Chapter 17

Ava was out in the garage before most of the others were awake. Sleep hadn’t come easy, and she had finally given up and decided to check over the bikes. Her mind wouldn’t stop, and the headache that went with it was getting on her nerves. Someone had gotten into the café and put something in the donuts for the royals. According to Capri, Nova had bought them and took them to Alterealm. That meant nasty business was too close to home. Anyone could have eaten those, Jeri being one of them. She didn’t know what kind of schedule an almost queen of a realm had, but Jeri liked the food there, so it could have been her. It pissed her off, and she was going to have to go hunting and check out anyone hanging around the area.

Despite a firm talking to herself, she still kept thinking about that pretty man, Firo. He was from FaTerra, of which she only knew two things. The first thing was they were fae, or fairies, and that meant he had some kind of strong magic and party tricks up his sleeve. The second was they were pretty people, in a glowy-too-good-to-be-real sort of way. All that equated to in her mind was they were nice to look at. She’d never bothered to take the time with males and all that relationship stuff. If any guy ever tried to kiss her, she’d have to feed him his teeth.

Bracing her arms on the workbench, she looked at the floor. She knew the stabbing pain would follow, but she needed to try to push through it and figure out why this man had been there when she was born. Squeezing her eyes shut, she clenched her teeth. She’d been born in that forest. Hissing out a breath, she pictured it. Was that why she had to go there every year? Because that’s where she was born? Did he know her mother? Or father? And why in whatever hell there was he able to find her when she was on the bus? “Ahhhh.” The pain sliced through her eyes into her head.

“Ava?”

Shaking her head, she released the bench and turned around. Jeri stood there with two mugs in her hands. “Hey.” She huffed out a breath.

“Another headache?”

Ava shrugged. “Yeah, I love to suffer.”

She came down the steps. “You were thinking about it again?”

Ava perched on the closest bike because her legs felt unsteady. “Yeah. There’s just something so close to the edge of my memory.”

Jeri came over and held out a cup. “Just let it come, don’t force it.”

Ava took the cup. “Yes, because that has worked so well for the last three decades.”

Jeri blew on the liquid in her cup. “Maybe you’re not meant to remember.”

Ava looked at the coffee. “Tell that to my brain that keeps trying to.”

“I’m sorry I didn’t get a chance to see you last night.” She grinned. “I was in Solrelm at a dinner thing.”

“A dinner thing?”

Jeri went over and ran her hand over the seat of her bike. “Officials, everyone wants to get involved now to find those who deceived us all.”

“Us?” Ava cocked her head to the side. “You’re all in, aren’t you?”

She smiled. “I guess I am.” She inhaled slowly and then sighed. “It’s hard to explain it really. Meeting Trendan and going through the Chamber of Truth, it’s like it unlocked a part of me I didn’t know was there.”

Ava watched her for a moment. She looked happy. “I get that.” And she did. There were parts of her that were sealed up so tight she couldn’t access them. “I’ll ask what a Chamber of Truth is in a second.” She closed her eyes and blew out a breath, hoping that talking about it wouldn’t bring on another bout of angry knives through her skull. Opening her eyes, she looked at her. “Yesterday, a bus full of kids flipped in the ditch, so I stopped to help them.” Jeri’s eyes went wide. “Everyone is fine.” She hoped Isabel was. “I was stuck inside with a little girl that was hurt, and there was fire everywhere.” Jeri put her hand over her throat but didn’t interrupt. “My wings, I used them to protect us from the fire, and they weren’t the way they normally are.”

Jeri sat on her bike. “What do you mean?”

Ava motioned over her shoulder. “They were dark and thick, and I walked right through the flames without a mark.”

Jeri jolted with surprise. “Are they still that way?”

Ava shook her head. “No. Trust me, I tried twenty times last night, and they look like they always have. There, but not quite there.”

“Maybe it’s something that adapts according to what you need.” Her eyes rounded. “I forgot. I can control water now.”

“What?”

