"I'm not sure. But the fact that he hasn't found you yet makes me think he never knew."
I sat in silence for a moment, staring at nothing. My adopted parents had given me so much love. They cared for me and treated me the same as their biological son. I rarely even thought of the fact that I was adopted. Sure, I'd wondered about my birth father, but I never thought I'd meet him one day.
I'd been told my mother had loved me, but due to complications, she had died bringing me into this world. I grew up thinking that my father had never wanted me. Now I was finding out I did have a parent out there, and he was one of the most powerful Fae alive. I looked at Aunt Kay. "You sure about this?"
She nodded.
"I need to talk to him," I said.
"I don't think that's wise," she said.
"That's one of the few things I have going for me, Aunt Kay, my ability to make terrible choices."
She pursed her lips and stared at me for a moment. "Where were you going before you came here?"
I pulled the card out of my pocket and handed it to her. "I met this Sayge, Gia. She told me if I ever needed anything I could go to her."
Aunt Kay took the card, eyebrows raised in a skeptical expression. "Did you say Gia?"
"Yes."
She looked at the card, then handed it back to me with a sigh. "This is much more complicated than I could have imagined. How did you meet her?"
"We met on the Circus train. Why? Who is she?"
"She's a rogue. A powerful Sayge who refuses to belong." She leaned forward, resting her elbows on her knees. "What was she doing at the Circus?"
"She healed me." I hesitated, not sure if I should explain the contract I saw pass between Gia and the Ringmaster. It didn't seem like something that would look favorable on Gia, so I kept my mouth shut. I didn't know her, but she had helped me when I was injured.
Aunt Kay handed me the card. "You're better off here, with us. Gia's bad news."
I slid the card back in my pocket. At the moment, I wasn't sure who to believe, but I wasn't ready to choose sides.
Chapter 6
I stared at my aunt, still not wanting to like anything about her. She might have been keeping her distance because she thought it was best for me, but she'd lied to me my whole life. If she'd told me the truth about who I was, I may have avoided the time spent with the Rose Circus. I would have been better prepared. "This is all your fault, you know."
"I did the best I could," she said.
"No, you did what you thought was easiest. You could have helped me. You could have taken me in, taught me about my family. Instead, I grew up looking for something to fill the void." At least that was what my therapist had said was my reason for partying too much. I never believed her until this moment.
Suddenly, I realized how much time I had spent trying to fit in. I had thought it was the usual teenage self-exploration and that my therapist was a nutcase. Now, I realized that there must have been a part of me that knew I wasn't the same as the other kids.
"It broke my heart to let you go. I always planned on you coming to stay with me when you showed an aptitude for magic, but you never did."
"So that's what this was about?" I shook my head. "You didn't want me around if I couldn't be of use?"
"It's not like that. I wanted you here with me, but I thought it would be easier for you if you didn't know. Your mother could never use magic, and it broke her."
"Ara," Joe placed his hand on my shoulder. "Remember what I said earlier? Sometimes, people really are trying to help you."
I glared at him. "You're taking her side?"
"I'm always on your side. You know that. Your aunt might not have made the right choice, but she did what she thought was best for you. Nobody is perfect."
I looked from Joe to my aunt. Her lips formed a tight line and her brow furrowed. She was waiting for me to say something. "I'm sorry."
Her shoulders dropped, and she smiled. "I'm sorry, too. Please know, that I'm here for you. Anything you need."
"You know, Kay's been using most of her magic to hide you since you were born." Adam was sitting on the love seat now. He looked at me, eyebrows raised.
"Shh, Adam," Kay said.
"What do you mean?" I looked from Adam to my aunt. "What's he talking about?"
Aunt Kay let out a sigh. "I worried that Tristan or Terra would try to find you. So I've been keeping your magical signature hidden. Well, up until you broke through it."
I blinked a few times, recalling the rush I felt when I released the lightning I had taken from Terra.
"Have you noticed anything different about the supernaturals you see from the humans you see?" Aunt Kay waited patiently. The whole room was quiet.
I glanced over at Adam. Like in the bar, he had a faint glow around him. Looking over at Aunt Kay, I noticed that she had a faint glow, also. I hadn't seen it at first. "They glow."
She nodded. "You'll notice that all supernatural creatures have a different aura than humans. The more in tune you are with your own magic, the better you'll be able to identify it. Soon, you'll know if you're looking at a Sayge, a Fae, or another creature."
"So we are getting involved in this thing," Adam said.
My head snapped over to where he stood next to the love seat. His relaxed demeanor gone.
"We were involved the minute you saved her from Terra's wolves," Aunt Kay said.
Adam ran a hand through his hair. "This isn't going to be easy."
"I know," she said. "But it was the wrong decision to avoid it for so long. It was a matter of time before Terra found a way around the curse. And we can't count on Brenan's abstinence forever."
My insides twisted at the mention of Brenon. I didn't want to care about him, but the words came out before I could stop them. "What's going to happen to him?"
Aunt Kay's face scrunched up for a second. "To Brenon?"
I nodded.
"If Terra has her way, she'll kill him and take his magic." Aunt Kay narrowed her eyes. "You know he was using you, right? He wanted to turn you against Terra. We don't think he has the same agenda as Terra, but you can't trust any of them."
"I know," I said. "But it seems like you might need to choose sides. I mean, how are we going to defeat them without the help of the other?"
"There might be a way to end all the Fae," she said.
"What?" My mouth dropped open in disbelief. Brenon and Terra might be manipulative and terrible, but not everyone I met was bad. "You can't possibly be talking about all the Fae. You can't do that."
"There aren't many of them left," Adam said. "And it might come down to them or the humans. We can't let Terra get back to Faerie. Who knows what kind of monsters were trapped there."