I knew some of the details, but what I’d heard had come from an unreliable source, so I wanted to hear what happened from another perspective.

  Before she answered, Vaeta downed her glass and poured another. “He broke her heart, but it was none of his doing. The man lived for her and would have died for her, I’ve no doubt. Nearly did, thanks to you.”

  Because there was no defense for choosing the Bow of Destiny over saving Lexi’s man, I shrugged. Would I never live that mistake down? Would I make it again if I could go back and relive that moment of choice was the bigger question.

  “That viper used one of her cards to turn Kin’s heart away from Lexi and focus his attention toward another woman. There was more to it, but the upshot is there was a curse attached, and even though Lexi broke the spell, she was too late and he doesn’t remember being in love with her.”

  No wonder Lexi seemed so different. Not only was she nursing a broken heart, but she’d taken an ego bashing, too. I picked up my glass Vaeta’s chill had left dripping with condensation and stamped out a few rings on the paper napkin.

  “This quasi date they’re on is how she’s trying to get him back?”

  Vaeta sighed and the breeze from it smelled of meadow and gusted my hair back. “You don’t know your daughter at all, do you? Deep down that’s what she wants, but it’s not a date, it’s a matchmaking consultation. She’s going to try to find him someone else to love because she values his happiness above her own. Unlike you, there’s not a selfish bone in that girl’s body. Don’t you think it’s time you stepped up?”

  I doused the ball of flame I’d been turning over and over in my hands, but before I could form an appropriately nasty response, Vaeta dropped a bomb on me.

  “How much danger is Lexi in because of your history with Diana Diamond?”

  A heated retort jumped to my lips, but I bit down on it because the question deserved honesty, and for once, I wanted to tell the truth. “Some. Maybe more than some, though from what I’ve seen, Lexi can hold her own there. How did you know?”

  The faerie looked at me like she was considering how much information to reveal, and even though I wanted to be ticked off about not being trusted, I really didn’t have a leg to stand on. She finally shook her head and answered, “In Port Harbor, there’s a portal to a Nexus. I believe you’re familiar with it.”

  “You know about the nexus?” My mother had imprisoned me in the space between worlds for twenty-five years, and if I ever found the person who’d managed to let me out, I owed them a debt of gratitude along with a slap upside the head. As much as I appreciated my freedom, the act of gaining it had also released the Darkest Heart back into the world. A woman otherwise known as Diana Diamond.

  In clipped tones, Vaeta answered, “I do. It leads to the underworld—my unwilling home for the past hundred years, and when I finally escaped, it was through that portal.”

  “Are you saying you’re responsible for freeing us all?”

  She drained the rest of the pitcher of beer and signaled for another. “Not directly, but in a sense. I didn’t provide the ammunition, but I was the one who pointed the weapon. That’s a story for another day. Right now, I’m more concerned with how we’re going to work together to atone for our sins.”

  “We? We’re a we, now?” No one who knew me would ever call me a joiner. I’d been an I, mostly by choice, for my entire life. Too stubborn to ask for or accept help. Yet, being considered part of a team, even a team of two, might not be so terrible.

  In answer, Vaeta leaned across the table and let her glamour slip enough to show the faerie underneath. Terrible beauty is the best way to describe her face. Eyes blazing like the golden rim of sunlight around a storm cloud, her features refined down to a series of points, she bared her teeth at me.

  “You’re a selfish piece of trash and I don’t like you. Let’s just get that clear right now, but I love your daughter, and I'm willing to work with you to help her. So if you’re feeling all warm and fuzzy, get over it, and when we’re done, we’re done. Clear?”

  “Crystal.” I spat the word at her. “While we’re on the subject of who’s at fault for what, maybe you could tell me why you all let her close herself off the way she has. Look at her.” I pointed toward the woman who barely even looked like my daughter anymore, and certainly wasn’t acting like her. “I’ve spent enough time with her to know this persona she’s adopted isn’t healthy or normal.”

