because I was dumb and didnât think to be specific when I asked him for a ride.
âWellâ¦â Mum dropped a semi-potent cuss out loud, making my eyes snap wide. Even as she said it, she held up one finger in the direction of my dad and continued, âAnd donât you dare chide me. Weâve got two assistant coaches and almost two dozen kids descending upon us before tomorrowâs out, and the only defense we have is the killer fey horse, immune to fey magick, that has to obey our daughter. Our daughter, mind you, a trusting soul who, despite all the crap sheâs been through in school, still seems to think the best of just about everyone she meets.â
My dad sat up more in his chair, now leveling his eyes at Mum. âI did say it was a bad idea to still hold horse campâ¦â
âYou also said that there wasnât any way I could re-un-invite the Countess of Perthshireâs son without making us look bad in front of peerage, nobilityâ¦whatever.â
âItâs better thanâ¦wellâ¦â My dad frowned, this time not flinching when Mum sent him another glare. Granted, this was more her normal-level glare, not the super-kill-you-with-my-fury glare from before.
âI can only think of one thing to do now.â Mum frowned, looking at Dad.
âWhat?â His voice let on that he knew it wasnât something he would like.
âYou need to make amends with the fey cat. And you need to mean it.â
âWhat? No! I want himâI want all of them âaway from this family. Donât you see that theyâre just going to keep putting usâour children âin the middle of harm?â
âSo, what do you want to do? Stand up to them on our own?â
Dad clenched his teeth, but his pause was short. âYes. Yes, thatâs exactly what I want us to do. I want us to stand up to them and tell them they have no right to entangle us in their schemes.â
Mumâs face grew grave. âI donât think you understandââ
âTheyâre bullies, Aimee! Donât you see? They will keep using us and putting usâputting Heather âinto danger unless we stand up to them.â
âMichael, weâre talking about aâ (several descriptive words I should never repeat) ââUnseelie faerie here. One slip-up where you look into their eyes or fall for some trap, and they kill you.â Mum added more colorful language to describe âslipupâ and âkill,â but she wasnât done. âIf theyâre feeling benevolent and merciful, they just kill you. Do you get that?â
Dad was silent for a moment. âIt seems like one slip-up and the lord and lady faerie who share our property might just be âmercifulâ and kill us. If we donât make a deal and let them own us, that is.â
âNo. Michael.â Mum cast me an uncomfortable look. âYou donât get it. You donât want to know what an Unseelie will do to us, to our children, to anyone we love , if theyâre feeling even a fraction less than benevolent and merciful. And mind you, to even get an Unseelie to feel benevolent and merciful means they say âjumpâ and you say âhow high will please you the most, O Great Master?â Is that any clearer? It means, the Unseelie comes in and says, âGive me your children as slaves, and I wonât amuse myself by torturing them in front of youâ¦or make you watch their faces while I torture you in front of them.â Are you getting a better idea now?â
Dad scowled at her. âSo, are you suggesting we give up?â
âIâm not suggesting anything. Iâm telling you to find it in your heart, for the sake of this family, to swallow your damned pride and make amends to the fey cat, so we can figure out exactly how much danger we all are in and do something about it.â
Dad didnât respond with more than a sour glare
Morgan Parker
Kelley Armstrong
Heather Graham
Ron Hansen
Sally Mason
Chrystalla Thoma
Deborah Bladon
Ariella Papa
Kevin Barry
Sean Williams