"Bracken?" I called out, walking toward the mats.
He came out of one of the rooms at the end. "Hey," he said, hurrying over. "So, you heard the news, right?"
The look on the guy's face was adorable. Bracken was the school's weapons instructor and a sentinel. He was the very definition of a fae warrior with his pale hair, golden skin, and shockingly good looks, and while he'd always been nice, he looked like he could be a hard-ass if he needed to. I'd just never seen him need to.
But right now, the expression on his face was almost childlike. A little smile kept flickering over his lips and his eyes were darting around my face as if he was desperately trying to read my expression. In other words, he was nervous.
"So," I said, trying to sound as serious as I could, "you got the paperwork magicked to be official. I'm legally yours and Liam's daughter. There's just one thing I'm having a problem with."
"What?" he asked, his body going completely still as if bracing for the worst.
"If Liam's going to be 'Dad,' then what the hell am I supposed to call you?"
The man's breath rushed out and he stepped in to hug me. "I don't even care," he said, sighing when my arms closed around his back. "Liam always wanted a kid. I always wanted a daughter. Someone I could teach weapons to, who would be loud, dramatic, and a little bit wild." He leaned back to look at me. "We started talking about adopting you the day I hadyou work alone with Keir. I told Liam you're the perfect blend of me and him. The daughter we needed, and we'd been trying to figure out how to make it happen."
"And then I became the Morrigan," I realized.
He canted his head to the side and shrugged. "You were the Morrigan even then, Rain. We just didn't realize it. No, this power you have didn't make us want you, so don't even think that. It made us hurry to do it so we can protect you, but it is not what made us feel like you're already a part of our family." Then he turned me to the side and led me toward the room he'd come out of.
"I know that," I promised as we walked.
"Right now you do," he agreed. "But in a week, a month, or a decade, you'll start to wonder, so I'm making it clear. Liam and I were making arrangements to adopt you over the summer. We wanted to make sure a family was something you were even interested in. Most of all, we wanted to give you the chance to get used to the idea, and you being the Morrigan got in the way."
"So you weren't going to make me go back to the Sparks'?"
"Those assholes locked you in a room," he snarled. "Maybe the iron didn't hurt you, but what if it had? No, I was not going to allow you to be put in that situation again. Solitary confinement is a punishment, and you are a teenager. You have to screw things up to learn how to do it right. Parents are supposed to help steer you toward the little mistakes, not the big and dangerous ones."
"Were your parents good?" I asked.
He nodded. "Most fae parents are. That's why there are so many fae children on Earth. They gave their lives so their kids could live. My mother was the first intentional sacrifice the Mad Queen made in her attempt to get a child. My father got me out not long after, smuggling me through servants and peasants until I could reach a gate. I tried to make him come with me, but he wanted to lay a false trail. To this day, I don't know if he's alive or dead."
"I'm sorry," I breathed as we entered the room.
Bracken simply gestured to the walls. "But he taught me about this. These are all the weapons I know how to use. Somewhere in here will be the perfect fit for you."
It was a lot of weapons. More than I'd ever seen in one place. There were bows, daggers, swords, and spear-looking things. Slowly, I turned, trying to take in all of it. Bracken knew how to use every one of these?
"How old are you, Brack?" I asked.
He chuckled. "Thirty-nine, just a year older than Liam. Yes, I'm young. I really did go to school here, and I graduated a year ahead of Liam. Not much different than you and Keir, actually, except that he's got two years on you instead of one."
I groaned. "My love life is about to get complicated, isn't it?"
"Probably," he agreed. "But more than that, I want to talk to you about working with him. Rain, Keir's magic is defensive. He's a skilled fighter, and he's been taking my courses for a while. While you're the Morrigan, there's no reason you need to work alone, and everyone needs someone to watch their back in battle."
"But what battle?" I asked. "See, that's the thing, I don't even know what it is I'm supposed to do."
"There's always a battle," he told me. "I don't know if that means we'll find a way to open the gates and need to defeat the Mad Queen, if it will be the Hunt here, or something we won't see coming. There's always a battle, and the Morrigan is able to do things others can't. Namely, it's that you're immune to magic."
"And fae fight with magic," I realized.
He nodded. "I'm sure you've heard of Joan of Arc? The warrior woman who fought for God?"
"Yeah..."
"She was Joan le Fae to us, and the last Morrigan. In that sense, 'Fae' means being of our world, and most of our world is wildlings. So, Joan of the Wild power, or Joan of the people. Both interpretations are accurate."
"Oh." Because what else could I say to that?