  Vaeta had put her everyday face back on and now it registered pain. “I know. She’s compartmentalizing. Maybe helping Kin move on will let her do the same. We can’t fix it for her no matter how much we wish we could. The heart heals in its own time and fashion. All we can do is support her until it does.”

  “So basically, you’re doing nothing.” Outwardly, I sneered while inwardly knowing they were probably right to let her work through it in her own way. But if anyone knew how she was feeling, it was me, and passive acceptance had never been the strongest Balefire trait.

  “What exactly have you been doing besides skulking around and watching her?” Vaeta shot back while I watched my daughter chase after a broken heart. Again.

  Feeling powerless makes me cranky. “Trying to figure out what’s going on with her, and how to get through to her. Believe me or not, helping Lexi is my priority.”

  I cocked my head under Vaeta’s scrutiny and pretended I had no other motive than love for my daughter. I did love Lexi, so it wasn’t a stretch, and I must have passed her scrutiny because she frowned and brought me up to speed with what Delta had learned of the beings who hunted Fate Weavers like Lexi.

  “There are rumors that a Fate Weaver or two survived, but no verifiable sightings in at least two hundred years. For all we know, Lexi is the last besides young Kaine, and no one is left to provide answers about the Balmorrigan.”

  She’d been sitting here all this time, judging me, and for once, I had information to share. Leaning back, I rested my wrists on the table, took a deep breath, and said, “What if I told you a Fate Weaver still lived a hundred years ago? And I can prove it.”

  Vaeta pursed her lips and raised an eyebrow in disbelief.

  “How could you possibly be able to prove something that happened long before you were born?” Vaeta tilted her head and waited for me say something stupid. I did not oblige. “This is too important for you to get her hopes up over nothing. Lexi has questions that need answers. About herself, but also about little Kaine.” A smile flitted across her lips as she said the baby’s name and her gaze went unfocused.

  What was it about that baby?

  She circled a hand to get me talking again.

  “Twenty-five years is a long time to be holed up in silence, so Diana and I…well, we talked some.” Truth be told, I talked more than she did, but in my defense, I hadn’t known she was evil incarnate at the time. Still, she’d let some things slip, including the information I was about to tell Vaeta.

  “A hundred years ago, at least one Fate Weaver helped build the portal to the underworld nexus in Port Harbor.” If I expected a smile or at least some indication the news I had was good, I didn’t get it. Vaeta only frowned, so I continued. “And I have proof because he dropped his wand near the prison bars. It’s probably still there.”

  Not near enough for Diana or for me to reach it, but close enough for her to know it for what it was and rant about it on multiple occasions. If what Vaeta said was true, the Balmorrigan and Diana had one thing in common: hating Fate Weavers.

  As if I hadn’t said anything and a new thought just now occurred, Vaeta said, “I don’t suppose Cupid ever talked about his other children.”

  “He had plans for Lexi, but he didn’t share them with me or talk about his family much, and I never really pushed it. I figured we had more time and there were other things to do.”

  Eyes rolling, Vaeta said, “There’s more to life than sex.”

  If I have one downfall, it’s letting my emotions get the better of my magic, so Vaeta’s snark got under my skin and set free the beast. Her eyes flickered when she felt the sting of my power, but she continued as if nothing was happening.

  “Delta’s most reliable sources all agree the Balmorrigan were out for Fate Weaver blood. If they’re back—and Delta’s convinced they are—we need to find a Fate Weaver with direct knowledge of what’s fact or fiction. It’s the only way to keep Lexi safe.”

  Vaeta looked at me like she thought I might have one of Cupid’s other children locked up in my basement or something. Well, the joke was on her. I didn’t even have a basement.

  “I’ve never heard of these Balmorrigan, but the solution is simple. If Lexi needs a Fate Weaver, why not go to the source: Cupid? Her father will have all the answers.”

  Smirking, Vaeta raised an eyebrow. “Does your mind have any other track?”

  I huffed and drew my brows down in irritation. “I can’t just pull a Fate Weaver out of my ass, Vaeta, as much as I’d like to help. It’s not like he ever took me to his family reunion.”

