undertones. I’m almost tempted to bring her a rubbish bin in the event she feels the need to wretch.
Which she very well might.
And I may, too, if this conversation goes in the direction my gut screams its going.
“Yes, his first love,” I reply, hating the universe for making me the bearer of bad news. Tinksley was always supposed to learn of this, at one point or another, but it wasn’t going to be me who brought it to light.
Hell, her and I weren’t even supposed to be anything. Never thought we would be in a million years when all this first sprang about.
Tinksley’s gaze focuses somewhere distant. “Did something happen to her?”
“She was taken from him.”
“Taken?”
I nod despite her not even looking at me. “From what your father told me when he came to me for help, Peter’s mother, abruptly and completely out of the blue, began seeing Wendy’s father. Once things became serious between the two, and they advised Peter and Wendy that they needed to end things, Peter became an absolute menace. He killed her not long after that.”
Her head snaps toward me then, mouth popping open. “He killed the girl he loved?”
“No, he killed his mother.”
“He killed…his mother?” she squeaks, prompting me to tip my head.
A tense silence fills the room in a brisk whirl, nothing but the sound of her turbulent heart rate ringing in my ears. She rises slowly from her place beside me and begins mirroring my exact actions prior to dropping the surreptitious Peter-bomb.
She’s pacing, one small foot in front of the other, hands clasped behind her back. Something that immediately worries me, putting me on high alert.
“Explains how he was so willing and able to kill Aester.” A soft chortle leaves her, her head shaking side to side. “So let me make sure I’m following all of this correctly, because I’m still not understanding how he got here...From the sound of it, Peter’s my father’s bastard child—half mortal, half fae, yeah?”
I nod.
“He lived his life without said father, developed the typical Fae fire in his veins as he got older, met a girl who kept him level-headed, fell in love. Then his mother began seeing the girl’s dad, which in turn led Peter to killing his mother. I presume he triggered his Fae-side?”
Another nod. “He did, which brings us back to the witches. Him unleashing that supernatural side of himself and committing such a grisly, unforgivable offense—something that would be brought to the public eye without proper explanation—is the exact reason why they crossed the portal to alert your father. He ventured back with them and took matters into his own hands. When he returned with Peter in tow, he went straight to the Sacred Six for help.”
“What kind of help?”
“To subdue Peter’s Fae side.”
“So subduing the Fae within made him immortal, too?”
Fae’s can live almost eternally, based on how many souls they suck, yet they aren’t inherently immortal like vampires are. “No, that was the curse. His punishment for taking an innocent life was to live on and have to relive that moment for the rest of his life.”
Her footing stalls, a flash of recognition marring her features. “The nightmares.”
I hum in acknowledgement, regarding her with a keen eye. The fact she hasn’t completely lost her shit is disquieting, to say the least. Rising my hackles a bit more with every passing second.
“So then his memories weren’t wiped? He remembered everything.”
“That was your father’s stipulation. He was to keep quiet, to never speak a word of his past, otherwise he’d keep him locked away in the Hollow for eternity.”
There’s more to it, but I doubt I need to relay such information to her. She knows what type of man her father is, what his kind does and what they’re capable of.
“I’m assuming my mother doesn’t know about this?”
Shaking my head, I lean forward onto my knees, clasping my hands together. “As of yet? No. He’s your father’s dirty little secret.”
“I can’t believe this.” She brings her small hand to rub one of her temples. “All this time.”
“I know it’s hard to—”
Her small frame whirls in my direction. “Do you, though? Do you really?” Her tone is deathly soft. “Because you knew, Callan. You knew all of it. So did Persia and the rest of the coven, and no one ever said a word. No one warned me or my poor mother.”
“In Persia’s defense, she wasn’t one of the Six at the time, none of the current witches were. Their elders still