War of Hearts(78)

The intensity snapped out of Vik’s eyes, replaced by a flatness he hid as he turned from her. He rounded the desk and slumped into his chair. “As Conall will tell you, our origin story has become legend to most supes. But those of us who know the truth know that the Fae Queen closed the gate between our realms two thousand years ago.”

“Why?”

“Eirik, the vampire hunting you, is said to be the oldest living vampire in the world.” Vik refused to look at her. “He’s immensely powerful. A normal stake won’t kill him because the bone around his rib cage has grown so strong. And he’s too fast to catch or to outrun. He was there.” Vik finally looked at her. “He and his brother Jerrik were there when the gate closed. My research suggests they were born in the late Bronze Age, early Iron Age in Denmark, and were warriors, leaders of their community. The brothers were twins, and they caught the eye of a vampire on her travels across the world. She took them back to Ireland, and they’d socialized with the fae on Faerie. Vampires loved Faerie because the sun there does not harm them. Jerrik wrote about it.”

He tapped the leather book on his desk. “This is a rare copy of his firsthand accounts of life at the fae royal houses. He knew Aine. In his writings, he states that the queen, after thousands of years interfering with human life, had grown concerned that the scheming and competition between the houses would continue to spawn more supernatural beings. Possibly more powerful than the next.

“And as beings of human origin, she doubted the faes’ ability to control them. These supes were originally human so their loyalty, ultimately, was still to humans, to Earth, not to the fae. Her houses had no intention of ceasing their meddling with humans or pulling them into their wicked, often violent games. What if the supes decided they’d had enough of watching humans be used? What if it led to war?

“When rumor grew among the supes that blood from a pure fae could heal people from the brink of death but only in our world, tension built between the races. There were power-hungry vampires and werewolves excited about keeping fae on Earth just to use their healing abilities. To extend werewolf life and to ensure vampire immortality. To keep humans they loved alive when disease and death came knocking.

“So Aine expelled humans and supernaturals back to Earth and closed the gate. It is thought amongst scholars in the know that the closure led to the Irish Dark Age, a period of economic and cultural stagnation that lasted to around AD 300. Jerrik wrote it relieved some humans to see the fae gone, while those starving to death cursed Aine for abandoning them.

“But that’s not the interesting part nor the part relevant to you, Thea. Jerrik also wrote that before Aine turned the humans out of Faerie, she cast a spell. Unable to bear an ending without a game, she held a final feast for favored humans and supernaturals. Jerrik and his brother Eirik were among them. There Aine informed the supes and humans alike that fae children would be born in the human world to human parents. Seven of them. She said that many years from now, seven children would arise with gifts supernaturals would recognize as fae. If the children proved themselves worthy, the gate to Faerie would reopen and they and their chosen companions, human or supernatural, could live among the fae. She offered any human who crossed over with the children the gift of immortality.”

Oh my God, Ashforth knew this. “Ashforth,” Thea whispered.

Conall ran a hand over his face, incredulous. “I cannae believe this.”

“It’s the truth. And what you’re describing, this businessman, the Blackwood Coven, and … Eirik … well, this is what the queen intended. No one knows what the children would have to do to even open the gate. We don’t know if they’d all have to be together to do it or if just one is required to open it. Some believe the seven children need to be brought together at an exact point in Ireland where the gate opened. It’s what Jerrik believed. But he knew that Aine didn’t care about the endgame. She cared about the game and the carnage it would create over the centuries as supes and humans hunted for any sign of these children.

“The Blackwood Coven are like any powerful magical family—they believe their magic is a poor imitation of fae magic. They want to live among the faeries.” He snorted with laughter.

Thea didn’t find it particularly funny.

“And Eirik?” Conall practically growled.

Vik’s laughter instantly died. “His brother Jerrik believed the children needed to be protected. He created a cult of sorts, a religion, devout in its belief that these children are the key to reopening communication with the old ones. The Blackwood Coven belong to that cult. Although they might have been trying to harm you, Conall, they would never have intended Thea to be hurt. She’s too important to them. But Eirik … he has no desire to lose his place at the top of the food chain again. He doesn’t want the fae meddling in our world.

“He killed his brother … that’s how badly he doesn’t want it. He’s been hunting for signs of the children for centuries with one purpose—to kill them.”

“Even if this isnae true, they believe it is.” Conall turned to Thea, anger etched in every feature. “And they’ll just keep coming for Thea.”

Thea’s stomach dropped. She would be hunted for the rest of her life, she realized.

“There’s something else you should know,” Vik continued. “The Fae Queen didn’t just fear that humans and supernaturals would hunt fae for their blood. Jerrik wrote of a story he heard in the Day Lands, a story he believed was the real reason Aine closed the gate. A story that, if true, proves the fae are not true immortals on Faerie or Earth.”