Witching Time (The Wild Hunt #14) - Yasmine Galenorn Page 0,73

for a run and—being Ante-Fae—she wasn’t affected by me. We started seeing each other regularly and then, ten years ago, she ended up pregnant. She wanted to raise the boy on her own. Now, they need a place to live in and…I don’t need another family. We still get along, but I’m giving her my house so she and Conner can have a safe place to live.”

I stared at him. Within five minutes, I suddenly had a ten-year-old brother named Conner. “Tell me about him. What kind of Ante-Fae is Peach Blossom? And your son—what are his powers? What’s he going to do without a father?” I stared at Curikan, suddenly wondering if I really knew much of anything about him.

Curikan narrowed his eyes, much like when he was on the verge of exploding over something. He seldom got angry at me, but when he did, I had learned long ago to shut up and listen. He was a good father, but he could be stern.

“He’ll do just fine. You did fine without your mother there—”

“Don’t put this on me,” Phasmoria said, glowering. “I had orders from the gods. You…just decided to march out of their lives.”

“Maybe I’m not ready to be a father again,” Curikan barked at her. He let out a long, shaking sigh and then added, “All right. There are issues. Let me tell you the whole story since it’s obvious that neither one of you will let up on me until I do.”

We settled down around the table. Kipa kept silent, but I could tell he was paying attention. Grateful he was letting us handle this as a family unit instead of trying to step in and fix things, I turned back to my father.

“We’re listening.”

“I met Peach Blossom when I was out on a midnight run, as I said. We stopped to talk, because it was obvious that we were both Ante-Fae. She’s a tree spirit, as you might have guessed, but she’s attached to the energy of the peach, not to one particular tree. She moved north as the Earth has warmed. She doesn’t fare well in hot weather. Her powers are steeped in earth magic and tree magic, and she’s actually a powerful witch. Anyway, we started seeing one another. It’s never been a serious affair, but we were both there and unattached and it filled a void in our lives. This started twenty years ago.”

“I visited you at one point during that time. Why didn’t you tell me about her?” I asked.

“Have you told me about every boyfriend you’ve had?” Curikan countered.

I stared at him. “I’ve only ever had two serious relationships—Ulstair and Kipa.”

“That’s the key word: serious. Peach Blossom and I weren’t serious. We were no-strings attached, let’s have fun and get together for a movie dating.”

“Friends with benefits,” Phasmoria said. “Go on.”

“Well, ten years ago, if you want details, the condom broke. We thought everything was fine—we’re such disparate bloodlines that we just assumed it would be okay. But it wasn’t. She ended up pregnant. I really didn’t want to play father again, and as much as I like her, I don’t love her. She doesn’t love me. We weren’t about to bond as a family when there wasn’t love involved. I have helped her bring him up—I’ve given her support all these years.”

“What about Conner? Have you spent much time with him?” I asked. I wanted him to say yes, wanted him to step up fully to the plate.

“No,” Curikan said. “But it’s not because I wasn’t willing. I’d do my duty, if I could. Conner was born with a mutated gene. He’s Ante-Fae, yes, but he has vulnerabilities. He was born without some of the natural protections of our race.”

“What do you mean?”

“Conner is susceptible to me, to my curse. He’ll react like a human if he ever meets me again. That first night when I visited Peach Blossom after she had him—I could feel him responding to me the way humans do. He was giddy, for a baby, practically bubbly. That’s how most humans react to me when they meet me the first time. Both Peach Blossom and I noticed it. So before I ever went out of that room, we asked the midwife to perform some tests. If I ever meet my son again, he’ll be beset by some tragedy…possibly even die. I don’t dare ever enter his presence again.” My father’s eyes glistened.

I groaned, feeling horrible about grilling him. “I’m so sorry. So…you’re actually leaving