Embracing the Dark

The Truth About Love

Niall stood outside Maeve's apartment, gathering his thoughts before he knocked. She had texted him rather suddenly, asking him to come over. And it was nearly the middle of the night. He wasn't sure what this was about, but hopefully nothing was wrong.

He had been worried since the last time he was here, wondering what she was thinking or feeling. But he wasn't going to find out standing outside her apartment staring at the door. So he took a deep breath and knocked.

A few moments later, the door opened. Music was playing and Maeve had a glass of amber liquid in her hand. Her demeanor was very different from last time. She had been almost embarrassed after their encounter, which wasn't unexpected. But tonight, she stared him straight in the eye, her features rigid. Whatever this was about, she didn't look happy.

Shit.

"That was fast," she commented before stepping back and letting him in.

He glanced around the apartment, noting the empty bottles of wine on the coffee table. The bottle of scotch on the island. Immediately, he worried that something had happened. Usually when people drank like this, it was for a reason. Typically not a good one.

"Is everything okay?" he asked, glancing at her.

Maeve chuckled, which relaxed him slightly despite the dark undertone to it.

"This wasn't all me. Ash was here earlier," she said, walking into the living room. "And well... I went to see my mother today, which typically involves a bottle of wine afterwards."

Niall stopped, his eyes wide. He knew that Maeve had a complicated relationship with her mother. And from the large amount of alcohol lying around, he assumed that it hadn't gone all that well.

"I wanted to see if there was more she could tell me about my father."

She stopped in front of the windows, looking down at the street.

"And?" he asked.

While he knew it couldn't have been an easy conversation, anything her mother could give them would help in his search for her father.

"Learned that he sent money. All those years, she was getting money from the bastard, and she didn't tell me," Maeve said dryly. "Planning to go to the bank and see if I can get all the records. Find out where it came from."

"That's, I suppose that's good news," Niall replied. "Could help find him."

"Yea, unfortunately, I set her and the whole damn ward off. She was dragged out of the room ranting and raving," Maeve responded, her body stiffening. "They asked me not to come back for a while."

From her posture and the tone of her voice, Niall guessed this wasn't the first time she had affected people around her. Which was curious. As Maeve was only half-faery, the charm should have kept her from affecting humans around her. So either the charm was wearing off, or she was stronger than he thought and would need to join his court before she seriously hurt someone.

While the thought of bringing her into his court sooner made him happy, it was hard to truly be happy about it when Maeve was obviously upset.

"I'm sure it wasn't-"

She spun around, stopping him from speaking, her eyes suddenly sharp and narrowed.

"Tell me what happened with Leslie."

Niall's eyes widened as he sucked in a quick breath. How the hell did she know about Leslie? And why would she ask him about her?

Oh wait, Aislinn had been here. Of course, the Summer Queen had brought that up. Probably warned Maeve against getting involved with him. Which was ridiculous. Niall wouldn't hurt Maeve. Couldn't now that he was king. Besides, she was only half human - surely that meant even if he weren't king, he wouldn't have as strong an effect.