  Vaeta leaned forward in her seat, a forbidding expression on her face. “Come on, Sylvana, he must have told you something.”

  Not nearly enough, I was coming to learn. ”He said Lexi was the child of his heart, and that her heart would be her greatest gift.”

  “That’s still pertinent information, Sylvana. You should have told Lexi about it.” Vaeta scolded.

  I snickered. “Yes, well, when would you have liked me to tell her that? Before she reamed me a new one and took off with fire and brimstone in her eyes, or after?”

  Maybe I was stupid to get involved with an elemental faerie—even one that had Lexi’s best interests at heart. We might scratch each other’s eyes out before we managed to help my daughter. But, what other choice did I have?

  Chapter 14

  I dug through the kitchen cabinets in search of some of Terra’s Twinkleberry wine, and let out a rare grunt of frustration. Well, rare for me at least. Lexi almost always let her emotions get the best of her, but it wasn’t a habit I had any intention of indulging, regardless of how many of her feelings were leaking out and threatening to pull me under.

  Just as I let out a slew of curse words that died on my lips thanks to Terra’s no swearing charm, I heard a noise behind me and whirled around in surprise. I thought I’d been alone, but there was Vaeta, watching me from the doorway with the hint of a smile on her face.

  “Do you find me amusing?” I asked wryly, abandoning my search.

  “Not any more than usual, Alexis.” She put enough emphasis on my name that I swallowed hard and wondered just how much the sister dubbed Airy Faerie actually knew. It wasn’t the first time her seeming lack of wits proved to be a falsehood, and once again it occurred to me that her sisters didn’t give her nearly enough credit.

  Vaeta pulled a bottle wrapped in twine from behind her back and handed it to me while calling two stemmed glasses toward us on the wind. “Let’s drink.”

  I knew when she said drink she actually meant talk, and even though it was the last thing I wanted to do, the thought of losing myself in a faerie wine inebriation was too much temptation to pass up. Especially after having spent an uncomfortable evening arguing with myself while trying to find my ex-boyfriend a new girlfriend. It sounded like something out of a bad soap opera, and so I poured myself a nice big glass.

  A big gulp of the liquid went down my throat on a sigh, and suddenly my head felt clearer than it had in days. Potent stuff, faerie wine, and poor Lexi could only ever handle one glass before becoming plastered enough to engage in scandalous acts like dancing naked around the ritual fire. I’d already discovered I could retain more of my senses than she, and tucked into the drink as though I’d been dying of thirst.

  Vaeta merely raised an eyebrow and used the situation to her advantage. “Why don’t you tell me the thought process behind the extreme dye job.”

  “Oh come on, really? I’m all liquored up, you can ask me anything, and that’s the burning question on your mind?” Frankly, I found it refreshing. “I like pink, and it looks better against white than any other color.”

  What was it with people getting so keyed up about the color of my hair? Wasn’t it, like, standard operating procedure to get a makeover when your love life went belly-up?

  “Okay, my turn. Did you meet anyone in the underworld that would surprise me? I mean, like Elvis, or Houdini?” Why I pulled those two names out of my brain, I couldn’t say.

  “Pshaw.” Vaeta scoffed. “Elvis went back to the Faelands.”

  Made sense to me. I poured another glass of wine and downed it in three gulps while Vaeta watched enigmatically. The buzz hit me harder this time, and I welcomed the feeling of not giving a tiny tater tot about anything for a little while. Until Vaeta went and ruined the moment.

  “Tell me what you’re holding back. I promise not to judge.” Since faeries are incapable of lying, I believed her, and if I were going to spill my guts to any of them, Vaeta would have been my first choice by a mile. She’d been on the receiving end of her sisters’ bad graces due to her own decision making plenty of times.

  “Ah, Vaeta. No matter what I do, I find myself split in two.”

  She kept her mouth shut, sipped her wine, and sat back in her chair while I got up from mine and began to pace and rant.

