Fae of the South (Court of Crown and Compass Book 3) by E. Hall (libby ebook reader .txt) 📕

the other girl says as if she realizes this. Despite her dirty blond hair and overall girl-next-door look, she has an edge to her that tells me she’s unseelie fae too...and nothing about it scares her.

“Why do you both look so familiar?” I ask.

“I’ve seen you at the bookstore where you used to work. I knew Aina.” Kiki’s tone is strained.

Realization dawns. My old job. Aina, the sweetest woman I’d ever met. “Yeah. She quit. I did too. Have you seen her?”

Kiki dips her head.

Val lets out a long breath.

In the pause, I say, “What happened to her? Is she involved in this?” If she was supernatural, I had no idea. She must have hidden it too.

“She was my mother.” Kiki swallows. “Yours too.”

“And mine,” Val adds.

I shake my head slowly. “My mother—” My throat feels strangely scratchy. “My mother left me with my uncle when I was a baby. I saw her only one other time. A band of fae tried to kidnap me, they—”

Val nods. “It was our great-grandmother, Nathina. She tried to gather the four of us together. Aina put a stop to that.”

Kiki says, “We read about it in our mother’s journal.” She holds up a leather-bound book.

I turn away. I can’t believe this. I refuse to. There’s no way the woman I worked with at the bookstore for two years was my mother. Why wouldn’t she tell me? Sadness and hurt hurtle toward me. The unseelie shadow fae within swats it away. My ire returns.

“I don’t believe you.”

Kiki lifts a snowflake pendant from her neck. Val does the same. Their gazes land on the one around my neck. My stomach groans as if trying to get away from the painful truth.

“Are you hungry?” Kiki asks.

“Where’s Tyrren? He must be starved. Glandias gave him a serum to enhance his vampire thirst. I tried to subdue it. You can’t let him hurt anyone. He’d never forgive himself.”

“He’s safe right now,” Val says. “And the serum will wear off. That’s what we learned anyway. The more blood he gets, the more the serum dilutes, meaning he’ll need yet more serum to stay ahead of him being satisfied. I’m sure Glandias was trying to work that kink out.”

Kiki explains, “More serum equals crazy-hungry vampire. More blood equals the need for more serum to keep the thirst elevated. No more serum means he returns to his regular vampire-self.”

“So Glandias would have to keep administering it?” I ask

“Yup,” Kiki says.

“I also had a dose of the serum.”

“Thirsty?” Kiki asks.

“Not funny. I want to see him,” I demand.

“Later. Listen, we’re not here to hurt you or him. We want to help you and for you to help us.”

“How’d you find me?”

“That wasn’t easy. We put all of our resources to work. You’d been well hidden...in jail.” Val lifts and lowers her eyebrows.

“I went so far as to apply for a custodial position at RIP Jr since my peace officer status wouldn’t even get me in the door. But we learned there had been a problem there.” Kiki starts to pace.

“That’s an understatement,” I huff.

“Do you want to tell us what happened?” Val’s stare is demanding.

“No.” I want to get out of here.

“How about we go first. Then you can tell us your side of the story,” Kiki says.

Val nods. “When Kiki told me she was my sister, I didn’t believe her either. But I’ll start at the beginning, telling you what we know.”

The shadow in me wants to ignore them. To destroy them. To see them sit frozen and helpless.

But Val’s voice trickles into my awareness. “Our mother was fae and as it turns out, our father was a vampire.” She pauses.

Kiki looks queasy.

“If you think it’s Ivan, you’re wrong. I’m certain he’s not my father.”  And he hates me.

“No, he’s our uncle,” Kiki says as though that makes her uncomfortable.

“Aina believed we were in danger and the only way to protect us was to split the four of us up. She sent me to live with Nathina, our great-grandmother and the woman who also raised her. We later moved away from the Northlands and our original court to the Westlands. Believe me, it was miserable and I blame her for why I’m so unseelie.” Val smirks.

Kiki slings her arm across her sister’s back. “In that case, I credit her with why you’re so clever.”

A little pang of jealousy shoots through me at their closeness. “I’m unseelie too,” I mutter.

“We know.” Kiki’s voice is flat.

The jealousy turns to anger. Why didn’t she pay me a compliment? My shadow points out all my flaws and shortcomings.

“Aina and Kiki went to New York City. She sent you to live with Ivan, our father’s brother, and a vampire in Brooklyn. I guess she didn’t want to be too far from you either.” Sadness laces Val’s voice as though she missed out on knowing our mother.

“As for our fourth sister, we assume she’s in the Eastlands.” Kiki tugs on the necklace.

“There are four?” I ask.

“Fae are usually born in pairs but since we’re also part vampire, I suppose the rules change.”

“Yes, they do.” I try to access my magic again, but it’s still out of reach.

“I had no idea I was fae. Aina raised me as a nat. You better believe I was shocked when I discovered I had wings and what feels like lightning in my veins and high voltage in my bones. She suppressed my magic until my eighteenth birthday.” Kiki wiggles her fingers and white static jumps from them.

“You knew, yet you suppressed it, Lea,” Val says. “We’re from the Northlands, Frost Fae. But you’re more vampire in nature. More fiery than icy.” She eyes me carefully.

“I was always afraid of fae. Nathina