this.”
“Has it never occurred to you that you aren’t meant to be neutral?” he mused. “The very nature of your gift, even your origin, is all rooted in the Unseelie house.”
The notion I could or should pick a side had honestly never occurred to me. Since that very first day in Mable’s office, I had heard my father’s praises sung and had the mantle of his legacy settled around my shoulders.
Rook must have realized the direction of my thoughts and paused. “Has it never dawned on you the reason the conclave filled your head with stories of your father wasn’t because they believed you were meant to spread his tenets, but because it was safer for them if you believed that was the case?”
“They gave me a choice—join or die.” I frowned. “What does belief have to do with it?”
“You were more powerful than any of them expected. Either side would fight a war to have you join their cause if the truce is broken.” He spread his hands. “Control over the infamous Black Dog’s legendary powers, unfettered by his morals, free of the compulsion that is the fabric of his identity.”
“There’s one small problem with your theory,” I interrupted. “I’m not all that powerful.”
Black Dog might be my father, but the fraction I inherited wasn’t the sum of his whole.
Rook cast me a pitying glance, one that made the foundation of my life quake yet again. “Did all the half-bloods employed by the conclave receive the same join-or-die memo from the magistrates you did?”
“No.” I shifted in my seat. “But not all of them killed five humans in one whack, either.”
“Think about your situation like this. Your father is unique among the fae. You, as his daughter, share his rare qualities. You are comparing your powers to his, which are vast and uncharted. That is your mistake,” he said. “Your gifts should be measured against the known limits of half-blood magic.”
I glanced to Diode for confirmation. “Is he spouting crazy, or is it just me?”
“I can say this—” he struggled to move his lips, “—most fae children are given a choice, and they aren’t issued conclave guardians.”
I didn’t like the sound of that. It made me reevaluate every interaction I had ever had with Mable, and with Shaw. “They wanted me to have a protector.”
The big cat jerked his head. “Not you. Everyone else.”
Rising from my chair, I walked to the bed and climbed onto the mattress.
Rook frowned at me. “Is now the best time for a nap?”
“I have to go to sleep.” My head hit the pillow. “How else can I wake up from this nightmare?”
Chapter Twenty-Nine
The guys let me sleep through dinner. When I woke, the room was bathed in moonlight and they had staked out opposing corners. Sleeping. Diode sprawled over a velvet comforter while Rook dozed slouched in a plush chair by the door. I sat upright and hung my feet over the edge of the bed. My weary exhale brought Rook’s eyes open a slit. Once he saw I was awake, he stifled a yawn.
After stretching, he crossed the room to a small table where a seashell-encrusted tray sat beside a blue milk glass pitcher with matching cups. “They brought fresh fruit. All Earth varieties.” White mist curled under the lid when he lifted it. “Watermelon, cantaloupe, grapes and blackberries. Are you hungry?”
“Not really.” I untied my hair and combed my fingers through the worst knots.
“You should eat.” Diode didn’t twitch a paw. “You need your strength.”
Rook nudged my shoulder with the edge of a plate. “He’s right. You have to eat something.”
I folded my legs under me, picked up a strawberry and brought it to my lips. Rook watched with rapt attention, and I don’t think I was the only one remembering how I had fed him berries in the burrow. The act had been impersonal then. There was nothing indifferent about the way he watched me now.
Too bad I wasn’t in the mood. I stopped eating until he took the hint and returned to his chair.
Passing over the berry, I chose a cube of watermelon. “How much longer do you think?”
“An hour, maybe less.” He stretched his legs out in front of him and crossed his ankles. He must have noticed my eyebrows creeping upward. He qualified, “The dryad has been keeping us updated.”
I rolled my eyes and bit into another piece of fruit. “I bet she has.”
His lips quirked in a pleased kind of almost smile that would have done flip-floppy