“Ian?” I called trying to snap him out of his trance. When he didn’t respond I rose to my knees and grabbed him by the shoulders. I shook him as hard as I could, and his eyes met mine.
“Go-ld—” His voice strangled.
He reached for my neck but pulled back just as his fingers brushed my skin.
“L-l-leave.” He was fighting to maintain control of his own body.
I jumped out of the bed and ran to the door to yell for Bryce to come quickly. Thankfully he soon came charging down the hall.
“Qadira? What is it? Has the amulet failed?”
“No, no it’s not me. It’s Ian. I think someone has taken him over…”
Bryce rushed past me into the bedroom. Ian had fallen from the bed and was rolling around on the floor wrestling with his invisible assailant. Bryce kneeled and pulled Ian to a sitting position.
Ian’s body went stiff for a second before going limp in Bryce’s arms.
“Mo chara? Ian? Ian can you hear me?” Bryce asked.
Ian moaned in response and opened his eyes.
“Brycson, unhand me… please,” Ian said. “Goldie?”
“I am here, Ian.”
“Did I hurt you?”
“No. What happened?”
“Matilda tried to possess and force me to remove the amulet from your neck. She got spooked when she saw Brycson.”
“What?! This is possible?”
“Apparently,” Bryce said.
“Well isn’t that just peachy-fucking-keen? Though, that you scared her away could be a good thing… I hope.”
“Yes, well, it can only mean more good than not. I will make a charm for Ian, just as I did for you. I should have thought to do so earlier. I am sorry.”
“Yeah, that works until she finds out she can’t get to me through Ian. Then she will come for you. You’ll need to make one for yourself. Oh, and then she will go for Seth or Peder or Sheryl or anyone else she thinks I care about. And what if she gets to Julianna? You think a charm will work on a mortal? You don’t know… do you?”
“No, no I don’t, but we can try.”
“Try? And if it fails? Then what? Someone dies because of me? This is absurd!”
“Kadi, my pip, please relax. Ian fought her. The amulet protected you and kept her away. I can make more… for everyone in this house if need be.”
I stopped myself from responding any further. There was no other choice but for me to leave and find somewhere to hide out until I could get rid of Matilda and her little puppet Lydia. I could no longer wait for the perfect moment, I just had to go. I was a risk to everyone I loved and cherished… even while they slept. Leaving them was the only way to keep them safe.
“Okay, Bryce, just make them quickly.”
“I will do my best, my pip.”
I looked to Ian. I was going to leave him… Beautiful, sexy him… I needed to be close to him while I still could.
“How are you feeling?” I asked Ian.
“Fine, it is as though it never happened.”
“Well, I need more time in bed. Care to join me?”
“I can think of nothing I want more.”
Chapter Twenty
The next morning, I went in search of Bryce. I found him in one of the guest rooms he had taken over and made into his spell-working room.
“Ah, my pip, I am done with Ian’s amulet,” he said as he held it up so I could see.
It was the same size as mine, but this was a wolf’s head with small pieces of amber for eyes.
“It’s gorgeous. Where did this one come from?”
“This was your father’s.”
My hand closed around my amulet and as I held it, I asked, “Why haven’t you ever shown me these?”
“You have never wanted to discuss your parents. I tried to tell you about them when you were younger, but you never wanted to hear any of the stories I had to tell.”
Hearing about them had always hurt too much. How could the loss of two people I’d never met hurt so much?
“Well, that’s changed. I want to know who I came from, who they were. And I want to know why I can become banshee.”
“Okay, let me give Ian his amulet. Then we can settle in with some plain old green tea and I will tell you about your family.”
Bryce called Ian in and handed him the necklace. Ian examined the amulet and asked about its meaning.
“It was Declan’s. The wolf seems to fit you: fierce, but loyal.”
“This amulet must mean a great deal to you, Brycson. Thank you,” Ian said before turning to me. “You do not mind?”
“Of course not. I am happy for you to have something that belonged to my father, and I am happier that it will help keep you safe,” I responded and leaned into the kiss as Ian’s arms went around my waist. “I’ve asked Bryce to tell me more about my family, would you like to stay?”
“Yes, I believe I would.”
We moved to the kitchen to brew regular tea and get comfortable. Once settled, I asked Bryce to begin where he felt it best.
He cleared his throat and looked uncomfortable for a little while and I thought he was slipping into one of his distracted moments, but he met my eyes and began.
“Best to begin at the beginning, I suppose. I have always led you to believe that I am fairy.”
“Yes, that’s why you hold magic.”
“Well, it is true… I have some fairy blood. However, like you, I also have some banshee and mortal blood.”
“How can you hold magic then?”
“Well, I believe I inherited more fairy blood than anything else.”
“Wait. How is that possible?”
“I think it’s simply that my fairy blood was more dominant than the banshee or mortal blood. It’s like that with mortals. I am not an expert in mortal biology, but let’s say a mother has blue eyes and a father has brown, their children will inherit whichever is the dominant of the two. At least I think that’s how it works, we can look on the internet—”
“Brycson,” Ian growled to get him back on track before we lost him to his ramblings.
“Oh, right, yes, sorry…”
He went on to explain that long ago, a feisty banshee had ventured onto mortal lands and fell in love with my grandmother. Knowing he could not live with her on mortal lands and having no way to bring her to the Fey lands, he seduced her. A pregnancy resulted from their tryst and some months later out came twin boys, Bryce and my father.
When the Elders learned of this, they had the banshee — my grandfather — executed. They only spared my grandmother because they were a pompous bunch and felt that mortals were too primitive for the Fey bloodline to take hold. Still, this was when they created laws against the Fey mating with mortals.
“The Elders monitored your father and I as we grew. They were horrified when we started showing Fey traits. They sent a scout to our village. When the scout saw your father’s battle skills and my aptitude for archery, he recruited us instead of executing us. We were young and intrigued so we agreed.
“So, we left our mother’s home and moved to Fey lands. They taught us Fey history and trained us as banshee soldiers. I continued to study the Fey tomes and became proficient with magic. I hid this from the Elders, because for me to have magic meant I had to have fairy blood, which meant my mother had fairy blood. A great deal of it, I suspect, as demonstrated by my strength in spell-spinning. Obviously, Declan and I were not the first result of a Fey-mortal affair. Her Fey blood also explained the banshee’s attraction to her. If the Elders realized this, they’d have executed my mother,” he paused, a pained look on his face.