make him think he’s satisfied so he’ll allow me to live with him. I can’t think of anything more exhausting or repugnant.”
“Mother… no, of course not. I can still model. I can support us. You could probably model, too. Or work in news again. Or… I don’t know. There are all sorts of jobs.” Mother had been a national news anchor until her perpetually youthful appearance became too difficult to explain. Then she’d retired, and we’d lived on my father’s considerable income.
“Jobs.” She repeated the word as if it were in some guttural foreign language. “Yes. That sounds like a wonderful future. I’ll take a never-ending succession of monotonous, low-paying jobs for the rest of my eternal life. If I’m banished from the Court, I’ll have to move continually and take on new identities in order to cover for my lack of aging. I might as well kill myself now.”
“Please don’t say that. You could come here to Altum. I’m sure Lad would welcome you.”
“Ha! I’d rather sleep on a bench in downtown L.A. than rot in that moldy hole in the ground, taking charity from some… glorified cave-dweller.”
I thought of the warmth of Altum, its glowing mineral-rocks, its slow, gentle way of life, the way the people had welcomed me, an outsider. An enemy. A liar.
Mother was wrong, but I clearly wasn’t going to convince her.
“Can we maybe tell Audun to send someone else? Tell him my glamour doesn’t work on Lad or something?”
“It would be too suspicious to switch ambassadors now.”
“I could tell Lad I’m sick and need to go home.” I certainly felt sick at the prospect of what I’d been asked to do.
“No, Ava. You were very carefully selected. You’re the only one who can do this. No other glamour will get the job done without casting suspicion on the Dark Court. And you must be joking to suggest lying to Audun—you do remember what I told you about his glamour, don’t you?”
“Yes.” I shivered again, though the air temperature was perfectly comfortable now.
“Please darling.” Mother’s tone had changed, becoming soft and placating. “I need you to do this, for me, for us .” She paused. “Your father would have wanted you to take care of your family—the way he always took care of you.”
The guilt swamped me, just as she knew it would. Closing my eyes and tipping my head back against the headrest, I visualized the horrible night we lost him.
Christmas Eve. Not a holiday our kind celebrated, but I was in first grade, and having gone to school with humans and becoming familiar with their ways and customs, I’d become totally enamored of the idea of Christmas. It seemed so magical.
I’d been crying that night, feeling sorry for myself that I wouldn’t have a gift to open—not that I needed anything. I had far more possessions than most of my human schoolmates would ever have. But at the time, it seemed tragic.
My father had made up some excuse for leaving the house early that evening—and he’d gone out to buy me a Christmas present. The police came to our house two hours later. The next morning, my mother’s hair was pure white, and her eyes… they’d never looked at me the same way.
“All right,” I whispered into the phone, barely managing to choke out the words.
“What did you say?”
“I said all right. I’ll do it.”
“That’s my good girl,” Mother cooed. “You’ll see darling. It’s for the best. When you succeed, you’ll have the gratitude of the Dark Council and especially of Audun—his good side is the safest place to be, you know.”
“Okay, fine. I’ll check in on Thursday. There’s a banquet Wednesday night in honor of Nox and his bride—they’re taking a quick break from their honeymoon.”
“From their tour of destruction, rather. I hear he’s been decimating the remaining fan pods in Europe. Such a shame. We’ve got to put a stop to this soon or risk losing everything we’ve built. You must—”
“I
“Mother… no, of course not. I can still model. I can support us. You could probably model, too. Or work in news again. Or… I don’t know. There are all sorts of jobs.” Mother had been a national news anchor until her perpetually youthful appearance became too difficult to explain. Then she’d retired, and we’d lived on my father’s considerable income.
“Jobs.” She repeated the word as if it were in some guttural foreign language. “Yes. That sounds like a wonderful future. I’ll take a never-ending succession of monotonous, low-paying jobs for the rest of my eternal life. If I’m banished from the Court, I’ll have to move continually and take on new identities in order to cover for my lack of aging. I might as well kill myself now.”
“Please don’t say that. You could come here to Altum. I’m sure Lad would welcome you.”
“Ha! I’d rather sleep on a bench in downtown L.A. than rot in that moldy hole in the ground, taking charity from some… glorified cave-dweller.”
I thought of the warmth of Altum, its glowing mineral-rocks, its slow, gentle way of life, the way the people had welcomed me, an outsider. An enemy. A liar.
Mother was wrong, but I clearly wasn’t going to convince her.
“Can we maybe tell Audun to send someone else? Tell him my glamour doesn’t work on Lad or something?”
“It would be too suspicious to switch ambassadors now.”
“I could tell Lad I’m sick and need to go home.” I certainly felt sick at the prospect of what I’d been asked to do.
“No, Ava. You were very carefully selected. You’re the only one who can do this. No other glamour will get the job done without casting suspicion on the Dark Court. And you must be joking to suggest lying to Audun—you do remember what I told you about his glamour, don’t you?”
“Yes.” I shivered again, though the air temperature was perfectly comfortable now.
“Please darling.” Mother’s tone had changed, becoming soft and placating. “I need you to do this, for me, for us .” She paused. “Your father would have wanted you to take care of your family—the way he always took care of you.”
The guilt swamped me, just as she knew it would. Closing my eyes and tipping my head back against the headrest, I visualized the horrible night we lost him.
Christmas Eve. Not a holiday our kind celebrated, but I was in first grade, and having gone to school with humans and becoming familiar with their ways and customs, I’d become totally enamored of the idea of Christmas. It seemed so magical.
I’d been crying that night, feeling sorry for myself that I wouldn’t have a gift to open—not that I needed anything. I had far more possessions than most of my human schoolmates would ever have. But at the time, it seemed tragic.
My father had made up some excuse for leaving the house early that evening—and he’d gone out to buy me a Christmas present. The police came to our house two hours later. The next morning, my mother’s hair was pure white, and her eyes… they’d never looked at me the same way.
“All right,” I whispered into the phone, barely managing to choke out the words.
“What did you say?”
“I said all right. I’ll do it.”
“That’s my good girl,” Mother cooed. “You’ll see darling. It’s for the best. When you succeed, you’ll have the gratitude of the Dark Council and especially of Audun—his good side is the safest place to be, you know.”
“Okay, fine. I’ll check in on Thursday. There’s a banquet Wednesday night in honor of Nox and his bride—they’re taking a quick break from their honeymoon.”
“From their tour of destruction, rather. I hear he’s been decimating the remaining fan pods in Europe. Such a shame. We’ve got to put a stop to this soon or risk losing everything we’ve built. You must—”
“I
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