“What a wonderful day this is already.” Her voice was raspy and deep. “You have finally joined us, Ash.”
She rose smoothly from her seat and approached, leaving the staff behind. I was shaking with fear and cold. There were four other thrones in the room, all of them occupied—no doubt by her terrifying sons—but I couldn’t tear my eyes away from her gleaming teeth and cobalt eye.
“Did a part of you know this day was coming?” she asked as she reached me. Belial finally let go of my arm and stepped back, but I was frozen in place, pinned by her one piercing eye.
“Did a part of you always suspect that there was something more for you out there?” she continued. “More to you than everyone else?”
“No,” I rasped honestly, and she let out a tinkling laugh that sounded like pebbles skidding over ice.
“Well, you’ll find out soon enough. Thereismore to you than everyone else, sweet Ash. You are not just a mere mortal.”
“Y-yes I am.” I licked my lips nervously. “Please, I don’t—I shouldn’t be here.”
She pursed her lips before flashing another bronze-toothed grin. “I think here is exactly where you should be.”
I shook my head weakly, trying not to shiver in the cold of the room, my hands still tied behind my back. “I don’t want to be here. I don’t understand. I’m not anyone. I’m not—not one of you.”
“But youare, sweet boy. Your mother is one of us, Ash.” She shook her head sadly. “But she abandoned you. Left you on the doorstep of your mortal father without even a look back. ButInever would.”
She swept an arm back to the four silent men sitting on their thrones, two either side of the huge central one she’d vacated.
“I keep my sons close. They live in luxury here. They want for nothing.”
I tried to surreptitiously look at them. They were all tall with white hair like the Carlin’s, except for the one to the farthest left.
His hair was as black and iridescent as a beetle’s carapace, contrasting sharply with his pale skin. His black eyes were hooded, making his gaze look bored and all-consuming at the same time. Finely shaped black brows arched above his sullen gaze. Paired with sharp, high cheekbones and an insolent mouth, he was almost painfully beautiful.
He was staring back at me, and something in his gaze made my stomach twist into a tight knot.
I looked away quickly, darting my eyes over the other three sons. The tallest was narrow-shouldered, with long white hair twisted back into a tight braid, and a sharp face. His eyes were the exact same shade as the Carlin’s, and they were watching me keenly.
Beside him was a man with similarly white hair, though his was loose and framing his face. His eyes were pale blue, and he was handsome—until he smiled, and I saw the bronze teeth just like his mother’s crowding his wide mouth.
On the other side of the huge central throne, beside the black-eyed son was a male with long, wavy white hair and filmy, unfocused white eyes. A white dog with glowing red eyes sat on his lap, and long fingers drifted absently over its back.
Unbidden, my gaze darted back to the black-haired son. He was still watching me, his gaze hooded and filled with disdain. I saw his black eyes flicker down my frame and back up, and I felt my face get hot. It wasn’tmyfault I was standing here half naked. I hadn’taskedfor this.
“My sweet boy.” I jumped when the Carlin cupped my face, her one cobalt eye gazing at me. “You are one of us.”
I licked my lips nervously, eyes darting back over to her black-haired son. He was no longer looking at me, instead gazing off into the middle distance with a bored expression.
“I’m not,” I said again, weakly. “I’m human. Mortal.”
“Half mortal, yes. For now. But while here, you will shed your mortal skin. Become one of us fully.”
Shed my mortal skin? I paled, the blood draining from my face.
“You are one of us, Ash,” she said yet again. “Your true self is hidden beneath this mortal skin for now, but soon it will emerge, and it will be glorious. You will become one of us truly.”
“You… you mean unseelie?” I looked around at the icy, cavernous room. “I’m… unseelie?”
The Carlin smiled indulgently. “You are one of the Folk, yes. You couldn’t ever just live your whole life in the mortal world, Ash. You would get sick. You would wither away to nothing. Here, you will live a long life. Far longer than any mortal.”
I shook my head weakly. “I don’t want to live an unnaturally long life.”
Those long, taloned fingers tightened on my face, making me wince before they relaxed again.
“So mortal.” She gave a tinkling laugh, like icicles falling to the ground. “So ungrateful. That will go, don’t you worry. You’ll shed your mortal trappings soon enough.”