Page 16

Raza and I got dressed, casting grins at each other. Then we went to open the treasure room—its entrance hidden near the fireplace. But a little dragon girl stopped us.

“Mommy!” Shahzadi, our daughter, pounded on the bedroom door.

I turned away and went to the door as Raza opened the passage. Shahzy launched herself at me—a wild thing of streaming crimson hair, made all the brighter by her pure-black skin. Her wings drew in as I crouched to catch her, and I got a glimpse of her bright green eyes before she was in my arms. Those eyes had golden star points over the irises even though she was technically a full-blooded Dragon-Djinn.

“Shahzy!” I squeezed her. “How's my dragon-girl?”

“I'm good.” Shahzadi kissed my cheek and stepped back.

I pulled a leaf out of her hair and stood up. Casting it aside, I said, “Been flying today?”

“Uh-huh.” She glanced at her daddy to add, “But I stayed within sight of the castle and my guards went with me.”

“Good girl.” Raza joined us, his large hand going out to stroke her hair. “Maybe braid your hair next time, dragonling. Then you won't have to go through the pain of untangling it.”

“Okay, Daddy.” She took his hand, hers looking so tiny in his despite her recent growth spurt.

I tried not to feel insulted by Shahzy taking Raza's hand and not mine. She had given me a warm welcome, obviously excited that I was home. She loved me. I knew that. She just loved her daddy more. Always has. Shahzy was a Daddy's girl through and through. And I loved that for them. I did. It also hurt a little.

I had my Rowan, though. She adored her parents equally. Or, if she didn't, she was too sweet to let on. And now there was Mirielle—another daughter to get close to. Not that I wasn't close to my sons. Falcas and I were definitely close, but Caelum was a miniature version of Daxon—a little harder for me to relate to. Maybe that's a harsh thing to say about my son, but it's the truth, and it didn't lessen my love for him.

Just as Shahzy's dedication to her father didn't lessen my love for her.

“Daddy was angry when he left,” Shahzadi said to me. Her tone seemed a little sassy, but that was standard for her, so it was difficult to say if she was chiding me or not.

Raza said it was a trait of all Dragon-Djinn—that they're born feeling superior. I, however, think it's because he coddles her. Nurture versus nature. And Raza's nurturing was that of a man wrapped around his daughter's finger. Maybe that's why she loved her daddy the best.

“Yes, I know,” I said to her. “And don't tell tales about your father. What happens between us is not your concern.”

“Seren,” Raza whispered.

I lifted my brows at him as I stood up—a challenge in the act.

He sighed. “Your mother's right. You don't need to tell her things about me. She knows all.”

Shahzy pouted, but then said, “Okay, Daddy.”

“Okay, Daddy,” I muttered.

“Seren?” Raza gaped at me.

“Sorry. It's nothing.”

Raza cleared his throat. “Come here, dragonling.”

He picked Shahzy up even though she was too big for that now. That didn't matter when you were Raza's size. He could have carried me in the same way—propped on his hip like a country woman with a toddler. Shahzy immediately vanished her wings to make carrying her easier on her father.

“Are you staying a while, Mommy?” Shahzy asked.

I instantly felt guilty. It was my fault that I didn't have the same connection with Shahzy that Raza had. I simply didn't spend the same amount of time with her. That was the price of having so much love in your life. The love you give gets thinned out.

I frowned, thinking of Star and how much thinner my love would get if it had to stretch to include him and a family on Hell.

“Mommy?” Shahzadi asked again.

“Oh! Sorry, baby.” I stroked her cheek. “Oh, my beautiful girl. You are so special.”

She beamed at me.

“I wish I could spend more time with you.”

Her smile faded. “But you have to work?”

Ugh! This was what human mothers went through. This terrible guilt. Enduring those very words. Except that human mothers had to work to support their children, while I worked because Anu asked it of me. I suppose God's request is just as important as taking care of your family, but it didn't feel like that when I looked at my daughter and saw her crestfallen expression.

“I do,” I said. “But you know I'll come to see you when the mission is done, and we can go flying, then have a picnic, and whatever else you want to do.”

“Promise?”

“I promise.” I kissed her cheek. “I love you, Shahzy.”

“I love you too, Mommy.”

My other children, except for Miri, called me “mother” or “mom.” They were almost ten, after all. And Shahzy did too, but she also called me mommy a lot, especially when she felt needy. I blamed that on Raza too. Because I could.

