changeling chronicles 03 - faerie realm by emma l adams

Author:emma l adams [adams, emma l]
Language: eng
Format: mobi
Published: 2016-07-02T04:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

Vance put one more protective ward down, then stalked across the field. My feet skidded in the mud as I hurried after him.

“I’m going to find my bloody fool of an uncle. If he’s been tricked into something that’ll put my family in danger, I’ll bury him in the damned grave he’s digging up.”

Breathless, I caught up. “I don’t understand why he wouldn’t like you. Aren’t you his only surviving family? He can’t blame his own brother for dying, surely.”

“It’s complicated. He has no love for the Mage Lords, either. Nor the shifter clans. Our family has rested uneasily between the two ever since my grandfather married a shifter and they left the mages. The other Mage Lords were scandalised, especially his own parents, because he came from a thousand year-old magical bloodline. The mages initially refused to let him back in, and he’s harboured a grudge ever since.”

“But your uncle’s half-shifter, right? Does he have magic?”

“He prefers not to use it,” said Vance. “He backed out of the Mage Guild once he’d been through the basic training stage. They mostly leave him alone. Technically, all mages are supposed to report in, so we can make sure nobody’s abusing their power, but I’m the one responsible for checking on him. Nobody else wants to come near.”

“He’s that much of an asshole, huh.” I checked Irene was ready at my waist. Just in case. “Is he likely to try anything?”

“Usually he yells a lot. He’d be a weather mage if he bothered to practise, so he sometimes blasts intruders with a thunderstorm. My family has a propensity for the dramatic.”

“I know. I’ve met you.”

I expected a smile, but didn’t get one. He continued to walk across the field, his mouth a thin, angry line. Anger at his uncle or at the faeries, I didn’t know.

Vance stopped, and I halted beside him. The field sloped down at this point, where a jagged stone wall bordered with a neighbouring field. In the incline, a huge hole had been dug into the ground.

A man crouched beside the hole, straightening up as he became aware of us behind him. The guy was around fifty or so, his shoulder-length dark hair matted and streaked with grey. He was at least fifteen years older than his wife, and had the kind of muscled build of someone who worked outside a lot. Considering his plain, dirty clothes and slouching stance, there wasn’t the slightest resemblance between him and his nephew until I saw his grey eyes. White flashed through his irises at the sight of Vance.

“You,” he said. “I thought I told you to stay away from my family.”

“You should know better than to expect me to listen,” said Vance with more malice than I’d expected. “Anabel is my family, too. I came to check on her safety, and found out you’re embarking on this foolish endeavour.”

“What I do in my own home is none of your business.”

I rolled my eyes. “I’d be worried if my husband was digging up a creepy old grave right after a bunch of undead got loose in the city.

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