Copper Veins(55)

Then, he grabbed Jerome by the front of his shirt and shoved him against the wall.

“Sadie is correct,” Micah hissed. “Touch my wife again and I will break off your fingers and shove them down your miserable throat.”

With that, Micah released him. Jerome hit the floor hard, spluttering and asking how Micah had even known what Sadie had said. Me, I was busy staring at my husband, who’d gone from gentle lover to psycho jealous crazy man in less than five seconds.

“Was that necessary?” I asked.

“Yes.” Micah said nothing further, and I didn’t press him. We had other issues to deal with.

“If you’re done being macho,” Sadie began, eyeing Micah with the same look she’d once given to rowdy library patrons, “please explain to me why you dropped into our cell. There’s no metal here. Now we’re all trapped.”

Micah opened his mouth and closed it with a clack. Even though we all could pretty much guess his reasoning, he didn’t want to say aloud that he’d shown up to scare Jerome away from me. Ironically, it was Max who spoke up and saved Micah’s pride.

“Actually, we’re not trapped,” Max said. “Just give her a minute.”

“Give who a minute?” Sadie asked.

As if cued by a director, there was a loud bang, followed by the door disintegrating. On the other side stood Maeve Connor Corbeau, Queen of the Seelie Court. Max was right—she was pissed.

“Come along, children,” Mom said. “It’s time to round up your bleedin’ father.”

From the way Mom said that, I had no doubt that Dad would be bleeding at the end of all this.

“Ma, couldn’t you have just portaled inside the cell?” Max asked. “They’re gonna check out all that noise.”

“Let them,” Mom said as she cast the return portal. “Let them know that Maeve Corbeau will not abide her family being harassed by these weaklings. It’s time we proved who has the true strength.”

Mom pulled a shard of glass from her sleeve, and a moment later the return portal flared to life. Mom beckoned us forward, but as we queued up to step through, Micah barred Jerome’s way.

“No,” Micah said. “You are not welcome in my home.”

“We can’t just leave him here,” I said. “Who knows what they’ll do to him?”

“He’s Avatar’s son,” Max offered. “That ought to count for something.”

“Jorge Vasquez’s boy?” Mom peered at Jerome, who nodded vigorously. “Well, that’s a lie. And I’m no fan of liars.”

“He was my father!” Jerome insisted. “Not by his wife, but I’m still a Vasquez!”

“Mmm-hmm.” Mom eyed Jerome up and down, then she dropped a little bombshell of her own. “Jorge was physically incapable of fathering a child,” she said. “Little riding mishap when he was still a boy. He never quite became the man he was supposed to be, if you catch my meaning.”

Jerome’s eyes widened, his mouth working like a fish on dry land. “But… but… when my mother brought me to him, he accepted me,” Jerome whispered. “He never treated me like anything less than his blood.”

“Maybe he thought if he paraded around a bastard, we’d all forget about his most unfortunate accident,” Mom said. Jerome nodded, then he slumped down the cell wall. Something in his defeated posture spoke to Mom, and she withdrew another portal from her sleeve.

“Chin up, boyo,” Mom said, tossing the portal onto Jerome’s lap. “You know how to use one of these?” He nodded. “Good. Go to your resistance headquarters. Find my husband, and tell him to get his arse home before I give him a trim to match Jorge’s. Now, we’ll be off.”

Mom stepped into the portal, Max and Sadie right behind her. I watched Jerome for a moment, feeling like I should say something, but Micah put his hand on my shoulder.

“Come, love,” he murmured. “The portal will collapse soon.”

“It’s okay,” Jerome said. “I need to check in, anyway.”

I nodded, then I grasped Micah’s hands. As I stepped into the portal, I couldn’t help wondering if I’d ever see Jerome again.





23


The portal deposited us in the manor’s gardens, right in front of Selene’s statue. I stared at the statue for a moment—it was so lifelike, I half-expected her to meet my eyes and ask what the heck I was staring at. Micah had done an admirable job when he created this tribute to his mother—the woman who had not only given him life, but had also died to protect him. Though we would never meet, on this plane at least, I was grateful for her.