Itwasagoddessdamn bitch being right.
Especially when the swirling beacon of light from The Well flared, sparking a singular ember from its divinity. It sparkled over my head, shimmering in its descent to the stone step.
The three of us watched with bated breath as the small ember of light started to spin. Wider and taller its blurring light grew, a shadow slowly appearing with each pass. Then the light broke, scattering like dust around us, to reveal a tall fae female with long flowing silver hair that moved like a living entity around her. Slanted turquoise snapped open and bore straight into my being—so strong were its depths that they stripped me bare of all my secrets, knowing glittering in the tropical blues.
"Deirdre!" Emon snarled, lunging.
But my shadows snapped around him, a flaming wall of darkness rising between us, protecting my heart and soul from the replicated image of my former lover.
"Release me now,"Emon roared in my mind, his hands banging against the dark wall of shadows, punching through them with ease, as they were weakened by the light.
"Calm your fears and your malice, Goddess of the Wells, Shifter King. I know I look much like my daughter but I am not her."
I shivered at the elegantly layered sound of the spirit’s voice, deep and soft it flowed over us instantly with a sense of calm and forewarning. Everything about her was dangerous, from the proud way she stood embraced in light to the way her turquoise eyes stared through us all and beyond.
Tilting my head I studied the detail of her face. Slender nose, heart shaped lips, high cheekbones, dark lashes…her beauty was similar to Deirdre yes but it wasn't her. My gaze narrowed on the high slant of her ancient eyes.
"Talgira," I breathed, dropping the shadow shield already full of holes from Emon's vicious beating. His breath ragged, stepping behind me with an irritated snarl. I could not feel his heat, something I yearned for more than I realized, but I could still feel his powerful strength raging at my back.
A pearly white smile that did not meet her faraway gaze greeted me. "Yes. It is a pleasure tofinallymeet you, Remnant Dark. I know much about you."
My brows furrowed and I crossed my arms in front of me. "The sight may give you much knowledge but you know nothing about me."
She laughed but her smile lacked warmth. "I know that you have a heart of a mother but the soul of a monster. I know that you still do not believe you deserve love because it has betrayed you one too many times. I know that one time you had nothing to fear and suffered for it and now you have everything to fear but thrive because of it." Her gaze turned on my soulmate and daughter.
A shadow sword blurred into my hand. "You stay away from them."
Talgira turned back to me, her lips pinching in thought. "I know you cannot protect them from what is to come and saveFaerie—"
My sword rose, the shadows sparking off of it responding to the lethal anger inside me. "I'd choose your next words very carefully, Talgira."
Emon's deep growl vibrated the long swaying hair at my back and a glint from the tip of Riella's bás fang spear tilted over my shoulder, the tiny voice of our daughter clear and strong. "Do what maedere says spirit, choose carefully."
Talgira’s brow arched and for the first time they burned with warmth, seeing rather than looking at us. "That is…you cannot protect them from what is to come and save Faerieifyou don't learn to trust." She shook her head sadly, looking at the three of us. "My daughter has clearly stolen that from you, all of you, but it was I that stole it from her first."
Emon stepped beside me with Riella still poised on his shoulders, their glares identical. "Perhaps one would trust easier if you made the reason for your presence known instead of provoking my soulmate," he snarled and Riella nodded snarling along with him, her eyes flashing bright gold.
Talgira ignored him but her eyes fixated on Riella. "Hello, little one," she said, this time her smile was full but also echoed a deep sadness. "You are even more beautiful than when I first saw you in my sight the night I drugged Asher."
My shadow sword lowered, she had foreseen Riella all that time ago?
"Papa Asher is sleeping, he is not drugged." Riella thrust her spear outwards with a flourish, unknowing of the past story. "Are you here to help us or to hurt maedere, because if you’re here to harm her, then faedere and I will stop you."
Emon smirked, patting her knee affectionately, his fangs bared and his glare never leaving the ancient fae. "I couldn't have said it any better myself, my cub."
Tilting her head, Talgira stared for a moment longer at my daughter and I could see it then. That even in her spirit form, she still had the power of sight and new visions were swirling in her turquoise eyes.
"Look away," I hissed. My daughter’s future would be her own, no one else's. Fate and destiny could shelve their gossip for now.
Talgira blinked and then turned her deep gaze on me knowingly. "We are not enemies, Remnant Ezra Solaire Dark. I am here to assist you…to retrieve the lilin."
My chin tilted high and I tapped my shadow sword against my thigh. "Tell me, how do I find them?"
Her eyes flashed brightly, and I could see it now. The painful life she lived and the death that ended it much too soon. The dark corruption of vengeance, devouring her bright spirit piece by piece.
I wasn't the only one with a monstrous soul. "You are one of them. You are lilin," I whispered.
"I am one of many," she replied flatly.
