Something Witchy This Way Comes: A Jolie Wilkins Novel (33 page)

“Then it was true, my father was a Lurker?” I said, my voice sounding stony.

Mathilda nodded. “Yes. There was a raid on one of our villages and many of the fae were killed. Others were abducted, and Keila was one of them.”

I sighed deeply, realizing Mathilda’s account paralleled Luce’s so far. “Luce told me that my father fell in love with my mother while she was his prisoner.”

“Yes,” Mathilda said with a sweet smile. “Your father was quite taken with Keila.” Her eyebrows arched as she turned to another thought. “It was perhaps
six months before we saw Keila again. When your father fell in love with her, the others rejected them and they sought shelter from us. Of course we willingly took them in. We believed your father to be a good man.”

“Even though he’d raided your village?” I asked, surprised.

Mathilda nodded. “Your father begged our forgiveness, said he had atoned for his ways. And in the end we believed him. People have it within themselves to change, to atone for their mistakes.” She took a deep breath. “Your father and mother lived happily among our kind for perhaps a year. When your mother learned she was with child, your father was so excited, Jolie. I remember his smile as if it were only yesterday.”

I ran my hand across my stomach, reminding myself of my own baby and the fact that I too would be a parent. And a feeling of deep contentment welled up inside of me. There was nothing I’d ever wanted more than to be a mother, and a wife to Rand. “Go on.”

“Your father died shortly thereafter.”

I felt the breath catch in my throat as a feeling of deep sadness settled in my gut, replacing the balmy happiness I’d felt only moments before. “What did he die from?”

Mathilda shrugged. “No one knew for certain. It was quite a mystery, though I have always been certain that he was killed by the Lurker elder.”

“Luce,” I said out loud, hating his name on my lips.

She nodded. “Of course I have no proof, but it
seemed a strange coincidence for the poor young man to die when he was so very happy.”

“And my mother?”

Mathilda nodded as if reminding herself of where she’d left off in her story. “Shortly after your father’s death, your mother was overcome with such sorrow that she simply went mad. She became a threat to herself and to you, her unborn child.”

“To us,” I corrected, thinking of Bryn. “There were two of us, Bryn and me.”

Mathilda nodded and frowned as she shook her head. “Yes, two.” She paused for a moment. “I never did realize Keila was pregnant with twins. How foolish of me not to have checked.”

“It’s in the past now, Mathilda,” I said sincerely, realizing it disturbed Mathilda, deeply by the looks of it.

She offered me a smile, but it was sad, bereft. “One day Keila wandered out of the fae village and I never saw her again. She simply disappeared.”

“And that must have been when the Lurkers found her,” I finished. Mathilda simply nodded, and I faced her again, needing to ask the final question in this tangled web, needing to understand why I was just now hearing this story. “Why didn’t you tell me?”

She sighed, long and hard, but didn’t look at all surprised. “During the time your mother was with us, I received a series of visions proclaiming that the progeny of your father and mother would be incredibly gifted. I realized I couldn’t allow the Lurkers to claim you for their own. Through fairy magic, I was able to locate you, and when I learned you were born
in a human hospital, I simply switched you with another baby.”

“And the Lurkers never found me,” I said softly.

She nodded, her lips drawn into a tight line, her jaw rigid. “I was quite careful to disguise you throughout the years, child,” she said, sounding pleased with herself. But then, it was clear she had pulled off a pretty amazing feat—hiding me from the Lurkers for over twenty years …

“So you always knew where I was?”

She nodded. “I kept a strict watch over you.”

I’d been a pawn in this battle between the Underworld and the Lurkers from the moment I was born. It was a strange thought. And even stranger was the idea that I’d never had the slightest inkling about it. “And no one else ever knew about this?”

Mathilda gulped, apparently uneasy with this part of her story. “No. You were my secret and mine alone.”

“Why?”

She cleared her throat and glanced down at the ground as if this next bit of information was hard for her to divulge. Then she looked up at me again and her eyes were fearful. “I acted without the blessing of the King.”

“Odran?” I asked, surprised, because I knew that Odran adored Mathilda and vice versa.

Mathilda shook her head emphatically. “No, this was long before Odran’s reign. King Lucan was not the benevolent King that Odran is. He wanted to maintain separation between the fae and the other creatures of the Underworld, and he strictly forbade me from getting involved in what he considered foreign
affairs.” She paused for a second or two, biting her lip as if her story still bothered her as much now as it had then. “But I could not ignore you, Jolie. I knew that I had to protect you, and ensure that you didn’t fall into the hands of our enemies, even if it meant acting against the orders of my King.”

“What would have happened to you if he found out?” I asked, surprised to hear that she’d broken a law. If Mathilda was anything, it was a law-abiding fae citizen.

She swallowed. “I could have been put to death for my transgressions.” She paused and took a few deep breaths. “Once Odran took the throne, it seemed the story had taken on a life of its own, and I was afraid to tell him, afraid to tell anyone.”

“Odran never would have faulted you for it,” I said softly.

“No, but by fairy law I could still have been punished for breaking my vows to my King, even though another had taken the throne.” She paused for a few moments. “And by then, I thought it better to keep the secret to myself.”

I nodded, understanding her reasons and by no means faulting her for them. It was all thanks to Mathilda that I was standing here today. Without her interference, who knows what would have happened to me? “Thank you, Mathilda, thank you for what you did.”

She beamed at me and there were tears in her eyes. “I always knew you were someone special, someone who would lead our people to prosperity and unity. And I was right, Jolie. I was right.”

