He stilled, and scrubbed a hand over his face. ‘Yeah, that’s her, but I didn’t think you knew the story.’
I laughed: it wasn’t happy. ‘Seems like everyone I talk to just now has something new to tell me about the curse.’
‘But then, you haven’t really talked to anyone about it before, have you, Gen?’ he said, a hint of reproach in his words. ‘So it’s only natural now you’re asking, that you’re going to hear about all the sordid stuff that no one usually mentions.’
He could say that again. I pursed my lips. ‘So Helen doesn’t like any sidhe because her father ignored her when she was a kid, and I’m the one who ends up as her whipping girl.’
‘It wasn’t just that. The sidhe took Helen’s son for a changeling, remember. When that happened, her feelings understandably worsened. Then things got difficult when Tavish’s list came out. When Nicky found out that I was going to be courting you, she got really excited and was desperate to meet you. Helen was … well, she got very upset about it all. I think she was frightened that after the sidhe took her son, you would try and steal her other child from her.’
I had this vision of a miniature Helen, only with cute little horns and pigtails, jumping up and down on her tiny hooves, then being sent to her room. Poor Nicky. It didn’t sound like having Helen as a mum was much fun. But then, maybe I was biased. Not to mention, ‘very upset’ sounded more like paranoia.
‘I know it’s irrational,’ Finn said, again in tune with my own thoughts, ‘but Helen can be very insecure at times. So in the end I promised not to tell you anything about Nicky unless you asked. I always thought you would, but you never did.’
It had never crossed my mind … which in itself was kind of odd, now I thought about it, but then other people’s family were hard to chat about when you were trying to keep your own family a secret. I stared blindly at the rest of the traffic inching along out of the blacked-out window. Finn had given his word, so he couldn’t have broken it, but there were ways round that (now I thought about it, Ricou and Sylvia’s little act in my kitchen had been exactly that). But having met Helen and been on the sharp end of her jealousy, and now knowing her background, I could see why Finn had kept his daughter a secret—well, not so much a secret, just not mentioned her up until now. My initial anger and shock was dampened by a mix of reluctant pity and sadness for Helen, and sympathy for both Finn and his daughter.
I looked back at Finn, and realised he was waiting for me to say something. Suddenly the situation felt awkward. Finding out my sort-of boyfriend had a secret kid wasn’t exactly a conversation-starter once the details were out the way. So, you’ve got a daughter.Um, let’s state the obvious, why don’t we? In the end, I settled for curiosity. ‘So, does Nicky live with you or Helen?’
He gave an odd laugh. ‘Gods, no—Nicky is very independent. She’s doing a Media and Arts degree. I wanted her to stay with her mother, or with the herd, but she insisted on moving out. She and three of her mates share this tiny two-bedroomed house. I’m lucky if she remembers to return my calls more than a couple of times a week.’
I blinked. ‘Just how old is Nicky?’
‘Nineteen.’ He grinned proudly. ‘Last December.’
‘Shit, Finn! She’s only six years younger than me.’
His grin faltered. ‘Why’s that a surprise?’
‘I don’t know,’ I said, stumped. I’d never really considered his age. I’d always thought of him as not much older than me, and I’d so never imagined he’d have a grown-up kid. Of course, he only lookedmy age—not that youthful looks meant much, with most fae being long-lived to nearly immortal—but most of the time he didn’t act much older either. ‘It just is,’ I finished lamely.
He rubbed behind his left horn. ‘I keep forgetting you’ve been brought up by humans. I’m a hundred and ten, Gen, but I’ve only got the one kid. Some fae my age have a lot more.’
‘Yeah … Ricou said he’s got six pups.’
‘Ricou’s also got about thirty-odd halfling grandkids and great-grandkids,’ he said drily. ‘If I remember right, his youngest is in her fifties and she’s got two grandkids herself.’
Oh.
Finn leaned forward, resting his forearms on his thighs. ‘Look,’ he said earnestly, ‘I know something happened yesterday, something to do with the curse that you can’t tell me, but I don’t want this to put you off us. Nicky’s old enough that she wouldn’t be part of our day-to-day life, so— Look, how about I organise for you to meet her?’ He smiled hopefully. ‘I can phone her now. She’d be over the moon.’
Chapter Thirty-Three
Now? Meet his kid now?What if she didn’t like me? For all that Finn had said she was excited, she was Helen’s daughter, after all. And I had enough on my emotional plate just now. ‘I don’t know, Finn. I sort of feel like I’m standing on quicksand and with everything that’s going on, the ground keeps disappearing beneath me. I think I need a couple of days to get used to the idea.’
‘Okay, you just let me know when,’ he said, reaching out to give my arm a reassuring squeeze. Then he frowned. ‘So, want to tell me what’s been happening?’
I told him everything about Tavish, the Morrígan, my visit to Sucker Town (leaving out the gory details), the sad memories I kept picking up, Tavish having some sort of deal with Malik (mentioning Malik’s name brought a scowl to his face) and, lastly, about Jack the raven’s mysterious visit. ‘So I think it’s all to do with the curse, but I can’t work out what, and how it all fits together? Any ideas?’
He tapped the limo’s leather seat thoughtfully for a few moments, then clasped his hands together and gave me a frank look. ‘Clíona’s daughter and granddaughter, and Ana and the dreadful things that happened to them, they’re everything to do with the curse, Gen. And to be honest, yes, one of us probably should have told you before, but it’s not a story that any of us are proud of, especially after the dryads tried to do something similar to you. We need you to help us, and telling you about all the terrible things that we fae have done in the past to other sidhe isn’t the best way to make you feel sympathetic, is it?’
He’d got that spot-on.
‘As for the Morrígan and the memories she’s shown you … well, they seem to be relevant to Ana and her time with the vamps. It could be that this Maxim—or the other suckers—are a threat to Ana again, and the Morrígan is using you to make sure she is safe.’
‘Okay,’ I said, frowning, ‘but why would she do that?’
‘Guilt’s one reason. The Old Donn was the Morrígan’s son—’
‘He was her son?’ Damn, she’d lost her own son! No wonder she’d told me, ‘ Losing a child is painful.’
‘Anyway,’ Finn carried on, ‘the way we heard it, Clíona imprisoned the Morrígan in retaliation for what he did to her daughter. It could be the Morrígan’s now trying to make amends by helping Ana through you, possibly because you’re the only one she can reach, or because of your connections with the suckers.’ He scowled again. ‘Or she could just have come to some arrangement with Clíona.’
‘So she’s got Tavish chained up just so she can talk to me?’ I asked, incredulous.
He laughed, but there wasn’t much mirth in the sound. ‘Don’t start feeling responsible, Gen. The Morrígan’s been after Tavish for years. If he’d so much as breathed in her direction she’d have nabbed him. It was him, with the help of the fossegrim, who killed the Old Donn and his pals.’
Tavish had killedthe Morrígan’s son? Crap, he really was in trouble, and despite him being interfering and arrogant and over-protective, he was still my friend. He’d helped me when I needed it, and I wanted to do the same for him. If I could just work out how …
‘But surely if the Old Donn was in the wrong, the Morrígan can’t hold Tavish?’ I asked, hearing the worry in my voice.