Page 78 of Demure
“I can’t say for sure—it’s different for everyone—but historically, she must ensure that your intentions are pure. If they are not, that’s when she doles out the curses.” Fia must have noticed the horror on Sierra’s face because she added, “It’s what keeps the balance. Otherwise, everyone would just ask for everything all the time.”
Sierra nodded, squinting at the scroll in front of her. She really wished that she had learned Gaelic at some point in her life, but then again, in the human world, it was useless outside of Ireland. Actually, it was fairly useless within Ireland as well, unless you happened to work in the library, where there were several old texts in Gaelic to organize.
“Alright, I’m going to make us something to eat,” Fia announced, tilting her head to the window where the sky was just beginning to show hints of sunset. The entire day had passed, yet Sierra was no closer to being ready for the ritual than when the day had started. “In the meantime, you start working on what you are going to say to Gaia.”
Chapter Forty-Six
The second and third days with Fia passed much like the first. The women spent most of the day sitting at the table, poring over whatever scrolls Fia could find on the topic of rituals involving change that had to be asked of Gaia. Since they were all in the ancient Fae form of Gaelic, Sierra mostly listened as Fia translated, jotting down notes whenever she thought of something that could be good to say if she was successfully able to catch the interest of Gaia.
While they were busy most of the day, there was still plenty of downtime for Sierra to stare out one of the small glass-paned windows into the forest, wondering where Aodhan was. There was no word from him, nor anyone else in the group, and Sierra couldn’t decide whether this was good or not-so-good news.
As she watched the sun fade from the sky at the end of the third day, Sierra cradled a mug in her hands and delved into the thought of what would happen if she was successful at the ritual within the next few days.
She would be Fae, and she would belong in this world. She would be the closest thing she had ever known to immortal, and she would be stronger and faster than she had ever dreamed ofbeing. There was also a chance that she would be cured of the auto-immune condition she had battled since childhood and would never have to worry about the appearance of her skin again.
But her mind kept turning back to thoughts of her family.
If this was successful, she would never be able to see them again.
Well, that wasn’t exactly true, but she knew she would only be able to see them for a few years before they began to question why she wasn’t aging. And while it was possible she could pretend she had found some groundbreaking information during her master’s studies, she also knew there was no way she would be able to hide her pointed ears from her parents long term.
Sierra had never been a hat wearer, and she knew the minute she tried to go home to Dallas in a beanie like Aodhan wore, her mother would know something was amiss.
Sierra’s heart was heavy at the thought of not seeing her family again, but in the same way, she felt slightly liberated. She wished she had left things on better terms with her mother and siblings, but at the same time, she had not truly fit into their lives for far too long.
“They’ll never let you go.” Fia was standing beside Sierra, her light blue eyes reflecting the pink and purple hues of what little sky they could see between the stretched branches of the imposing trees surrounding Fia’s small abode on all sides.
“Of course not,” Sierra replied. “Families aren’t supposed to let you go.” She had yet to ask Fia to see her new future, and honestly, she didn’t want to, not until the ritual was complete. This was the path she had chosen now, and she didn’t want anything to draw her away from it, even if it ended in ruin. “I just hope they’ll eventually learn to move forward without me.”
“If you want my opinion, you shouldn’t let someone else’s ideas dictate who you want to become.”
“But I didn’t?—”
“You didn’t have to.” Fia cut her off. “Your future hasbeen fluctuating. I know this is a hard choice, but you need to choose what will make you truly happy, regardless of what anyone else thinks.”
Silence settled between them for a few moments until Fia turned to face Sierra, flashing a small, sad smile, before looking away once again. “You want to know what happened to my family.” It wasn’t a question.
“I can assume.”
“It’s not the same,” Fia replied, her eyes tracking something in the trees that Sierra’s human eyes couldn’t see. “As you know, it’s rare for Fae to have more than one child.”
Sierra gave a slight dip of her chin that was almost a nod.
“But I am something even more rare. I was a twin.” The way Fia said the word ‘twin’ made it feel as if all the air was suddenly sucked out of the room. A ghostly chill wove its way down Sierra’s spine.
“Fae twins only come every few hundred years, and even then, they are usually two halves of a whole: one the sun, and one the moon, both very powerful in their own right, but also complements to each other. A single soul born into two equal parts.
“When my sister and I were born, we were exact copies of each other, an identical pair, which you call identical twins in the human world.” Fia inhaled. “We were both powerful from a young age, but we both manifested the same power.”
“And that was a problem?”
Fia shook her head. “It’s an abomination, a misdistribution of power. We couldn’t both live—Gaia wasn’t going to allow it—and my parents knew that from the minute our powers manifested as mirror images of each other.”
Sierra didn’t even know Fia’s twin, nor had she known Fia for long, but her heart bled for the woman standing next to her.
“We didn’t have long together. She died shortly after our powers manifested. Her lifespan wasn’t even what humans wouldn’t consider a full one.”
“How did it happen?”
