Daughter of a Monarch (4 page)

“Wait!” He looks over his shoulder. “Is this a good place to have this conversation?”

I shake my head. “Nowhere in the castle is a good place to have
this
conversation. However, this is probably the safest place for now. But seriously, Isaac. You should go. Saying bye to you wasn’t an invitation to stay. ”

I try to walk away again, but he ignores my advice and glances at two stools. He brings them to the corner we’re standing in. I start to walk away, but he doesn’t allow it. He places me on a stool against my will, and I lean my back against the wall, defeated.

He takes a seat and looks at me. If he stares at me any more intensely he’ll probably be able to control my mind.
What’s his deal?
I look away.

A burst of laughter escapes my lips. Out of the corner of my eyes, I watch Isaac’s forehead crease.

“You find this funny?” He seemed annoyed.

“Sorry, I laugh when I’m uncomfortable. Nervous habit.”

He continues to stare at me.

I shift in my seat. “Did you come here to talk or to stare into each other’s eyes in silence? Which you should know, is freaking me out. ” I chew on the inside of my cheek nervously.

I’m not nervous because of Isaac; I’m nervous because I know my mom or dad will be in here looking for me soon since I left dinner pissed off. I continue to feel the sting of his eyes on me.

“Seriously, stop staring like that. Fucking weirdo,” I mumble.

He laughs. When I suspect that he’s stopped looking at me, I look at him only to realize he’s never looked away.

He smiles. “Sorry. I’m trying to figure all of this out. My dad told me stories when I was growing up about a girl he knew. I feel like I know her because that’s how much he talked about her. The girl he talked about is your mom. It’s all just strange. And then he mentioned you, and—”

He goes to say more but stops when we hear footsteps and Dad’s loud, worried voice yelling my name. I look over at Isaac, but he’s not there anymore. I use my magic to send a book flying into my hands. I open it quickly to a random page and start reading.

Dad’s voice gets closer and closer until he’s standing in front of me. “There you are!”

I raise a brow and peek at him over the book. “Yup. Here I am.” I give him a small smile then go back to reading my book. Well, skimming over words.

“I was worried you left again. I went to your room, and you weren’t there. I wanted to come make sure you’re all right. You seemed upset at dinner.”

I set the book down in my lap. “I
am
upset. What’s going on, Dad?”

“It’s complicated.” He sits down on the stool that Isaac was just sitting on. I try to channel my lucky stars, hoping he won’t be able to sense foreign magic was here just moments ago.

“Your mother admitted that she told you a little bit about what we’ve kept from you.”

“She did? Are you angry with her?”

He shrugged. “Actually, I am. I wanted to protect you from all of this. I wanted to keep you in a bubble and wanted you to live a life without fear. I’ve never known a life like that and always promised myself that my kids wouldn’t live like I did.”

“That sounds great, but it’s not fair, Dad. Just tell me what’s going on. Please.”

“No.”

“Why?” I stomp my foot against the metal bar on the stool.

“Because your life is already complicated enough. I don’t want to make it worse. I want to protect you from reality.”

“Protect me? I call bullshit, Dad! And don’t look at me like that. My colorful vocabulary is more than necessary right now!”

“A, please.”

“No!” I point my finger at him. “Don’t ‘
A, please’
me! Tell me! Mom already did, but I want to hear it from you.” Tears fill my eyes. Does he realize how much it hurts me that him and Mom have been hiding all of this from me?

He rubs his temples and closes his eyes. When he’s done taking a few self-convincing breaths, he opens his eyes to look at me.

“What all did your mother tell you?”

“How there were two of her. Mortal and Fae. She said something about her age made them mesh together or something like that.” I stop, trying to remember everything else she said.

“Is that all?”

I shake my head. “No, she also told me I have family in Gaia. A little about…Him,” I say, not mentioning Cohen’s name in fear that Dad would pop a vein in his forehead.

“I see,” Dad says, rubbing his temples again.

“She misses them, Daddy. A lot. I could see the pain in her eyes. Why can’t she see them?”

“It’s complicated.”

“Would everyone stop saying that!”

“No, we won’t, because it is. It’s not something that can be explained easily. Get mad, throw another tantrum, but some things are better unsaid for right now. You have to trust our decisions.”

I stand, stomping my foot. “Trust your decisions?” I say, mocking his disgruntled tone. “How am I supposed to trust your decisions when I have no idea the reasoning behind them!”

“A…” he says closing his eyes. “You’ve never had a problem trusting me before. Why now do you decide to stop?” He looks at me, pleading that I stop pushing this.

I huff in defeat. “So, it’s true what Mom said. She basically had two lives?” I ask, changing the subject.

He nods.

“That’s insane.”

“It is. And so insane that you have to promise me you won’t go back to Gaia, Sweetheart. It’s dangerous.”

“Dangerous because of Cohen?” I quickly regret the mention of his name when Dad’s eyes fill with fire.

