Joe moved up next to me. "Remember what I said?"
I nodded. The toys were either the sign of a sweet family living here or a psycho who wanted to attract children. At this point, neither would surprise me. A light flickered on next to the front door, and it swung open. I couldn't make out the details of the person standing behind the screen door.
"Adam, that you?" An older woman's voice cut through the quiet night air.
I tensed and stopped walking. I knew that voice. My jaw clenched, and I balled my hands into fists. Without waiting for Joe or Adam, I pushed past them and marched up to the front door to find myself staring face to face with my Aunt Kay. The woman who abandoned Ryder and me after she cleaned out and sold everything my parents owned.
She smiled at me. "Thank the gods you're safe, Arabella."
Hands on my hips, I glared at her. She was the only one who knew me who used my full name. She was also technically family, though being my adopted father's sister, we weren't related by blood. I had hoped our awkward interaction at my parents' funeral was going to be the last time I saw her. "You have some nerve."
"Arabella, you have to let me explain. Come in, have some tea." She stepped back into the house, holding the door open for me to enter. I stood frozen on the porch. I didn't want to go anywhere with her.
Adam went through the door and spoke to my Aunt Kay. "Told you she'd be pissed."
"Thanks, Adam. Where's Maggie?" Aunt Kay asked.
"Stayed to fight the wolves. You were right, they were tracking her." Adam disappeared into the house.
Joe joined me on the porch.
"Who's this?" Aunt Kay asked, nodding at Joe.
"My friend, Joe," I said.
"Well, come on in, Joe. Arabella quit being so damn stubborn and get in this house. We have a lot to talk about."
Part of me wanted to just make a run for it. She was one of the long list of people who had betrayed me over the years. The last thing I wanted to do was spend any time with her. But somehow, she was involved in all of this, and she'd sent people to find me. With a sigh, I walked through the door.
Aunt Kay led us into a sitting room with couches covered in the most awful yellow paisley pattern I'd ever seen. In the middle of the room was a tray of tea and cookies. "Since when did you play the nice old aunt?"
She winced and a look of pain crossed her face. "You know, keeping my distance from you has been one of the hardest things I've ever had to do." She motioned to the couch. "Please sit."
I sat down on the couch, and Joe sat next to me. He stayed close, his leg right up against mine. It was as if he was letting me know he wasn't going anywhere. I appreciated his support. He'd heard the stories about my aunt, and I was sure he hated her as much as I did.
Adam grabbed a cookie off the plate and stretched out across a love seat, chewing the cookie as he stared at me. I turned away from him and watched Aunt Kay. She sat down in a matching paisley covered chair.
The room was uncomfortably silent for a moment as we all stared at each other. Finally, Aunt Kay spoke, "As you know, you're not a normal human."
In the last twenty-four hours, my whole world had been turned upside down. It was one thing to find out that magic was real and that magical creatures existed. It was a whole different thing to find out that you are one of them. I narrowed my eyes at my aunt.
"Yeah, I got that." I couldn't help but snap at her. "What I don't get is how you are involved in all of this and why you didn't say something to me sooner."
"I know it's hard to see, but I have been trying to protect you your whole life." Aunt Kay blew out a breath. "Here goes, your birth mother was my sister."
I opened my mouth to object, and she raised her hand to stop me. "Hear me out."
I closed my mouth and lifted my eyebrows, not convinced I was going to like what she had to say.
"Our family comes from the ancient line of Sayges. Our great-great-great grandmother is the one who exiled the Fae five hundred years ago when she cursed Brenon and his court. Your mother and I were raised around magic, but your mother was never able to channel any. Angry and feeling cut off from the rest of the magical beings, she went to Terra for help, eventually joining her cause. We were heartbroken when she made that choice." Aunt Kay looked down at her lap and wiped a tear away.
A flicker of guilt rose in the pit of my stomach, but I wasn't ready to give up being angry at my aunt yet.
She looked up at me. "But when she found out she was pregnant with you, she realized she didn't want you involved. So she ran. She died giving birth to you, and I was able to find a family to take you in. Your adopted father was from a Sayge family that was in touch with the community, but no longer practiced. And I know he loved you like you were his very own."
I blinked a few times, not sure what to make of the story. "I already knew this. I mean, my parents told me that my birth mother died in childbirth. Why tell me this again? Other than to let me know you lied to me about how you were related to me."
"Because you should know that your mother ran to protect you. And because you should know the truth about your father," Aunt Kay said.
"They told me my father was some random one-night stand who didn't even know I existed."
"He was much more than a one-night stand, but I do think your mother kept the truth of her departure from him. If he had known he had a child, he would have found you years ago." Aunt Kay tugged at her fingers. She seemed to be struggling to say anything more.
"I take it he's not human." I slumped back against the sofa, feeling exhausted. Wasn't my life already complicated enough finding out that my mother had been magical?
Joe grabbed hold of my hand and squeezed it. I glanced over at him, thankful to have someone with me who was part of the world I was used to knowing. Someone with no magic powers or curses or anything else surprising. I lifted my eyebrows as I stared at my aunt. "Just say it."
She took a deep breath, then let it out slowly. "His name is Tristan."
My face fell, and I could feel the color draining away. My hand went limp, dropping from Joe's. "No, it can't be."
"You've heard of him?" Aunt Kay asked.
"I've met him. I can't be his daughter. He's ..." I couldn't find the words I wanted to explain everything that was spinning through my head.
"He's one of the high lords of the Fae. One of the strongest and temperamental creatures I've ever met."
I thought back to our meeting in the parking lot of the rest stop. He seemed powerful and frightening to me. And he'd flirted with me. My stomach churned in disgust. Was he really my father? "He must have hundreds of children."
Aunt Kay shrugged. "Perhaps. I'm not sure what is rumor and what is truth when it comes to him. From what I heard, he considered your mother his soul mate. He was devastated when she left him."
"How did she keep the pregnancy a secret?" I asked. "Wouldn't he have known?"