War of Hearts (True Immortality) - S Young Page 0,94

the queen intended. No one knows what the children would have to do to even open the gate. We don’t know if they’d all have to be together to do it or if just one is required to open it. Some believe the seven children need to be brought together at an exact point in Ireland where the gate opened. It’s what Jerrik believed. But he knew that Aine didn’t care about the endgame. She cared about the game and the carnage it would create over the centuries as supes and humans hunted for any sign of these children.

“The Blackwood Coven are like any powerful magical family—they believe their magic is a poor imitation of fae magic. They want to live among the faeries.” He snorted with laughter.

Thea didn’t find it particularly funny.

“And Eirik?” Conall practically growled.

Vik’s laughter instantly died. “His brother Jerrik believed the children needed to be protected. He created a cult of sorts, a religion, devout in its belief that these children are the key to reopening communication with the old ones. The Blackwood Coven belong to that cult. Although they might have been trying to harm you, Conall, they would never have intended Thea to be hurt. She’s too important to them. But Eirik … he has no desire to lose his place at the top of the food chain again. He doesn’t want the fae meddling in our world.

“He killed his brother … that’s how badly he doesn’t want it. He’s been hunting for signs of the children for centuries with one purpose—to kill them.”

“Even if this isnae true, they believe it is.” Conall turned to Thea, anger etched in every feature. “And they’ll just keep coming for Thea.”

Thea’s stomach dropped. She would be hunted for the rest of her life, she realized.

“There’s something else you should know,” Vik continued. “The Fae Queen didn’t just fear that humans and supernaturals would hunt fae for their blood. Jerrik wrote of a story he heard in the Day Lands, a story he believed was the real reason Aine closed the gate. A story that, if true, proves the fae are not true immortals on Faerie or Earth.”

Thea’s heart pounded at the thought. Not true immortals. Meaning they could die. She could die.

“A fae of Samhradh House fell in love with her werewolf consort. The tale goes she couldn’t bear the idea of immortality without him and asked him to bite her.”

Thea’s ears perked. “You mean … change her into a werewolf?”

“Yes. Exactly. And it worked. She was no longer a true immortal. When a very weary prince of Earrach House discovered this, he asked to be bitten too. He didn’t want to be immortal anymore, and the cauldron couldn’t truly end his suffering. So the wolf did it but the fae died.”

“From a wolf bite?” Thea’s eyes flew to Conall, his jaw locked with tension.

Vik nodded. “The Fae Queen was so furious she killed the wolf and his mate, and the pack they belonged to, and forbade anyone to speak of it. But Jerrik was in love with a fae of the Day Lands and she confessed this story to him. This was a few weeks before the gate closed.”

“You’re saying a werewolf can kill the fae? That’s why she really closed the gate.” Conall flicked a concerned look at Thea. She knew he didn’t know whether to believe Vik, but if it was true, just one slip-up and a bite of his teeth through her skin might have killed her. “I could kill Thea with one bite?”

“Or turn her into a werewolf.” Vik shrugged. “Fifty-fifty chance.”

“There’s a fifty-fifty chance I’m going to throw up,” Thea muttered, turning away from them.

Fae.

This guy believed she was an immortal fae.

She gave a snort of hysterical laughter.

But beneath the rising panic was a flare of hope.

If Vik was right, if this was true … then she wouldn’t have to live forever. There were ways to die when she was ready. Not that there was a chance she might get to choose when that time would be with a two-thousand-year-old vampire on her tail.

“Uh, closer to two thousand five hundred years old. Give or take a few decades,” Vik said, and Thea realized she’d said the last sentence out loud. “And you’re right. I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but no one can escape Eirik. Not even you, Thea. Maybe if you were working at your full capacity as a fae but from what you’ve told me, you’ve