Goddess Rising, page 2
I’d had a carefully tended crack house myself at one time, though the girls would never know that. It felt a little like the pot calling the kettle black. Goddess, I sucked at this.
Aurora rolled her eyes dramatically. “Mom, that’s crazy and old-fashioned.”
Right. Crazy and old-fashioned.
“Listen to your mothers. We know a thing or two whether you agree or not. I’m just saying, Aurora. Don’t waste time on males to whom you won’t mean anything in the end.
“But shifter cock is supposed to be the best,” she wailed.
Unable to take anymore, I got up and searched for Sephone. Aurora liked to push my buttons and knew where to find them. Remember again: Ireland, cliff, ocean, bird, and life choices.
I found Seph in her room, lounging across the soft lavender bedspread as she typed on her phone. Long, wavy, near black hair draped over her shoulders and down her back. Sun coming into her room's window glinted off the auburn highlights that reminded me so much of Aedan. Bright green multifaceted eyes mirroring my own looked up at me, and my heart exploded with love. I slid onto the bed beside her.
“I would never choose anyone over you, and you know that, Seph,” I said, rubbing a slow circle on her back. “That doesn’t mean it’s right for you to go after boys that you know Aurora is interested in. Cradle to grave, you girls need to stick together. And that this is over a shifter who will never, ever, pick one of you in the end is ridiculous. You are so smart, funny, beautiful, and amazing that any boy would be lucky to have you. Don’t sell yourself short.”
“I don’t have any magic, mom. I might as well be a human,” she said, getting right to what I knew was the heart of the issue.
“Sephone, you are twenty-three.”
“Almost twenty-four.”
“Regardless, you are fae, and your magic may not present for years. You know that,” I said.
Aedan and I did not doubt that our daughter would be powerful. Indeed, the later in life magic awoke, the more powerful the fae tended to be. As the granddaughter of The Great Goddess and the Queen of all fae, there was no doubt Seph would have magic. We just hoped that we were strong enough to contain it. Dani said that Seph’s magic would never reach our level, and we hoped she was right, but with the powerhouse of genetics behind her, she would still be very strong.
“People say I’m not even fae or that I’m adopted. I hear it all the time.”
I smiled, unable to stop myself. “I promise you are not adopted. Look in the mirror, Sephone. No one else could be your parents. We certainly bred true.”
“That’s gross, Mom,” she said, sighing, rolling over onto her back, and looking at me from under long, dark lashes.
“Those people are just jealous. No one could ever doubt you’re fae. You’re talented, wealthy, and desirable; anyone who talks shit about you is just being petty. You could always go and stay with Grandma Ari. She’d love to have you, and so would your grandfathers.” I picked up a length of her hair and wound my fingers around it.
“You could stay in the castle or at the Inn. You could swim in the lake and visit that cute son of Ravena’s. Or Teagan’s; that one’s a prince, after all.” I didn’t want her visiting any boys, but life is life, and she should love it. Moderately. Safely.
Seph shrugged her shoulders noncommittally. “They all have magic. It’d be weird. Plus, the guys look at me funny sometimes.”
“That’s because you are the most beautiful thing they’ve ever seen,” I said, knowing it was true. It also didn’t hurt that she was, indeed, an actual Faerie Princess.
“Mom,” she huffed, rolling to her side and curling into me like she did when she was little. “Sometimes it’s weird.”
I knew what she meant. In Talamh na Sithe, Sephone would be courted by groups of males bound by friendship or blood. Although monogamous relationships happened occasionally since my mother became Queen, it was the norm for one female to mate with three or four males as Fae can form mate bonds with those they choose instead of being fated like the Weres.
Once upon a time, Faerie was a wild, untamed place where the males outnumbered the females by the hundreds. When my mother was born, there were only eight females in her generation.
There had been a baby boom in recent years, and the numbers were better, but there were still many more males than females. Add in that Talamh na Sithe was still a wild place with growing magic and dangerous creatures roaming about, and the males tended to band together to care for and protect one female and any offspring that may come.
Some days, I thought they had the right idea; others, I imagined having three more husbands and wanted to kill all of them.
“I get that it’s different, but your grandfathers and grandma Ari will look after you. They love you. Maybe being in Talamh na Sithe and surrounded by magic will help yours bloom. And maybe some time away from Aurora will be good for you; think about it. I love you.” I wrapped my arm around her and inhaled her sweet scent.
She always smelled like sugar cookies. Not like my mother’s scent of vanilla and sugar, no. Sephone smelled like butter, sugar, flour, and vanilla, all the things that go into sugar cookies. It was layered and complicated but so much a part of Sephone that it infused every corner of her room.
I love you too, Mommy,” she said into my side, and maybe there was peace in the chaos of this house after all.
PJ and Aurora seldom walked across the field to where their parents lived, choosing instead to stay in the massive house that Aedan built after his had burned down a quarter of a century ago. Funny how time flies when you might live forever. The jury was still out on that last part, thankfully. But in moments like these, I found true peace.
“I love you, baby girl. I bet Cook has something in the kitchen for you,” I said as my only child cuddled into me. “There might even be ice cream in the freezer.”
“Okay,” she said.
