun would it be to be the one making your life miserable, if you don’t know who is pulling the strings?” His smile grows and his look turns almost gleeful. It’s the most emotion he’s shown and I’m not sure what to make of it.

“It’s certainly been entertaining to watch you push everyone away and self-destruct, little by little. You’ll end up alone and miserable, only caring about yourself, about the job, and your anger will consume you, letting darkness in. Without lies, you may not be a Fallen, but still, you won’t be so different from us.” The glee gives way to pure evil and an involuntarily shiver of unease skitters down my spine. “And, won’t that just be eternal entertainment for me?”

I don’t get a chance to answer because on my next blink, he is gone, crossed realms to celebrate his perceived victory, I’m sure. I stay cemented to this spot for a while, his last words have unsettled me and they won’t leave my mind, unfurling emotions I can’t quite name yet. The only thing I know for sure is that, at this moment, I wish I was in Laila’s arms, the only place where the warring thoughts in my head go quiet and I feel peace. I feel as though every moment of missing her comes crashing down on me right now and I realize that I’ve thrown away the balm for my shredded soul.

“How is it that we don’t have a fucking clue what the Fallen are up to?” Calista is practically yelling, but at least she is pacing across the room, for which my eardrums are grateful. Callum is watching her carefully, probably deciding how best to handle her.
Good luck with that, buddy.

“Ok, it’s not much, but at least we are more certain that they are up to something specific now.” Nissa argues, ever the optimist. Calista harrumphs and continues pacing.

Aden and I have given the council and Fate an update on all that happened on our last trip and I end with the encounter with Aodhagan. “Calista,” I cajole, “Nissa is right. It’s more than we had. Aodhagan insinuated that the council isn’t behind this increase of Fallen presence among the leath leanbh, that’s his own twisted game. I’ll deal with him and see what other useful information I can extract, but we need to be looking beyond, widening our scope.”

“Yes, but we need to know where the fuck to start,” Aden counters.

Ailean, Flynn, and Nissa all murmur in agreement, but give no further thoughts or comments.

When I walked into the room and Fate was sitting at the table, I was startled. I can’t remember the last council meeting she attended. However, she’s been uncharacteristically quiet, observing and giving no input. I turn my focus to her now and wait, glaring at her, and making it clear I’m expecting her to speak up.

She raises a single eyebrow at me, amethyst eyes mildly sparking with disapproval.
Way to go, jackass. I don’t think pissing off Fate is really the smart move here.
I’ve repeatedly overstepped my bounds a little lately and I get the feeling her patience with me is running thin. I back off now, slouching a little in my seat under her withering stare. Aden clears his throat and inner me punches him in the junk because I know he’s laughing.

Finally, she turns to the rest of the group, “If you’re looking for me to have all the answers, you’re barking up the wrong tree. When I’ve got something solid to give you, you’ll have it.” There is something in her eyes that warns me she is omitting something. She knows more than she is letting on, but for unknown reasons, she’s keeping it to herself.

Every face at the table looks crestfallen and I’m sure mine is a match. I can’t help feeling like I’m running in a maze with no clue as to what direction I should be going.

She rests a hand on the table, her fingers drumming, and looking thoughtful. She turns to look at Aden and me and speaks directly to us. “For now, I want you to concentrate on keeping your leath leanbh safe and getting as many as possible back here where they can be properly trained and prepared. Use Laila if it’s looking like any of them will be a problem.” Just her name causes a burning in my chest, an ache I’ve learned to live with, but still hurts like a motherfucker. I wonder for just a second if Fate has an ulterior motive for specifically telling us to enlist Laila when there are others out there who are also talented at getting through to troubled halfs. However, logically, I know it’s because Aden’s and my history with Laila make us a good team.

“I’ll update the head of the Ohtar to have his people focus a little more on clearing out the areas around where your charges live.” Her fingers continue to tap, but that’s the only clue that she is not completely calm, as her expression is deadpan. “Ean, get a stronger sense of this Aodhagan’s purpose. From what he’s said and what I can glimpse of his destiny,” she rushes on before I can comment and frowns at me. “It’s pretty clear his intentions have nothing to do with the council, and it makes me curious what they think about that.” Fate swings her gaze and studies me, the purple rings around the black circle darkening, contemplating. “Ean, let’s talk privately for a minute.”

My brow furrows, confused at her request, but I get up and follow her to the office next door. She props her hip onto the edge of the desk, her arms folded, and gives me one of those looks that makes me wonder if she can see right into my soul. It makes me wonder if she is disappointed in what she sees. “You’re destiny has been flickering around and changing so much lately that it’s making me fucking nauseous. You want to tell me what the hell is going on in that twisted brain of yours?”

Do I? I’m not sure I know enough to tell her what’s going on in my head. Aodhagan’s words still haven’t left me and they are bouncing around, knocking loose thoughts that I was sure were locked up for good. One idea in particular is scaring the fuck out of me and I want to ask Fate about it, but I’m too chicken shit to bring it up, and even worse, I don’t want to admit I might have been wrong.

“Aodhagan said something things, things that got me thinking.” I stop, not necessarily because I am being a coward,
yeah right,
ok, that’s part of it, but mostly it’s because everything is so jumbled up in my brain that I don’t know how to verbalize it.

Fate’s eyes narrow and her eyes bore into me, she stays silent for the moment, and the thick tension in the air has me shifting my weight from side to side, to keep from fidgeting. “I told you I would give you time, Ean, time to get your shit worked out. I’ve given you way more leniency than I intended and it’s cost me a lot to watch how miserable it has been making Laila.” I wince at her words, reflecting the pain in my chest at having caused Laila to be unhappy. This must be it. The moment she tells me I’ve lost my chance and she’s found someone else for Laila. Is it Phin? It doesn’t matter who, I almost double over in agony at the thought of Laila with anyone but me.

I’m still so confused; I don’t know what decision is right. Would choosing to be with Laila be selfish? I was so sure that I was doing the right thing, but suddenly I’m besieged by memories of every person who warned me that my choice would not give me the redemption I seek. I just don’t know what to do, and being so unsure, without a solid plan is nothing like I’ve ever experienced, and it terrifies me.

“You obviously haven’t settled on a path and it’s driving me crazy. You need to make fucking choice one way or the other in the next couple of weeks, or I’ll make it for you. Lle rangwa amin?”
Do you understand me?
Whoa, when Fate slips into our language, it means she is beyond pissed. I nod firmly and when she lifts her chin toward the door, I spin around and head out. “Ean,” I stop and turn to look at her. Her head is cocked to the side and a small smile plays at her lips. Her eyes though, her eyes are hard, “You’ve been straddling the line with me lately, you’re perilously close to stepping over it. For the first time in all the years I’ve been in this stupid job, I’ve let a small group of people into my life, developed friendships—you included.” She stands up from the desk and walks to where I’m standing. Fate is tall and with her heels on, she stands at my same height and our eyes meet, hers are still hard as steel. “Don’t make me regret it.” With that, she brushes by me and I step into the hall after watching her re-enter the conference room where the council is still gathered. If any of that was supposed to clear up the train wreck of thoughts and emotions inside me, it was unsuccessful.