“You know what I mean, mistress. Who is your blood father?”
“I don’t know. It doesn’t matter. My mom always said he was a bastard not worth knowing.”
Volusian stared at me expectantly.
“That doesn’t prove anything.”
“What about your powers? You are rapidly surpassing every other human shaman. You are equal in strength in both worlds. Do you think it’s coincidence that the most powerful shaman in remembered history grew up in Roland Markham’s household? He brought you there, taking you from Storm King.”
“From where? Are you saying I was born in the Otherworld?”
Volusian inclined his head. “Storm King abducted your mother and made her his mistress. She bore his child. You.”
“You seemly awfully sure about this.”
“I saw your mother when she lived in the Otherworld. I have seen her in this world. She’s the same woman.”
“You’re lying.”
“By the power that binds us, you know I am not.”
He was right. He couldn’t lie to me-not so openly, at least. I knew that, and acknowledging that forced me to put my own world into a new perspective. It might explain why my mother hated the Otherworld so much. Why she and Roland had been adamant about instilling that hate in me, making sure I could never have any empathy with the gentry or anything else from that world.
I swallowed and realized I was on the verge of tears. God. That would probably blow the show of strength I always tried to hold around these guys. We needed to get through this interview. “So, are you saying that’s why Roland eventually killed him? To protect me?”
“Among other things. Storm King’s invasion was imminent. He had come to claim you. Roland Markham killed him, both saving you and halting Storm King’s plans.”
“So Dorian was telling the-wait a minute. He knew! That bastard. He sat there and fed me that stuff about Storm King, knowing who I was!”
“Everyone knows who you are, mistress,” said Nandi.
“It’s pretty recent, though,” added Finn, seeing the look on my face. “Came out only a couple of weeks ago. The same time everyone learned your real name.”
“How?” I glared at Volusian. He had known who I was this whole time. “Did you tell them?”
“No.”
“Then why didn’t you tell me before this? Why didn’t any of you tell me when this came out?”
They stared.
“Because you did not ask us,” replied Nandi.
“Yes,” agreed Volusian. “Had you asked us, ‘Am I Storm King’s daughter?’ we would have gladly-”
“Oh, shut up.” I rubbed my eyes. I wanted to sleep. I wanted to sleep forever and forget all this. But I had miles to go before I slept, just like in the Robert Frost poem. “If everyone thought Storm King was so great, then why are they all coming after me? Shouldn’t I be some kind of hero? Instead they want to kill me.”
“Most aren’t trying to kill you, unfortunately. They’re trying to bed you, mistress.”
“Why?”
“Probably because of the prophecy,” said Nandi.
“Prophecy,” I said dryly. “Wonderful. Now there’s a prophecy.”
“Mistress,” she said hastily, “had you asked us if there was a prophecy-”
“Yeah, yeah. I know. What’s this one say? That I’m a good lay?”
Finn hesitated. “Well…it says Storm King’s vision will be carried out through his daughter’s first son. That the human world will be reconquered.”
“You’re kidding.” Oh, God, I wanted to sleep.
“When they found out you didn’t have kids yet, everyone-well, every guy-wanted to get in on the action. Being the one to father Storm King’s heir would be a pretty big deal.”
“Likewise,” added Volusian, “the prophecy says Storm King’s daughter will clear the way for her son. Being your consort would carry great prestige.”
“Hey, I’m not clearing the way for any invasion. Not that I believe in prophecies. Not that I believe in any of this! In fact, that prophecy proves how stupid this all is. I wouldn’t turn against my own kind.”
I swear Volusian smiled. “Yes, but which people truly are your own kind? Your loyalties are now divided.”
My anger flared. “No. Even if this is true and I am the daughter of the biggest gentry badass ever, I know where my loyalties are. I’m human. I act human. I have no gentry powers.”
“As you say, mistress.”
“Get out of here. All of you. None of this is true. I’ll talk to my parents and clear this up.”
Volusian bowed. “A wise idea, mistress.”
I said the words to send them away and then lay on my bed. The storm had quieted outside, but one of my own raged inside me. I wanted to shut down my feelings. I wanted to forget all of this, because it wasn’t true. It couldn’t be. I wanted to take one of the prescription sleeping pills, but I didn’t need Roland’s warnings to know how stupid that would be. If every gentry was suddenly hot to get me pregnant, I couldn’t let my guard down.
I shouldn’t have been able to sleep. Not after fighting gentry and seeing a girl run back to them. Not after learning my one-night stand was a kitsune. Not after discovering that I could very well be something I hated. Something that made me question everything I’d ever believed in.
No, I shouldn’t have been able to sleep at all, but my body knew better as tiredness flowed over me. My body knew I’d been up all night, that I’d fought and been injured. And most important, it knew my fight wasn’t over. Not by a long shot.
Chapter Twelve
I finally worked up the courage to see my mom and Roland a few days later. Tim had left for the day, but he’d apparently baked this morning. A plate of almond poppy seed muffins sat on the kitchen table, and I grabbed two for the road.
My ability to think clearly had improved with some rest, but my anger and pain hadn’t really faded. I still felt betrayed and not just by Wil. If anything, I could forgive him more easily than anyone else. He had not fostered a years-long secret. His actions had been open and desperate. They had not been so insidious as Kiyo’s, my mom’s, and Roland’s.
When I arrived at the house, I didn’t bother knocking. The front door was open, and I pushed inside, slamming it loudly behind me.
“Genie?” I heard my mom call. “Is that you?”
I walked across the wood floor, my shoes echoing in the foyer. Mom and Roland sat at the kitchen table, eating lunch. Bread and cold cuts were laid out, along with assorted condiments. It looked so normal. So peaceful and innocent. My mom half-rose when she saw me.
“Thank God you’re back safe. I’ve been so-what’s the matter?”
I loved these people so much, but seeing them increased my fury, maybe because I did love them so much. For a moment, I couldn’t get the words out. I just stared at them, looking from face to face.
“Eugenie?” she asked tentatively.
“Who’s my father?” I demanded of her. “Was I born in the Otherworld?”
I saw her go pale, her dark eyes widening in fear. In an instant, Roland was up beside her.
“Eugenie, listen-” The look on his face spoke legions.
“Jesus. It really is true.”
I saw him open his mouth to protest, but then he thought better of it. “How did you find out?”
Honesty, at least. “It’s all over the Otherworld. Everyone knows. I’m apparently next in line for world domination.”
