Stone of Destiny(19)

My father has the ability to call Ciarán out. Nobody, Danaan or human, can resist his compulsion.

A shudder rolled through my body. How ironic that the thing that made Deaghlan so repulsive was exactly what we needed.

He plans to go back to Tír na n’Óg today to take stock of the damage done from the iron, but we may be able to have him help us before he leaves.

Are you going back too?

I haven’t decided. I should go. I need to talk to my mother about so many things. And I’m weak from reversing my father’s work on Ethan’s mind. But I’m not sure if it’s a good idea to leave now.

Before I could stop myself I wondered if that was because of Samantha or because Aodhan was here and she didn’t want risk losing track of him.

Niamh looked sort of amused. Both.

How do you think Liam is going to take the news?

Good question. Shall we go find out?





I felt terrible adding another lie to the dozens I’d told my grandparents lately. But letting them think Niamh was Liam’s sister seemed a much better choice than the truth. Would I ever be able to have that conversation with them?

Gram and Pop, Liam is actually my dad. You know, the one who knocked Mom up back in Ireland? I know he looks my age, that’s just because he’s spent so long in a magical fairy world, cursed so he couldn’t come be with Mom. Oh, and Niamh isn’t his sister, she’s really a fairy princess from the other world. Her crazy sister Aoife is an evil fairy who steals human blood to make her more powerful. It’s her fault Mom lost her mind, so don’t blame Liam, okay?

No, lying was the way to go.

With a sigh I told Gram I’d see her in a couple hours and that Niamh and I were going to watch a movie next door.

We found Liam stretched out on a lawn chair in his backyard with his eyes closed. I hesitated when I imagined how our news would turn his life upside down. Again.

Niamh turned to look at me and squeezed my shoulder. It was such a human gesture, I almost laughed. Maybe there was hope for their race after all.

“Hey old man,” I said, nudging his chair with my foot.

Liam opened one eye and looked over at me. “How right you are,” he said. He sat up and rubbed a hand over his face.

“Liam, we have some news,” Niamh said as she pulled two more lawn chairs over.

I sat on the chair she offered me. Liam looked between us as I pulled my legs up and wrapped my arms around them.

“Before we captured Aoife in Tír na n’Óg, do you remember a time when she was gone for longer than usual?”

He raised an eyebrow. “Gone? Well, a few times that she left for what seemed longer than others. Why do you ask?”

“From what I can gather, it was right around the time you met Elizabeth. She came to this realm, alone. She stayed here for nearly a year without returning home to you. Of course it would have felt like little more than a week to you.”

“Yes, I suppose I remember. At that point I was able to see Elizabeth every few days. Why?”

“Well, during that time, Aoife had a secret she was keeping from all of us.”

“Just one?” Liam asked dryly.

“One in particular,” Niamh said. She drew in her lips and looked at her lap for a moment. “Liam, Aoife became pregnant with your child. She didn’t want the baby, afraid you would love it more than you loved her. So she made Eithne hide her in this world.”

Liam stood. “My child?” His hands flew to his hair so fast they blurred. “That’s not possible, I would have known…”

“There’s a lot of that going on lately, huh?” I said and wished I could stick my foot in my mouth.

Niamh chuckled softly. “There’s more. Your other child, your daughter, has come looking for you. From what I’ve read of the girl’s thoughts, Aoife found her living in Thunder Bay. She knows about you and about Allison.”

He laughed, a small desperate sound. His hair stood up at odd angles from the abuse he was inflicting on it as he paced back and forth.

“I don’t know what to say.. What am I supposed to do?” His words all melted into one another.

“Liam, it’s okay. We’re going to talk to her. Figure out what she’s doing here,” I said as I reached for his wrists, trying to get him to stop before he pulled all his hair out.

“How long have you known about this?” he asked Niamh.

“Does that matter right now?” Niamh asked, neatly deflecting him. “What’s more important is finding out any information she has about Aoife, wouldn’t you agree?”

“Yes, yes. I suppose you’re right.” He ran a hand down his face.

“Okay. She has one of Aoife’s guards with her. You remember Ciarán?”