The Forgotten Ones

nothing like love.”
    Niamh looked away with an uncomfortable expression. When she caught me watching her, I quickly turned back to Liam.
    “By then I had become more Danaan than human. I’d stopped aging and had developed some magical ability. Nothing like a true Danaan, but magic nonetheless.”
    He frowned, and I noticed his eyes beginning to glisten.
    “Your mother and I were able to continue seeing each other for about five months before Aoife suspected anything. She assumed I was involved with Eithne, her handmaiden, and began watching me closely. It was nearly impossible to meet with your mother. She didn’t understand my situation, and I was too afraid to tell her the truth. I knew I was breaking her heart by staying away, but I didn’t have a choice.
    “When I returned to Tír na n’Óg, Aoife was waiting for me. She’d figured out with whom I had been meeting and was infuriated I had a desire to be with another, let alone a human .”
    Liam blew out a shaky breath, and Niamh took over. “Aoife’s temper is well-known among our folk. But none of us had ever seen such fury as when she felt she was betrayed by Liam,” she said shaking her head.
    “What did she do to my mother?” I blurted out, anger coloring my tone.
    “She didn’t do anything to your mother—not directly anyway,” Liam said, his hands balling into fists by his sides. “Aoife placed a geis, an enchantment, on me so that I was unable to touch your mother,” his voice faltered. “And then I was forbidden to leave Tír na n’Óg, and your mother left Ireland, thinking I had abandoned her.”
    I just stared at Liam, though he looked everywhere but at me.
    Niamh spoke again, and her face softened. “That’s not the worst of it, though. Like Liam said, when humans are abandoned by one of us, they are driven crazy with longing. He experienced it firsthand when Aoife stayed away for just one week. Your mother has been kept from your father for twenty-two years . She doesn’t have schizophrenia—she has an unfulfilled addiction . Until she is able to touch him again, she’ll never be more than an empty shell of what she once was.”
    I felt tears sliding down my cheeks as I listened to Niamh. If this story were true, maybe Liam really could help my mother. For that reason, I wanted it to be true. Another thought hit me hard and fast.
    “Where is Aoife now?” I asked, my chest squeezing. “Is she the one who you are trying to protect us from?”
    Niamh kept speaking as though she didn’t hear me. “During a recent gathering, I sensed something was very wrong with your father.”
    Niamh looked into my eyes, and I heard her voice in my mind again.
    I can read and speak to minds, so I could communicate with Liam without making Aoife suspicious.
    “Liam told me everything that happened. I agreed to imprison Aoife in a fey globe. It was the only way to stop her from keeping Liam captive.”
    Niamh stared into my eyes again. An image of a beautiful woman trapped in a shimmering sphere flashed into my mind.
    “Aoife may not be able to cause trouble now, but there are others who would restore her to power—”
    “I’ve seen her,” I interrupted. “The black-haired woman in the sphere, I’ve seen her in my dreams.”
    I looked at Liam. “When I first met you, I knew who you were because I’d dreamed of you. I knew you were my father because we look...so much alike.” I paused for a beat and swallowed hard. This can’t be happening. “And last night I dreamed of the woman with black hair. Aoife .”
    Niamh’s brow shot up. “I don’t understand why my mother didn’t tell me about this,” she whispered to Liam.
    Liam kept his head down. The muscles in his jaw were tense, his hands clenched at his sides.
    I couldn’t help wondering how her mother would know about me, but my phone rang just as I was about to ask. Ethan’s name showed on the display. I turned my back to Liam and Niamh to answer.
    “I need your help,” he said, sounding distressed.
    “Wh-what’s wrong?” I asked warily. I didn’t know how much more I could handle right then.
    “We have way too much leftover food here. Come help me eat it... please .”
    I let out the breath I had been holding. “Oh, okay,” I said, relieved that there was no more earth-shattering news.
    “Hey, is everything all right?”
    I swallowed the truth, wondering if the fact that my life had just turned into a Disney movie would be considered all right