“Just stay away from Gaia.”

I look at my feet. “All right.”

“And Isaac, Cohen’s son, stay away. All right?”

I nod as I slowly lift my eyes from my feet to look at Dad. “I’ll stay away from Gaia and Isaac Aberdeen.”

“Go get some rest. Tomorrow you train with Uncle Jett and Uncle Mason.”

“But, Daaaaad, I already know how to use my magic!”

“But you are still working on fighting with it. And things have been off lately. You will train until we all think you are ready to take on unexpected trouble, which could very well happen since your little escapade to Gaia.”

“Can you explain what trouble I should expect?”

“I can’t explain something that I know nothing about. I don’t know what to expect now, but I do know we need to be prepared. So, you train tomorrow.”

Dad raises a brow at me waiting for my agreement.

“Yes, sir.” I roll my eyes.

He stands. “I really hope this eye-rolling thing is just a faze. I don’t like it, A.”

“I don’t even realize I do it most of the time. Goodnight, Dad.”

“Night, A.”

I HUNCH OVER
and place my hands on my knees as I crack up laughing at Uncle Mason, who I just sent flying into the nearby pond. Uncle Jett is laughing silently, but it’s obvious he’s just as tickled as I am by the forceful up-and-down jerking of his shoulders.

I watch as Uncle Mason gets out of the pond and makes his clothes instantly dry. He plants his hands on his hips and frowns at me.

Uncle Jett pats my back. “Good job, Kid.”

I watch Uncle Mason leave to go inside. “Are you sure? Or did I take it too far? I think he’s mad.” I look at Uncle Jett.

He laughs and shakes his head. “You didn’t take it too far. That was perfect.”

I place my hands on my hips. “Why do I have the feeling you got some personal satisfaction from that?”

“Well, he does think of himself as indestructible. It was nice to see a seventeen-year-old send him flying. And the pond was a bonus.”

We both laugh.

“All right, let’s try something else while we wait for him to come back out.”

I nod as I tuck hair behind my ears.

He starts thrusting magic toward me. I immediately block it with my own magic shield.

My hair whips fiercely around my face as my magic builds. I grin wickedly when the branches on the trees begin to sway from side to side. The sound of them bending and the breeze hypnotizes me, causing me to lose myself to my magic.

My fingertips tingle with power. I tilt my head to the side as I watch Uncle Jett struggle against me. Allowing my magic to leave me with this much force is the most exhilarating feeling I have ever experienced.

The euphoria of my power takes over every inch of me. Wind circulates fiercely around me and wet strands of hair stick to my cheeks. A colossal amount of magic builds inside of me, and I don’t even attempt to contain it. I have to release it.

“A, stop! Stop it now,” I faintly hear someone yell.

My arms feel like they’re floating and are moving at their own will. Warm electricity bursts from my fingertips. I feel others’ magic trying to invade my perfect storm, but it can’t.

A smile creeps ever so slightly across my lips. This feels so—

I fall to the ground gasping for air.
What just happened?
I quickly come back to reality, realizing the amount of magic that I released was too much. I lie down in the grass, holding my aching head in my hands while I slowly absorb my magic that is still behaving disruptively.

My eyes flutter shut but I force them open to try to focus on the others around me. I try to sit up but stop when hands hold my shoulders down. My eyes shut again.

“A, I’m so sorry, but you were out of control! Are you all right?” Dad’s voice is faint.

I nod and groan. That’s the best I can do with my world spinning and breakfast threatening to make a re-appearance. Speaking intelligible words would be impossible right now.

I feel Dad start to lift me, but I shake my head no. “Just leave me here. I’ll be fine,” I surprisingly am able to croak out.

“We need to get you inside. You’ve never done this before.”

I don’t want to talk. I don’t want to do a damn thing, but I need answers. What the hell did I just do?

I take a few deep breaths tying to work up the strength to talk. “Could it have something to do with my Fae abilities and my Versipellis abilities?” My eyes struggle to stay open and my voice is hoarse.

“We aren’t confident you have Fae abilities, Sweetheart,” Mom says kneeling down beside me.

“Well, did you have issues like this?” I ask her.

“No. I acquired my abilities way differently.” She looks at Dad. “I think she needs to call it a day.”

He nods. “I do too.” He looks at me worriedly. “Come inside and lie down for a little while.”

I nod. “Sounds like a great idea. How’s Uncle Jett?”

“He’ll survive.” Dad laughs a little and scoops me into his arms.

After Dad left the castle to take care of some things, I sneak outside for fresh air. I don’t make it very far and find the bench in the garden. I lie down and fall asleep.

I almost jump out of my skin when I sense magic that feels familiar. I sit up, and my eyes widen with shock when I see Isaac sitting beside me.

I quickly stand to my feet and shove him behind a tree a little harder than I should. My world spins. I close my eyes and steady myself against the tree.