“It’s okay if you don’t believe me. I get it. Most days I still think I’m going crazy. And I’ve had a couple months to get used to it.” I shook my head and tried to meet his eyes.
“No, I mean, I believe you. I saw what she did. Niamh.” He said her name stiffly, like it was hard to say it out loud.
“You remember seeing her change what she looked like?”
Ethan’s eyes scrunched up again and he breathed out in a chuckle. “It was unbelievable, like I was watching some sci-fi flick where an alien morphs into a human.”
I laughed, some of the tension leaving my body. “Yeah, morphing is a good word for it. They call it glamour. They can make you see or think whatever they want you to.”
He thought about that for a minute without saying anything. “So Liam, your father I mean, is one of them? Does that mean you are, too?”
“No. Well, not really. He started out human. He spent a long time in their world and I guess it changed him, made him have some of their abilities. I don’t think his are as strong as theirs, though. He’s fast and he doesn’t age, obviously. He can use glamour. But he told me glamour is a form of compulsion. And he said he can’t do it as well as a true Danaan.”
“I remember more than just seeing her change how she looked,” Ethan said, his eyes fixed on the ceiling.
“As you’ve been talking I keep getting little flashes of other really weird things. I feel like I’ve been drunk and blacked out.”
That was the part I was dreading. I couldn’t imagine how many bits and pieces of his memories were floating around his mind.
“So many things have happened,” I whispered, still unsure of whether he remembered Tír na n’Óg. “At one point Deaghlan wiped out a big chunk of your memories. It was supposed to be for your own good. And to keep their existence a secret, of course.”
“Deaghlan?”
“He’s the king of the Danaan. He’s been hanging around a lot lately, mostly to cause trouble, I think.”
“Is he the big, scary dude or the GQ model?”
I burst out laughing. Aodhan could definitely be described as a big, scary dude. He’d become such a good friend to me I sometimes forgot just how intimidating he was. But Ethan calling Deaghlan a GQ model was priceless.
“Deaghlan would be the GQ model,” I said, snickering despite the situation. “Aodhan’s a friend. He is big and scary, but he’s been a great friend to me.”
I told him about what had really happened when my mother had gone missing, and the more I told him, the more he remembered. He didn’t remember much from Tír na n’Óg, which I was glad for because even thinking about those Danaan women touching him made me flush with something a little like anger and a lot like jealousy. Still, it felt good to have someone to say this all out loud to. Someone human. But at the same time, I was afraid of what would happen to Ethan for knowing so much.
“Do you feel well enough to stand?” I asked, wondering how much longer we had before the king himself came back down.
Ethan turned and put his feet on the floor. “I don’t feel bad at all, really. Just like I could sleep for a week. What time is it anyway?”
Before I could tell him it was just a few minutes before ten, we were interrupted.
“Well, look who’s awake,” Deaghlan said imperiously as he entered the room.
I gritted my teeth and said nothing. Deaghlan strode over and leaned against the end of the couch Ethan was sitting on.
“If you’ll excuse me, Allison. This will only take a minute or two.”
“No,” I said.
Deaghlan tilted his head and furrowed his brow, his eyes glinting as he looked at me.
“No?” he repeated, astonished. I doubted he heard the word very often.
“I know you think you have to wipe Ethan’s memories. But I don’t want you to. He won’t expose you.”
“Ah, Allison. I’m afraid there is no other way. Now be a good girl and give me a moment with your friend.”
Ethan opened his mouth to say something, but Aodhan’s voice boomed out behind us. “She said no.”
Deaghlan’s eyes widened and he laughed as he shook his head. “This just keeps getting better.”
“Allison’s right. I won’t say anything,” Ethan said quietly, looking between Aodhan and Deaghlan.
Deaghlan sighed. He stood up and smoothed his hands down the front of his shirt. “I regret having to go against your wishes, but as the king I often have to make difficult decisions.”
With his hands held loosely behind his back, he began to pace. One look told me he lived for moments where he could display his power, like a peacock fanning his extravagant feathers.