  “Up until last year, I was stuck using only the most passive parts of my power. I plodded along, trying to find fulfillment by spreading love in the world. The whole time, I knew I had a higher purpose but lacked the tools to realize it. Then, I finally got my powers, retrieved and fixed the Bow of Destiny, only to have to circumnavigate some asinine system constructed by the gods to confuse me with symbols and visions. Oh, and let’s not forget having to combat some whacked-out demi-goddess who’s hell-bent on breaking into Olympus for an unknown but most definitely nefarious purpose. I haven’t beaten Diana Diamond, not really, and Kin might as well still be under her spell. To top it all off, I’ve got to try to make sure a fate-weaving toddler doesn’t wind up either exposing magic to the human population of Port Harbor or driving his mother batshit crazy. All while battling waves of complicated feelings that I’m not equipped to handle. I’m supposed to be a goddess, not a sniveling pile of emotional goo.”

  I let it all out, pacing and ranting while Vaeta listened. Spewing my guts felt good, but fell just short of supplying a full sense of release. When I’d exhausted myself and fallen back onto the parlor sofa with a huff and a sigh, she refilled my glass and then threw me for a loop, “What you need is a little distraction, and to let off some steam. Follow me.”

  Vaeta led me to the sliding glass doors that opened out to the backyard where she and her sisters spent most of their time. I’d seen more weird things happen in the magically-enlarged space than I could count; some of them were beautiful and some of them were downright hair-raising—like the Dragolian bullfrogs that could take the head off a house cat with one snap.

  With a whirl of Vaeta’s hand, she called to the wind and summoned what looked like two large poppets made of sticks and leaves and who knows what other elements of nature. Each one had a red circle painted on the front, and when I looked in her direction, Vaeta was holding two hunting bows, a collection of arrows strewn at her feet.

  “You know I have one of those in my actual bones, don’t you?” I said, referring to the Bow of Destiny’s resting place.

  “Of course, but that’s not what this is about. Here,” She handed me one of the weapons and an arrow. “This is about stress release. No magic allowed.” With that, she nocked her own arrow and took aim, but missed the bullseye. Her arrow bobbled back and forth, its tip embedded in the dummy’s crotch area.

  “Was that intentional? Do you want to talk about it?” I mocked.

  Vaeta indicated for me to take my turn. “No, it wasn’t intentional, but it was fitting. You’re not the only one having man trouble.”

  “This isn’t about man trouble,” I insisted, my tone derisive.

  “Okay, whatever you say,” she said lightly, shooting again and hitting the outer edge of the target.

  “Fine, maybe it is a little bit about man trouble. For one stupid second I thought maybe Kin and I could reconcile. But then I realized it’s a moot point. He’s never going to remember our time together, and I’d be living a lie.” The fact that I’d ceased referring to Kin as belonging to Lexi’s past, and now considered him part of my own marked a change that I’d completely missed. Talk about having your head buried in the sand.

  “What difference does a measly few months make, anyway?” Vaeta asked, her brow furrowed as she frowned at me like I was the stupidest person to have ever lived.

  I struggled to formulate a response, but came up with no good reason. “It just does.” I insisted, and then turned the tables on her, “Enough about me. I spilled my guts, so now it’s your turn. What’s up with you and Rhys?”

  “If you think dating a human is tough, try dating a demon who has more secrets than you and I combined. He’s dodgy and distant one minute, and then overprotective and smothering the next. I don’t want to be kept in a cage. I need to fly free on the air, that’s my jelly.”

  I’m pretty sure Vaeta meant that it was her jam, but she still hadn’t gotten a handle on modern vernacular after being stuck in the underworld for a hundred years.

  “What kind of secrets do you think he’s keeping?” It was one of the more prying questions I’d ever asked Vaeta, and part of me doubted she’d even deign to answer, but the other part—the one who’d had enough Twinkleberry wine not to give a damn—well, didn’t give a damn.

  I was surprised with her candidness when she replied, “That’s the problem. He’s involved with the Inter-Magical Alliance, so it could be anything from a rogue vampire clan to a rabid manticore loose in the streets. Or maybe he’s found a water nymph to cavort with. Who knows?”