Edon’s face was as serious as I’d ever seen it. “Until the death of their body. I’ve heard the queen sometimes lets the heir out to play. Perhaps she enjoys messing with the consorts’ heads—or maybe she wants a break.” Edon shook his head. “Whatever the reason, the heir’s freedom is brief.”
I caught myself gaping.
“Messed up, isn’t it?” Edon said.
Messed up didn’t even begin to describe it. I’d had issues before—an alcoholic dad that beat me and stole my money. But this? Hijacking someone’s body…someone’s mind? There was no escaping that. No running away.
“This happened to my mother…and she’s dead now…”
“And you are the next heir. The queen’s next victim.” Edon shook his head. “Honestly, stumbling into my territory was the best thing that could have happened to you—well, that or disappearing forever.”
“Edon, I think you’ve scared her enough,” said Mickey.
“Good. She needs to be scared,” Edon shot back. To me, he said, “I’m telling you this so you don’t run away and mess up any chance you have of not getting yourself killed.”
“But I don’t get it. Why are you, a rebel leader, keeping me safe from the rebels? If the queen’s going to control me, why not kill me now?”
Edon flashed his teeth. “I should, but I took a gamble instead, and hedged my bets by becoming your consort just in case it doesn’t work out. I’m hoping Mickey here has a great explanation for how you can see past glamours but are registering zero on the magic scale. Well, Dad? Care to explain?”
“Wait,” I said, looking between Edon and Mickey. “Mickey’s your dad?”
Edon laughed, but Mickey’s jaw clenched in anger. “Not yet, but soon enough. For now, that unfortunate honor is all yours, little warrior.”
I stared at Edon, and then at Mickey, who looked like he was ready to kill. “What?”
Edon shrugged in a don’t-ask-me kind of way.
“This isn’t the best time to have this conversation,” said Mickey.
“But we’re having it anyway,” I snapped, even while reviewing our past interactions with a new light. The way he got O’Faolain to back off that first day, how protective he always seemed, how he’d insisted Cory James wasn’t my real dad. There’d been little hints here and there that I’d never picked up on. I mean, the day I’d arrived, he’d even said we were related. I’d thought he was being super cheesy, not literal. Why? Why hide that from me?
“You’re the fae dad that wouldn’t recognize me until after I became queen? Why didn’t you ever say anything?”
“When you first arrived, you didn’t even know you were fae. What was I supposed to say?”
“But you could have told me anytime in the past week.”
“No, I’ve been doing damage control all week long so you didn’t get yourself killed.”
“Didn’t get myself…The only reason I came this close to dying is because I’ve got yet another deadbeat dad who won’t show up and take care of his kid.”
“Ouch,” Edon said.
“I’m not a deadbeat dad,” Mickey bit out. “I’ve been trying to protect you.”
“Come now, let’s not stretch the truth,” Edon said, a censuring smile on his face. “We both know you’ve been on the side of the loyalists ever since you made that oath to Ashlyn.”
“What did you promise the queen? That you’d deliver me up on a silver platter?”
“I promised the queen nothing. Your mother, though—I would have died for her.”
Mickey’s eyes pled for understanding. “Your mother was not the queen—not truly. She was an heir, much like you. She chose me as her consort.” Mickey looked away. “I’m sure the queen would love to pick the consort instead, but heirs are required to choose consorts prior to the investiture and a third party can’t undo that bond.”
“So,” I said slowly, “what did you promise?”
Mickey swallowed. “I swore to ensure you took your place in the investiture.”
“But that would—why didn’t you—I thought she wanted to hide me. How could you promise something like that?”
Mickey couldn’t meet my eyes. “I trusted her,” he whispered.
I didn’t know what to say, my mind reeling from revelation after revelation. I had a dad—one who sounded like he could have cared about me—and a mom he loved. But I—I was still the unwanted daughter. Some things never changed.
Then something clicked.
“It was you,” I said. “You visited Caleb in the hospital.” Mickey had disappeared for over a day, and now I knew where he’d gone.
Mickey’s shoulders sagged in relief. “You know, then.”
“Yeah, I know. I know that you told him a bunch of stuff you should have told me instead. Now he thinks he has to die so that I can live.”
“Who is Caleb?” Edon asked, his eyes alight with interest. I glared at the wall, too angry to look at either of them.
Mickey sighed. “Caleb is Kella’s human brother. He’s in a coma and he’s been that way since the boy’s father almost killed the two of them. He should be dead. She should be dead…unless.” He let the word hang for a moment, holding Edon’s gaze.
Edon let out a long, deep breath. “The brother is still alive…”
“Barely. They transferred him back to the ICU this past week,” Mickey said.
“Even so—” Edon said.
“They what?” I shouted the words.
Mickey looked at me apologetically. “You did all the healing you could at the initial magic breaking, but now…you lack the skill for anything else.”
“No.” I shook my head, refusing to believe that for a second. “You told him that. You said that just so he’d be okay with me taking my magic back.”
Mickey shook his head. “I told you the truth. I—” He opened up his mouth, but nothing came out. He shut his mouth with a grimace.
Mickey’s mouth worked a bit before he said, “Apparently, Caleb didn’t have time to tell you everything.”
I glared at him. “He told me as much as I needed to hear,” I said, smothering down regret for cutting Caleb off when I did. But I’d been upset. It wasn’t like he’d