“First, I have a question, and don’t be mad. It’s relevant to the situation, and if something were to happen, your daddy would be uncontrollable. You know that,” I started, hoping my peaceful moment wasn’t about to be ruined.
“All right,” she said.
“Are you on the pill? It’s way too soon for you to have a baby.”
“Ew, Mom, no. I’m a virgin,” she squealed, pulling away from me and hopping to her feet. “Do you think we have chocolate ice cream?” she asked, looking down at me as I slowly rose.
“I bet we do,” I answered, smiling inwardly. I was mother to a twenty-three-year-old virgin. Who’d have thought? After the life I’d led, I’d have sworn it impossible. Maybe I was doing something right after all.
Aedan would find out about Seph and Aurora’s fight; he had a way of knowing things. Hopefully, their deeper secrets would stay hidden since not everything was his business, regardless of what he thought. They were adults. Kinda. According to me, anyway.
We snacked on a buffet made by a brownie who called himself Cook while talking about work but nothing important. Cook kept us fed and made sure the house ran like a clock.
Brownies are considered a lesser fae, though there is nothing lesser about them. Their magic requires them to keep a house or lose their minds, but they can be taken advantage of because of that. Cook had adopted me first and then Aedan because the larger the household, the happier he was. Lately, we’d caught sight of a lady brownie and wondered if Cook had mated. That, or he had been deposed. I’d heard they could be vicious when searching for a family to care for, and ours would be quite the coup as our house was always full.
Brownies were reclusive and didn’t like to be caught doing their work. We were never sure how he managed to keep us fed, the kitchens stocked, and the house spotless, but he did. Or she did. Or they did. Anyway, we ate lasagna, chicken parm, meatballs, and salad. It was Olive Garden night in the Hennessey household, but it was handmade, and all the better for it.
Aedan had gone by one name for so long that he took mine when we married. It was an old fae custom that he didn’t mind adhering to. You always knew who your mother was; it's your father that can be a mystery, especially in Talamh na Sithe, so he’d taken my surname, and I’d loved that he did.
Despite being filled with protective alpha males, Fae society was matriarchal in that the women held most of the power, with only a few exceptions. This custom had strengthened under my mother’s rule, and Talamh na Sithe was better for it. Maybe don’t mention that to Coimeadai Lasair.
Watching Sephone eat chocolate ice cream buried in Hershey’s syrup, I knew she’d never doubt her parentage. She was too perfect a mix of Coi and me and certainly the best of us in one soul. We chatted as we ate, stuffing ourselves with food and companionship.
With kids her age, you never knew which side of them you might get, but I was taking all the love she had, and I soaked it up while it lasted. Tomorrow might bring the feral side of her, and while I loved it too, I enjoyed her sweetness more.
After ice cream, Aurora appeared. She and Seph huddled on the couch, talking while I cleared some of our collective mess. Cook would do it, but I hated to leave a tornado if I could whittle it to a rainstorm.
When I finished, I found them lying together and watching Netflix while PJ sat alone, sighing as he watched Sephone watch whatever series they binged on. Not long ago, they’d have been piled like puppies on the couch, but Seph had enough presence of mind to know that ship had sailed. I joined them briefly before giving up trying to make sense of the show. I hadn’t heard from Aedan all day. I sent him another text and then went to the bedroom alone.
Chapter 3
Aedan
I heard the notification on my phone, wishing I could pull it out and answer my wife. This trip was not going well, and I’d rather hear her voice than theirs on any day.
I had come for senate hearings on one thing and ended up in closed-door meetings over something else entirely.
Initially, they worried about the current power held by the American Vampire Association, or so they said. They worried about the Fae coalition, too, I am sure. More specifically, they worried that Lara would attempt a government coup and viewed what happened in Talamh na Sithe twenty-five years ago as proof. How it waited this long to come to a head, I did not know.
The funny thing about politics is that The War was seen as a good move then, but now, under the newly seated current administration, it was not. In defense of the government, details about the events surrounding the deposal of the former Queen of Talamh na Sithe were slow to filter to the New World, and time passed differently there. Not twenty-five years differently, but differently all the same.
I sat in a private meeting room in the White House. Not the one they use for television appearances or photo opportunities. No, I sat in the room used for the down-and-dirty business of politics, trying to keep my wife’s life as simple as possible. America’s leadership wanted assurances, but how do you assure them they were safe from a Goddess? You can not. They do not want to hear it. Excuse me; they don’t want to hear it.
Goddess forbid Sephone hear me not using modern speech. My daughter is offended on a fundamental level by such things, deeming me old and out of touch. I am trying on all levels to be hip. I even opened a Twitter account. Or was it an X? Or simply a bird? Truth be told, I paid a Gen Z kid to run it and did not know.
I listened to the man across from me drone on when I only wanted to go home and hold my wife. Assurances be damned. She could light the entirety of the world on fire, and as long as she left our little corner in peace, I would not care. They were actually talking to the wrong Hennessey. Lara would’ve promised them the world to get out of being in the room with them and would never maliciously lift a finger against her country. I, on the other hand?
“Mr. Aedan, what do you say to the proposal?” someone asked.