Jeri nodded. “Trendan and I fell; well, we were magically shoved into an angry river, and I tapped into my Veiltide genes and stopped the water so we could get out.”

Ava lifted her hands, careful not to spill her coffee. “Like parting the Red Sea, or however that goes?”

Jeri nodded. “I’m sure it wasn’t biblical, but yes.” She smiled. “I can barely do it now, but it was there when I needed it, so maybe that’s like your wings.”

“Oh, so I just have to go find something ablaze and walk through it to test that theory.”

Jeri grimaced. “Don’t you dare.” She laughed and then sobered. “Now I’m wondering what else I can do.”

Ava remembered that she had several types of DNA in her. “You’re part fae, right? Maybe you’ll grow wings too.”

Jeri stared at her for a moment. “No. I think I’ll leave the wings to you.” She sighed. “How was your trip?”

Ava respected that no one ever asked her where she went or why. How could she explain to them what she didn’t know? “Different than before.” She took a sip of the hot liquid. “I don’t think I’m going back again.”

“Oh.” She smiled at her. “I’m okay with you not disappearing for days.”

“Yeah. Seems like I missed a little too much this time.” She got up. “What are they doing about finding out who drugged those donuts?”

“We just found out about it last night, so I don’t have any details yet.”

Setting the cup down on the bench, she opened the toolbox lid. “I’m going to wander around the neighborhood today and see if there’s anyone that doesn’t fit.”

“Maybe we could get Nova and a few of the Alterealm women to come. Nova could see if it was one of those dark-souled ones and having Paisley or Bethany with you wouldn’t be bad either.”

Ava paused and waved the tire gauge at her. “That’s not a bad idea.”

“You can ask Sith when he comes over.”

“Sith? What’s a Sith.”

Jeri laughed. “I forgot you don’t know that either.” She smiled. “He’s been coming over to help Vex.”

Ava stiffened. “What’s wrong with Vex?”

“Nothing. Now. He’s the same type of feeder she is, so he’s been teaching her how to do it without harming anyone.”

“I missed that before I left.” Ava knew her mouth was hanging open, but this was major.

“You are always preoccupied that week. You should see her. She looks so healthy now.” She smiled. “It’s wonderful.”

“Wow. Damn.” Ava went back over and took another drink. “And how is Fade doing?”

“She’s visible for an entire meal now.”

Ava smiled. “We’re going to be running point on a teenager soon, aren’t we?”

Jeri nodded. “Everyone has been warned that no one goes anywhere alone right now. There’s too much happening to take a chance, so we have some time before we’re out tracking her down.”

“It’s good though, right? That they’re okay now.” Just because her life was a mess, she couldn’t begrudge the others.

“It is.”

Clearing her throat, she looked at the cup instead of her friend “What do you know about the Fa Terra princess and her guard?”

“Aireese and Firo?” Jeri shrugged. “Not a great deal. She’s very nice and has been restoring the memories of the fathers. I don’t know much about her guard. Why do you ask?”

Ava shrugged and picked up the tire gauge again. “No reason, really, just Crissy mentioned them yesterday.”

“Oh, well, they’re here a lot the last few days, so I guess you can see for yourself.” Her phone buzzed. She pulled it out of her pocket and checked it. She grinned, almost blushing. “I need to go. Trendan is awake and wondering where I went.”

“So, you guys are staying next door?”

She nodded. “Most of the time, yes. Trendan doesn’t want me to stay in his quarters in Solrelm until more things are resolved, and unfortunately, going to the cabin, it’s too tempting to never come back.”

“Cabin?”

Jeri laughed. “On a mountain, near nothing.”

“Sounds peaceful.”

“It is.” She smiled. “I’ll see you later.”

“Yeah, go before he tries to walk through the door into our area.”

Jeri laughed as she went up the stairs. “He already did. He was not happy he couldn’t.”

Ava smiled until she closed the door. The princess was helping father’s memories be restored. She tapped the gauge against her other palm. Was that why she couldn’t remember? Had someone put some kind of magical jinx on her brain? She was going to have to talk to the princess.