Mosi reached for me, grasping my elbow. “Yes, that is correct. Let’s go inside. We have tea and food waiting for you. There is much to celebrate and discuss.”
I snorted. Celebrate? He was out of his damn mind. “King Zephyr is still alive. There is nothing to celebrate until he’s nothing more than a bad memory.”
Mosi’s mahogany eyes glowered at me, and he dropped his hold as his hands turned to fists. “That fae is no king, and we do not address him as such on this island.” Then, he turned abruptly to go back inside the hut with Olida right behind him.
Finn smiled softly at me and shrugged. “Mosi is very passionate about his purpose in this life. Just go with it.”
Right. Like that would be easy for me to do.
When we entered the hut, it was even bigger than I expected, mostly taller. The first level was an open living area with wood-planked floors, a fireplace, large pillows for the only seats, and a small kitchen where Olida was already gathering items.
Finn guided me toward the cushions, and we both sat, following Mosi’s lead. Olida set a tray of fruit in the middle and took her place beside her mate, holding his hand. They shared an intense gaze, and I nearly choked on the strawberry I’d grabbed. Emotions slammed into me, and Finn patted my back.
Even without my inner voice, I clearly still had problems with public displays of affection, but it was different than before. This time, there was a bit of jealousy there and that was something I’d never experienced.
I knew nothing about mates. I barely knew anything about Finn. I had no idea how all of this was supposed to work, and I didn’t like all of the uncertainties, but at least our chemistry had always been hot. Everything else, though, put me on edge as I waited for Mosi to start explaining what the hell was going on.
“Where shall we start?” Mosi asked, grabbing his tea and taking a sip.
“How about the beginning? Why did you send Finn to find me?” I asked.
Mosi grinned above his cup. “Oh, child. That’s not the beginning. Everything that is happening around you started many years ago. Zephyr has been after you since the day you were born.”
“What?” Finn snarled while I sat there in shock. Though, I was thankful that he hadn’t known that detail. If he’d been keeping anything big to do with my past from me, I wasn’t sure I’d be able to forgive him. Hiding his relationship with Mosi was one thing, but anything more was crossing a line I couldn’t come back from. Bond or no bond, I would hurt him.
“What do you mean he’s been after me?” I asked.
“Well, when you were born and you exposed feathered wings, your parents didn’t know what to do with you. All they’d known was that fae like you were an abomination. So, they’d gone to see the queen, but Zephyr found them first.”
Abomination. That was certainly one word for how they’d made me feel.
Mosi continued, “Zephyr convinced them you were perfect as is, that there was nothing wicked about you. He promised them that if you did anything wrong, he would take full responsibility for it.”
My hands tightened around the cup I held. “Of course, they were only concerned I’d ruin their standing. All they ever cared about was moving up the social ladder.”
Mosi held my gaze. “Unfortunately, that is true. With Zephyr’s interest in you, they went along with whatever he said. Your parents didn’t have an easy upbringing of their own. While that doesn’t justify their actions, if you knew, it might help things make more sense.”
I narrowed my eyes at him, slamming the cup I’d been holding down so hard that liquid spilled onto the floor. “I don’t give a damn about the people who gave me life. They were never parents to me, and I hope to never see them again.”
Olida stiffened next to Mosi, and he held her hand, but she kept her head high as her gaze intensified on me. “Your parents were killed after they tried to blackmail Zephyr. They were demanding money from him after they saw what he was using you for. Zephyr doesn’t take kindly to threats, and Gabriel took care of them.”
She paused, seeming to be waiting for a reaction out of me. I could feel Finn staring at me, but I wasn’t sure what any of them expected. I would not cry for either of the people who created me. I meant what I said, and this new information was nothing more than peace of mind. My parents had brought whatever fate they were served onto themselves. They could have loved me, but they’d chosen not to. Everything after that was on them.
Trying to get the conversation back on track, I asked, “Why did Zephyr have such an interest in me? I’m not the first fae born with feathered wings.”
Mosi nodded. “That is true, but you are the first who couldn’t be classified as either a light or dark fae.”
No. No, that couldn’t be right. My vision blurred as I tried to understand what he was saying. I’d always known who I was and what I was. Mosi had to be wrong.
“What the hell did you just say?”
Chapter 4
Magic pulsed off me in sync with the pounding of my heart. Mosi had to be mistaken. There was no way that could be true. I was filled only with a powerful darkness. It had guided me my whole life. Maybe this fae wasn’t as wise as he’d convinced Finn.
“I know this is hard to understand, but it is true. I’ve met plenty of our kind, and it’s usually a similar story, but yours is the most unique I’ve found. The other feathered fae, me included, have both light and dark magic within them, but we can’t choose between the two. Though, what’s surprised me the most during all of this is how Finn has become like the rest of us.”
Finn glanced at me and then back at Mosi, his ire also rising. “What does that mean?”
I wasn’t going to make it much longer before I really lost my shit and any chance of getting answers. Mosi was making it really hard for me to see reason, given the words coming out of his mouth.
Olida stood. “Dear, you better move that mouth of yours faster, or these two will leave us. I’m going to get something stronger than this tea, and you better be done when I’m back.”
Now that was the kind of fae I could possibly like. Though, for her, it was still to be determined given she’d screwed with my head.
Mosi watched his mate leave the hut with a shimmer of something in his eyes I didn’t understand, but suddenly, I wanted to. Damn bond.
“My better half is right. Please, have patience with me. It will make sense when I am done,” he said.
“Talk fast,” was my only reply.
Mosi nodded. “Lucinda, when you were born to dark fae parents, it made sense for you to be dark as well. When you didn’t associate one way or the other, Zephyr made it seem as if you were dark by using magic of his own to avoid any questions from anyone who might encounter you. Fae don’t know much about our feathered kind, so there was never any reason to doubt you couldn’t be a welcomed part of our community.”
I scoffed. “Welcomed” was a bit farfetched.
Mosi nodded at me. “I’ve already mentioned how you ended up in the care of Zephyr. He turned you into the weapon he always hoped you’d be, but just like everything else in his life, when you began to find your own sense of understanding, he thought you were worthless.”