The Forgotten Ones

Chapter 13

I sat in the chair like my mother had the night before to watch my father sleep. Ethan now lay in his place.

His eyes were closed, and his breaths even. There was a shadow on his cheeks. I'd never seen him with stubble before—if I didn't know better I'd think he was just sleeping.

But I did know better.

Aodhan had carried him all the way back to the Bruidhean. He'd used mind magic to get Ethan to sleep, but the glazed expression on his face was still vivid in my memory. I forced myself not to think about the Danaan woman tracing her finger down his jawline.

Aodhan stood guard at the door while we waited for Deaghlan to come alter Ethan's memories. It felt very wrong to let them tamper with his mind, but there wasn't much of a choice. If we let him go back to Stoneville as he was, he'd think the women were just a dream, but he'd also be missing a three week chunk of memories. A day and half in Tír na n'Óg meant we'd missed nearly a month back home.

A dark brown curl fell over Ethan's eye, and I reached out to smooth it back.

Saoirse and Niamh had been here a little while ago. Niamh had showed me, what had happened while we were away from reality so I could play along when we returned. Saoirse's watery basin was pretty handy when you needed to get caught up to speed on what you'd missed in your life.

The story was that I'd found my mother sitting by the Duck Pond halfway between our house and the house Joanne had grown up in. Life had gone back to normal after that, or as normal as life can be when it's a bunch of faeries disguised as you and the people you care about. Both Ethan and I had come down with "mono" to keep our interactions with others limited. I could just imagine all the jokes about us both coming down with the kissing disease.

Pop had spent a lot of time going to the doctor. He'd been feeling some discomfort in his chest, and I watched Gram tell fake-Allison that Pop would be fine, that the doctor visits were "just to be on the safe-side."

Aodhan cleared his throat, announcing Deaghlan's arrival and breaking me out of my thoughts.

As soon as he entered the room, Deaghlan's eyes found mine. He walked toward me, and I couldn't make myself look away. I could feel each step he took in my pulse as he got closer. Aodhan had said Deaghlan was like a wolf, but to me he was more like a tiger. Every move he made was a smoldering combination of intimidating and enticing.

His lips curved up, he knew exactly what he was capable of. I squeezed my eyes shut, pushing together the tiny threads of my mind that hadn't come completely unglued.

"Allison," Deaghlan said. His smug expression confirmed that, yes, he absolutely knew the effect he had on me.

My face screwed up into what I hoped passed as a pleasant smile. I drew my knees up under my chin and wrapped my arms around my legs. Tearing my eyes from Deaghlan wasn't easy, but I managed to somehow focus on Ethan lying on the bed.

Deaghlan stood in front of me, and with one last smirk, he leaned over the bed and placed a hand on Ethan's forehead. He closed his eyes and bowed his head, not making a sound.

After several minutes, he opened his eyes and stood. I glanced over at Aodhan, still standing by the door. His face was completely blank, but I didn't miss the way his jaw stood out or that his knuckles were completely white.

"He's done," Deaghlan said, clasping his hands in front of his waist.

I looked down at the white tips of my sneakers. "Thanks."

I heard the sound of footsteps as Liam walked into the room. We all watched quietly as he paced for a moment.

"Liam, what is it?" I asked, unable to keep quiet for long.

He stopped pacing and leaned against the wall. He met my eyes briefly before rubbing his hands over his face.

"Your mother is adamant about not going home. But we don't have the amulet yet...we can't break the geis."

"Not going home?" I said. The rest I had already had to accept.

"She's panicking about going back to the way she was. I can't even talk to her."

I dropped my feet to the floor and stood, not even looking in Deaghlan's direction. "Where is she?"

"In the gardens," Liam said. "But Allison, once we get her home safely, I'll figure out how to break the geis. I will. This will all be over soon."

Something cold trickled down my spinal cord. "To break the geis," I said,"we need Aoife's amulet, don't we?"

Liam shifted. "Well, yes."

"And where is Aoife?" I looked over at Deaghlan.

I hadn't said anything about the incident with Aoife to anyone, but Deaghlan and Saoirse must have known she'd somehow escaped the fey sphere.

"You make things so much more interesting, Allison," Deaghlan said. He arched his brow, a slow smile spreading across his features.

"Aoife will be dealt with," Saoirse said from the door. "But, now it's time for all of you to go home."

"I'll talk to my mom," I said, and I slid out the door, happy to let Saoirse and Deaghlan handle the rest of that conversation.

My mother sat alone on a stone bench in one of the many thriving gardens. This one was filled with what smelled like herbs.

Her head hung limp as she stared at her hands folded in her lap. She lifted her chin as she heard me approach, though, and a hint of the mother I was used to stared back into my eyes. Not the Elizabeth from the stories my grandparents told, but the despondent mother I'd known most of my life.

I knew better than to be angry with her. None of this was her fault, I was well aware of that, but something snapped inside of me as I looked at her. Years of frustration and guilt bubbled up in my chest, bursting out in my words.

"You can't stay here," I said.

My mother nodded, looking back down at her hands. Her silence fueled my growing anger. Where was the strong, independent woman I'd heard so much about over the years? The rational part of my brain was appalled that I could feel this way, but the irrational side was much stronger at the moment.

"Do you remember my first day of kindergarten?" I said.

Her eyes jerked in my direction. "Yes," she said. "I was still lucid back then. Sometimes, anyway."

"I didn't want to go. I wanted to stay home with you and Gram. Do you remember what you said to me?"

My mother pressed her lips together and for a second I didn't think she'd answer me.

"No, not exactly. I just remember telling you that you had to go to school."

"You told me that you'd be right there waiting for me when I got off the bus. That's what got me through the day, knowing you'd still be there when I got home.

"No matter what happens Mom, I will be with you."

She took a deep breath and stood, looking at me with bright green eyes. I held my hand out and together we walked back inside.