Now fully aware of my history, I felt somehow content. And the fact that I was part Lurker? I couldn’t say it mattered much. Because in my own mind, my parents were like Romeo and Juliet. Doomed from the very beginning, they both died for the most noble cause imaginable—love. Honestly, I didn’t even consider my father a Lurker. No, I considered him to be one of my own kind. And that was when it occurred to me that the only other person who was also a by-product of my parents’ love was my sister.

I will do everything in my power to make amends with Bryn
, I told myself. We
were
blood, and I wanted to make sure we became the sisters our parents would have wanted us to be.

I stepped out of the shower and after toweling myself off got into my jammies, noticing the gentle rain now pelting my bedroom windows. The moonlight reflected against the drops, and they looked like diamonds clinging to the glass. I unwrapped the towel around my head and, grabbing my comb, started for my bed.

“Jolie.”

It was Rand’s voice, followed by a gentle knock on the door. He knew I’d been expecting him, so he didn’t wait for a response. He just turned the doorknob, opening the door. He had showered as well, although the trauma from the battle still decorated his face and body in bruises and lacerations.

Seeing him, I couldn’t help the heat that bubbled up within me. I wasn’t sure if it was my reaction or his or maybe both of ours.

“How are you feeling?” he asked, opening his arms
for me to rush into them. His hand encircled my stomach as I rested my face against his chest.

“Exhausted,” I admitted.

I giggled as he lifted me into his arms and carried me to our bed. Setting me at the foot of it, he pulled the duvet cover aside, then hoisted me into his arms again and nestled me among the pillows. He sat behind me, and taking the comb from my hand, started separating my wet tresses, combing through each of them.

“I’ve reinstated Sinjin,” I said calmly, wondering how Rand would take the news.

He was quiet for a few seconds but didn’t stop combing my hair. “I must admit that Sinjin’s actions of late have surprised me,” he finally said.

“How so?”

Rand cleared his throat. “I did not think it possible that the vampire could act out of anything other than selfishness, but it seems I was wrong on that count.”

“I think you were,” I concurred.

He chuckled. “While I will never call Sinjin ‘friend,’ I see nothing wrong with you reinstating him.”

I glanced back at him, my eyes wide. “Wait, what was that?” I asked, dropping my mouth in a wide circle as I pretended to clean out my ears. “I must have bad hearing because I could have sworn Rand Balfour just admitted that Sinjin Sinclair wasn’t such a bad guy.”

Rand chuckled again and lightly pinched the top of my butt. “I wouldn’t go that far, smart arse.”

I felt the laugh escape my lips as I leaned back against his chest. I was relieved that there was a lull in the storm and that our battle with the Lurkers was
over, for now anyway. I had no doubt that Luce and Nairn were regrouping, working on their next attack against us, but I was happy not to worry about it for the moment.

“What are you thinking about?” Rand asked, and shifted my hair behind my ear, running his finger down the side of my face.

“I was just thinking about how happy I am,” I said in a soft voice. “I mean, I know it sounds crazy, since who knows what’s going to happen with the Lurkers …”

“We know much more about them now, Jolie, and that can only benefit us. They aren’t the unknown threat they once were.” He inhaled. “And knowledge is power.”

That much was true. I now knew what the Lurkers’ weaknesses were, and that information was priceless. Now we could prepare ourselves for a threat we finally understood.

“Jolie, I nearly lost my mind when you were in Luce’s camp,” Rand whispered. I started to respond but he shushed me. “I just want you to know how much I love you, how much I’ve always loved you.”

I pulled away and turned around, facing him. Reaching out, I took his hand. “I love you too, Rand. You’re the only person in this entire world that I want to be with, that I want to grow old with.”

He smiled and brought my hand to his mouth, kissing it. “You know it’s funny, but the day I walked into your store in Los Angeles years ago, I had this uncanny feeling that I was somehow coming home.”

I gave him a curious look. This was the first I’d ever heard of it. “You did?”

He nodded. “I didn’t understand it at the time of course,” he said, a nostalgic smile lighting his lips. “I just remember looking into your beautiful blue eyes while you held my hands in your reading room, and I thought to myself, this just feels … right.”

I closed the gap between us, lying down on top of him as I rested my head against his. I didn’t say another word, just listened to Rand’s gentle breathing while reflecting on the fact that while I’d never before fully accepted my role as Queen, I accepted it now. Now, I hungered to be the Queen my people needed.

Despite my mixed-blood heritage, I was first and foremost Jolie Wilkins. I was a girl who had never really thought much of herself, but with the teaching and love of a warlock and the companionship of a vampire, I’d come to realize just how capable I was. Now I was strong, courageous, and powerful. I was a loyal friend as much as I was a loving partner. I was a mother and a leader.

Jolie Wilkins, Queen of the Underworld …

Yep, it had a nice ring to it.

Jolie thinks she’s seen it all, but life continues to spring surprises. The latest shocker? She’s just been crowned Queen of the Underworld. Jolie may possess a rare gift for reanimating the dead, but she doesn’t know the first thing about governing disparate factions of supernatural creatures. She can barely maintain order in her own chaotic personal life, which is heading into a romantic tailspin
.

First there’s sexy warlock Rand, the love of her life, from whom Jolie is hiding a devastating secret. Then there’s Sinjin, a darkly seductive vampire and Jolie’s sworn protector—though others suspect he harbors ulterior motives. As the two polar opposite yet magnetic men vie for Jolie’s affection, she must keep her wits about her to balance affairs of state and affairs of heart. Overwhelmed, under pressure, and longing for love, Jolie decides it’s time to take charge—and show everyone that this queen won’t take jack
.

“So, no more ghostly encounters?” Christa, my best friend and only employee, asked while leaning against the desk in our front office. She was referring to the fact that the previous evening I’d seen my first ghost.