Raza set Shahzy down. “Go on now, dragonling. Your mother and I have to look for something that could be important to her mission.”

“What?”

“A book?”

“A book?” She frowned.

“Shahzy.”

I blinked at the warning in Raza's tone. I had called him on his weak parenting a few times, and he'd been making an effort to be firmer with her. But it still surprised me.

“Okay, Daddy.” She wilted and so did Raza.

But he didn't weaken. “Good girl. Go on now. I'll be home later.”

“I love you!”

“I love you too, dragonling.” Raza crouched to hug her.

Then I did the same. It made me feel a little better when Shahzy hurried into my arms.

“I love you, Mom.”

Aw, Mom. So she wasn't feeling as needy anymore. Good.

“I love you too, baby girl.” I kissed her cheek and nudged her toward the door.

After we had the door shut and locked, Raza and I went into the treasure room. It was surprisingly large for a hidden room. The first time I entered it, I was shocked that it was off the master bedroom, but the more I thought about it, the more that made sense. What safer place for the treasures of Unseelie than hidden within the King's bedroom? Anyone who wanted to get into the treasure room had to get past Raza first.

Frankly, if you could get past Raza, you deserved whatever treasure you could hold.

Raza led the way into the treasure room, taking me past shelves full of precious and powerful things. He paused, looking around, then went to a set of drawers whose tops formed a counter down the center of the room. Raza pulled open a couple of drawers before he found what he was after. He set a book as thick as my hand on the top of the drawers.

Bound in black leather, of course, it had the silhouette of a dragon on the cover, embossed in silver. No words. Just the dragon.

“This is King Raza the First's spellbook?”

“Yes.” Raza opened the book and started skimming the pages without bothering to angle it toward me. I didn’t mind since I couldn’t read the Fey language the book was written in.

Yeah, I know. I'm the Queen of two out of the three Fairy kingdoms in Fairy (and one on Earth). I've been Queen for several years. I should know the language by now. But I've been busy.

“Here it is,” Raza said. “This spell can summon anyone to you, no matter their race. It will pull them through any barrier as well, bringing them directly to you.”

“Sounds as if it would work on Demons.”

“It would. But you need something personal from your target—a bit of hair, nail, or blood. It can't be lint off their shirt. It must be of their body.”

“And there's no way that Witch got a piece of Losuc.”

“It's doubtful.”

“What else is in there?” I peered at the parchment pages. Anything that might help us?”

Raza shut the book and put it back in the drawer.

“Raza?”

“No.”

“What the hell, Raza?”

“That is not a path I want to go down, Seren. I believe it's what turned my grandfather into a mad tyrant.”

I stared at him. “Are the spells bad?”

“They are spells created out of necessity. Often necessity means war.”

“So, that's a yes.” I thought about it. “Uisdean was insane too. Could it be because of his spells?”

“Perhaps. Perhaps it simply exacerbated things.” Raza grimaced. “I liked Uisdean once. But I was a different man back then.”

“Maybe we should destroy the book,” I whispered, as if the thing could hear me. You never know.

“I've tried, mo shíorghrá. It is indestructible.”

“Why doesn't that surprise me?” I muttered. “Okay. Then keep that book safe, babe.”

“I will.”

We left the treasure room, and Raza sealed it up.

He turned to face me and then saw my expression. “Seren, no.”

“Babe, you only came to Earth for reassurance. Done. You got it. And now we know this is a Witch issue with Demon undertones, not an Unseelie Fey issue.”

“One could argue that they are the same.”

“I think the Coven would shoot that argument down.”

Raza sighed. “I don't want to wait here.”

“I know. But it's not fair to Tiernan, Daxon, and Sever if I take you back.”

“Son of a bitch!”

I chuckled and hugged him. “At least you got some nookie.”

Raza shook his head but then lowered it to kiss me.

It was a long, passionate kiss that would have led to more if I didn't have to leave. But we'd already taken too much time from the mission. Killian was going to be pissed.

So, I eased back and said, “I love you.”

“I love you too.” Raza nuzzled my forehead. “When you get some free time, scry the others and tell them about Anu.”

I groaned.

“You don't want me to do it.”

“Yeah, all right,” I grumbled. “Bye.”

Raza finally grinned. “Goodbye, mo shíorghrá.”