I swallowed down my desire to say more and looked over at Joe. His jaw clenched, and he looked like he was holding back his words, too. Each side of this war had given me a different story. Terra told me she wanted to go home, Brenon told me he wanted to stop Terra from getting back to Faerie, and my aunt wanted to kill all the Fae. There was an awful lot of groups wanting to kill the other.
"Look," Aunt Kay stood. "It's been a long day for you. Why don't you get some rest? I've got a guest room the two of you can stay in. We can talk more in the morning."
I looked over at Joe. I'd dragged him along on this crazy adventure. If I'd been thrown into this as he had, I would want out of here as fast as possible. "You doing okay?"
Joe stood, and offered a hand. "I'm fine. And your aunt is right, you need to rest. Come on."
We followed Aunt Kay upstairs to the small guest room. Pink and green swirling paisley patterns covered the walls on a faded wallpaper. A green and yellow paisley bedspread covered the bed. The woman had an obsession with the design.
Once we'd said our goodnights and closed the door, Joe and I sat on the end of the bed. "I'm sorry I dragged you into all of this."
Joe laughed. "Ara, will you stop it? You know I'd do anything for you. I'm glad you don't have to go through this alone."
I leaned my forehead against his chest, and he pulled me in for a hug. The warmth helped to calm my racing mind. After hugging him back, I stepped away. "Thanks."
"Any time," Joe said. "Try to think of something else for a while, okay?"
Easier said than done. There were so many questions in my head. If Aunt Kay was telling the truth, I wasn't just a Sayge, I was half Fae. And my father was a Fae who traveled in a flock of Crows. I shivered at the thought. Could all the Fae turn into birds?
Squeezing my eyes closed, I wanted to think of something else. Something pleasant. The first thing that came to mind was Brenon and the feel of his lips pressed against mine.
Chapter 7
I woke up freezing and rolled over to see Joe wrapped up in all of the blankets. We'd never shared a bed before, and I would never have pegged him as a cover hog. Rubbing my arms to warm them up, I stared at the ceiling for a moment while I considered if I should steal the covers back or just get up.
Sunlight was pouring in through the pale pink curtains that were blissfully free of paisleys. I rubbed my eyes and sat up, stretching. I wondered how long it would be before I'd get to wake up in my bed. My heart fell into the pit of my stomach. Thanks to Brenan and his circus, I didn't have a bed or a home. I leaned over, resting my head in my hands. If I wanted to get back to having a home again, I'd need to be safe to stay in one place without being hunted. Was I at risk from Brenon? Was he looking for me? Or was it just Terra who was chasing me?
"Good morning."
I turned to see Joe untangling himself. He threw the blankets on to the floor. "How'd you sleep?"
"Fine." I was tired enough that I probably could have slept just about anywhere. A familiar scent filled the air, and I took a deep breath in. Someone was making coffee. I rubbed my eyes again and stood. Coffee was worth getting out of bed.
As Joe and I entered the kitchen, we found Aunt Kay and Adam already sitting at a table eating breakfast. Aunt Kay stood when she saw us and quickly piled food on a plate, then handed it to me.
I looked down at the pile of hash, then back up at her.
"It's a tofu scramble." Aunt Kay beamed.
"It's disgusting, but she insisted on making it for you," Adam said.
I smiled. Maybe Aunt Kay was looking out for me all this time. She'd remembered that I didn't eat meat. I took the plate from her. It didn't look very appetizing, but I was going to eat every bite. "Thank you."
I sat down next to Adam and Joe joined me, his own plate of tofu in front of him. "What's the plan for today?" Joe asked, mouth full of food.
Joe was one of those people who would eat anything, but I hoped his enthusiasm for the dish meant it was tasty.
"We going to find daddy dearest or go see the Sayge?"
Aunt Kay shot him a glare, then turned to me. "I still don't think you need to trouble yourself with Tristan. He's bad news, Ara. But I'm sure you already know that."
Chewing the surprisingly good tofu, I swallowed. "I still want to talk to him, but I think I need to learn more about myself first."
"What do you want to know?" Aunt Kay set a steaming mug of coffee in front of me, then dropped two sugar cubes into the cup.
"Well, I want to learn how to protect myself. Somehow, I was able to send Terra away once, but I don't know how I did it. I want to be able to fight back if I run into her or her wolves again."
"Morning, everyone."
We all turned to face the newcomer. Maggie was standing in the arched entryway to the kitchen. Her short black hair was spiked in all directions, and her eye makeup was smeared under her eyes, giving her the impression of being an angry raccoon. It was a look I'd sported myself back in my partying days all too often on the morning after.
She shuffled in on bare feet and poured herself a cup of coffee before sitting down across from me. She took a few sips, eyes darting around the table. "Did I walk in on something? Why is it so quiet?"
"We were trying to convince Ara that it's a bad idea to go find Tristan," Adam said.
Maggie raised her eyebrows and looked at me from over the top of her coffee mug. When she finished her drink, she set the cup down. "Why on earth would you go looking for him? It's bad enough that Terra is hunting you down. Why make it easier for her to find you? He's teamed up with her for some reason, so you find him, you'll find her."
Her words brought some memories flooding back. Tristan seemed to scare the members of the Rose Circus, almost more than Terra. And Maggie made it sound like it was unusual that the two of them would be working together. "What's their deal? Tristan and Terra? They're not related, are they?"
My stomach flipped. The last thing I needed was to find out I'd made out with someone related to my biological father. Being half-fae was really complicating my life.
Maggie spit her coffee back into her mug then started coughing.
Adam shook his head. "If that were the case, their past would be very, very wrong."
A rush of relief filled me. "So, they're not related. They're what, lovers?"
"Word is, that when they lived in Faerie, back when Terra was queen, Tristan was her favorite plaything. He was a lesser lord of the Dark Fae, and he's the only Dark Fae that came to our world when the gates were sealed," Adam said.
"That's part of why we have to stop them," Aunt Kay said. "The Dark Fae were left behind in Faerie, and with the two Fae monarchs gone, it's likely that they rose to power. We don't even know if there's anything left alive over there that isn't pure evil."
"Wait," I set my fork down, "pure evil? Don't you think that's a bit extreme? I mean, I met Tristan. He was a brawler, but he didn't seem like he was pure evil."
"He's a labradoodle compared to those who were left behind," Adam said.
"What do you mean? He freaked me out, but he didn't seem as bad as Terra."
"From what we're hearing, she's got him on some sort of leash," Maggie said.
"Maybe he's back in her bed," Adam said.