The Evanescence (Fallen Soul Series) - By Jessica Sorensen Page 0,20
royal Fey blood in me,” she says easily as she pretends the necklace isn’t in my hand, avoiding looking at it. “Just like you have Royal Fey blood inside you.”
I look at her skeptically. It’s still hard for me to accept the fact that I’m part Fey. But Royal Fey? Really?
“I don’t believe you,” I tell her, frowning as my arm falls to my side. “There’s no way.”
“Well you can believe it or not,” she retorts. “But it is true.”
“Okay, if it’s true, then explain to me how it is?” I cross my arms and narrow my gaze at her. “I mean, who was the royal Fey in our family?”
Her gaze is locked on the pendant dangling from my fingers and her eyes glaze over, as if she is being hypnotized from it. Interesting. I toss the pendant back down onto the table and she blinks her eyes, clearing her throat as she elevates her gaze to mine.
“Your grandmother—my mother—Nalini Lucas was Fey,” she answers with a sigh.
“Crap!” I don’t mean to say it out loud, but it slips out.
“What, you thought I was really lying?”
“No, but hoping… being Fey is the last thing that I need right now.”
“No one ever needs to be Fey, but, unfortunately, some of us are.”
“Yeah… like Nicholas,” I mutter and then swallow hard.
Silence builds between us as she stares at the teardrop pendant on the table. The Cornu Lepore. If it’s not important at all, then why can’t she take her eyes from it?
“It was a secret,” she explains, adjusting her gaze back to me. “It isn’t often that the Fey develop relationships with others besides their own kind and a relationship with a Fey and a Keeper, that’s strictly forbidden. However, Nalini was very beautiful and your grandfather, Julius, was enthralled by her; from the sound of her voice to the shade of her violet eyes.” Her eyes drift off over my shoulder as her forehead creases. She’s caught up in memories of her parents, making her smile. “Nalini kept the love between them a secret from her parents, who were part of the royal court, knowing that if they found out about her love for a Keeper, then they’d put an end to it.”
I’m engrossed in her tale, partially because it makes me think of something else besides Nicholas, Laylen and Alex… and partly because the part about Nalini’s violet eyes is striking a nerve. I wonder if my eyes are violet because of my Fey blood. All this time I’ve loathed the color, thinking it was because of the Star, and then I saw my dad and thought it was from him. But now… what if it’s because I’m Fey? Ew. Yuck. Ick. I shake my shoulders, trying to get rid of the dirty feeling plaguing my body.
“Are you okay?” she inquires, her eyebrows dipping together.
I nod. “Yeah, but what were you saying?”
“That they loved each other very deeply and were never apart from one another,” she continues. “So naturally, Nalini’s parents were bound to find out about her forbidden love. When they did, they disowned her. Later, Julius and Nalini married, keeping her Royal Fey blood a secret, so they could live in peace.”
“So how did you get the pendant?” I ask, scooping it up from the table.
She smiles again, her grey eyes lighting up. “Once, when I was a little girl, my mother decided that I should meet my grandmother. My mother didn’t talk about her family often… I think it brought back too many sad memories for her. I was very excited when she told me that we were going to visit her, though. She told me it had to be kept a secret and I promised her I wouldn’t tell a single person. She snuck me into the Faerie Realm…” She trails off for a moment, and then clears her throat, standing up straight. “The Fey are really an interesting breed, aren’t they?” she mutters to herself in puzzlement. “I was captivated by the Faerie Realm, the beauty of the place. My mother had me wait by a cluster of flowers while she went to find my grandmother. When she came back, she was with a very tall woman who had purple hair and skin that glittered in the sunlight. You can imagine my surprise, when, as I looked up to see her, she suddenly shrunk down to my size.”
I’m stunned. Shocked. Beyond words. I stay silent, disbelieving what she’s telling me. Worried that if it is