Oh, dear mother.
“Give me time to review it,” I said, rising. It was an old business strategy that irrefutably worked. No one can argue with someone wanting time to dissect whatever tripe they penned.
“And your Fae Queen?” someone asked. I tilted my head in their direction a bit too slowly, imagining I looked very much like a snake sighting its prey.
“The Fae Queen is safely ensconced in Talamh na Sithe, and I doubt she wants much to do with the Americas. Not yet, anyway,” I answered, deflecting them. Airmed did not want anything to do with the New World but let them think otherwise if it took some of the pressure off of her daughter.
“You know what I mean,” he said. “I’m talking about your wife.”
“The only thing my wife is Queen of is our home, Sir. And some might disagree with that statement and challenge her for the title if they heard me use it. She is truly harmless. Powerful, yes,” I said, as there was no point in denying it. Lara was the most powerful being next to The Great Goddess, and everyone knew it. But she kept to herself, using her magic in small amounts and only if needed.
Our life had been peaceful since the Fae war ended, and I planned on keeping it that way. “But if it is too worrisome to have us here, we can relocate. We have landholdings in many hospitable places,” I added, knowing the reaction to the statement would be immediate.
“Now, Mr. Aedan.”
“Hennessey,” I said, hating the sound of my old name. I’d wanted to return to my birth name, but if you think changing your name at the DMV is complicated, try changing two thousand years of history.
“Mr. Hennessey, I apologize. We adore having your family in the US and wouldn’t dream of.” Losing your money to another country, I finished in my head because it was the truth, after all.
“Asking you to go,” he said. “We’re just looking for assurances that there is a safety net if the American Fae queen goes off the rails.”
“We want to be part of the solution should there be a problem,” the president interrupted.
I hated this woman with a passion. The current US president was the third female to hold the position, and where her predecessors had been excellent, she failed to live up to the standard they set. And while it was true that Lara was considered the Queen of the American Fae, it was not an official title nor one she recognized. Still, Fae living here came to her in droves, seeking mediation, retribution, or remuneration, and it did make her their Queen.
Lara saw these people daily, holding court in our living room, the barn, the grocery store, the post office, and the driveway. She didn’t realize what that meant for her status, though everyone else involved did.
Lara was most definitely the Queen of the Fae living in the New World, and if her mother ever retired, she’d be Queen of Talamh na Sithe as well. And if my mother retired? Goddess, save us because only my wife could take her place. As levied by responsibility as she was, Lara would not go off the rails now, nor likely ever. Not if I had anything to do with it.
They were looking to weaponize her, plain and simple.
The president, who affected the easy charm Lara wore naturally, also worried that should Lara get into politics, it would be all over but the fat lady singing. Was that the right saying? Was that hip enough? I would have to ask Sephone when I got home. I’d have to ask. Great Goddess, it was harder to use the contraction than it was to not. They make little sense.
“We are finished here.” I rose to leave, quirking my eyebrow at the room. I was done.
“Let’s not be hasty, Governor,” the Secretary of State said from the fringes of the group.
I bristled at the old title. The US government was out of touch and not hip at all, and I needed to get more vampires into it to make that correction. I made a mental note to do so.
Where once I was the Governor of the Eastern Region of Vampires, now, I was the President. One of my former allies had attempted a coup of her own, and I’d united the country’s vampires under my banner, hoping to ensure that type of behavior didn’t recur.
For a reason, we kept the intricacies of vampire politics from human eyes, so I kept my mouth shut. My son, Gregory, would make an excellent Senator and an even better president. I would speak with him about it later.
But the fact remained that whether I was the Governor, the President, or the court jester mattered not. The people in this room would hate it if the House of Aedan and the Hennessey family pulled up stakes and left the country. No pun intended. The loss of taxes alone would hurt the national budget. Add in the potential instability in the supernatural community, and the US government would have a problem.
Not to mention our numerous businesses, homes, employees, and bank accounts. It would be the equivalent of a major city uprooting its entire population and operations and taking them elsewhere. Bottom line? It would hurt.
“Mr. Secretary, Mr. Speaker, Madam President,” I started. “If Lara wants to go off the rails, as you say, there will be no stopping her, but she is a loving wife, mother, and healthcare healer. Her behavior is predicated on all three principles; therefore, my wife is unlikely to go off of anything. However, she is rather fond of me, and I need to get back to her. If I do not get home soon, all bets are off on whether or not she will tear The District apart looking for me. Have a pleasant evening.” I left, leaving them sitting silently with their mouths open. What more could I say? I doubt they’d ever been walked out on in that manner, but there was nothing more to do, and I wanted to go home.
Perhaps I should have given them platitudes or false assurances, but that would be unwise. Making any deal with the US government would be akin to making one with a powerful Fae. Maybe more so. There are twists and turns that even I might not foresee, and I am a master at the long game and would avoid it at all costs.
On the streets, I headed toward my car. Someone always offered to drive me, but I had taken to driving myself. I could have walked one of Lara’s Ways, as she had made many, but Westminster wasn’t far from The District, and I enjoyed the drive. I’d chosen a silver 1963 Corvette Stingray for the visit and did not regret it.
