Within (Walk Through Shadows Book One)

Chapter Five

The next morning Isabelle was at the book store before Bernie. She was sitting on a bench out front, waiting to accost Bernie before he could open the door and then get wrapped up in anything.

He arrived ten minutes after she sat down. "Isabelle," he greeted her warmly. "Did everything go well last night?"

"Sort of." She stood up from the bench. "I need to talk to you."

He unlocked the door with an oddly blank look on his face, then ushered her ahead of him. "Is something wrong?"

"I'm not sure yet. I have to go see my doctor first."

"Doctor?" He smiled and moved to take her hands. "So it's true then?"

She shrugged absentmindedly, her mind still in a daze from the queen's revelation. "Wait." Her hands tightened. "Did she tell you?"

"Lock the door dear. We should talk."

"I'll say." She flipped the deadbolt then followed him to the back office. "What's going on?"

"Have you figured out how to open it?" He waved at the chair in front of his desk. She sat down quickly.

"I was a little busy," she murmured.

"Yes, I suppose you would have been." He patted her shoulder.

She watched him walk around the desk. "So, how do you know the queen?"

He smiled as he looked at her for a moment. "I suppose you do have a right to the whole story." She sat quietly as he took off his jacket. "I'm sorry I've had to lie to you but not many humans can be trusted with the truth."

"The truth about what?" Her eyes went wide as he seemed to expand in front of her. "What the hell?"  As his posture straightened he seemed to grow six inches and twenty years younger.

His hands moved to the buttons of his shirt. He shrugged it off his shoulders and let it fall to his waist then turned in the cramped room to show her what he'd been hiding.

His back was covered in silvery gray feathers. Her mouth fell open slightly as he shifted his wings before tucking them tightly against his skin.

"Holy shit! You're one of them," she sputtered in a tense whisper.

"Not quite," he said while pulling his shirt back into place. "I'm a half-ling." He turned back to her as he buttoned up his shirt. "My father was human."

Her breath escaped in a little sigh of relief. "So it is possible to have a healthy baby."

Bernie transformed back into the form she was used to and took a seat behind the desk. "From what I've been told there aren't many of us. Humans are no longer permitted to live in our realm. But yes, a healthy baby is definitely possible though a bit of a rarity."

"I don't understand." She sat forward in her seat. "Alasdair got the witches daughter pregnant and now possibly me. Who knows how many more women he was successful with."

"You're the only one that the queen is aware of and you can trust that she would know how many grandchildren she has out there." He shook his head. "The witches daughter was already pregnant when she met Alasdair. Are you alright?"

Isabelle had gone pale as his words sank in. "You said grandchildren," she whispered.

"He didn't tell you?"

"That he's a prince? Uh no." She ran her hands through her hair. "Will you please tell me what's going on?"

"He told you how he came to be trapped in the book?" She nodded. "Well the truth was, like I said, that woman was already pregnant. She was probably looking for a way to trap Alasdair into something but he'd already left before she could put any plans in motion. By the time anyone could get to her mother and explain what had actually happened it was too late. The book was gone, she'd sold it to a lord passing through the village. He, after discovering the true contents, gave it to a rival lord as a gift." His hands waved back and forth as he spoke. "We did manage to get the amulet from her though. The queen has had it all this time. Did you bring it with you?"