Dawning Read online

  Without thanking her for it, I had smashed it into a thousand pieces on the hard wood floor in our living room.

  Da had yelled at me and told me how ungrateful I had been. All the while, I glared at A’lona, wishing her to vanish into mist. She had just returned my look, but there had been no anger in her gaze or malice. Just understanding. That had angered me the most. Because if she had truly understood, she wouldn’t have left me in the first place.

  I remembered spending the rest of the day in the room, crying and tearing apart all my pretty things. Later, tired and hungry, I had snuck out of my room to the kitchen to snag a piece of my birthday cake. As I crept past my father’s room, I had heard them together. The realization had angered and disgusted me, and I had almost burst into the room to drag her out of the house by her hair. But I didn’t. I couldn’t do that to my father.

  After only a day, A’lona had once again disappeared, and my father sunk into a depression, sobbing until his throat was hoarse. For days after, he’d refuse to eat or go to work. A week later, the depression broke and he was back to his normal happy self.

  So on my twenty-first birthday when she showed up at the door again, bearing gifts, I had thought for sure that Da would tell her to go back to Nightfall and leave us be. But he didn’t. Once more, he had welcomed her in with open arms.

  I understood then why it was that way. He’d been fae-struck and he’d always love her, no matter what and no matter how long she’d leave him for. Humans were cursed to love the fae forever. That was just one of the reasons I wasn’t in a serious relationship. It just wouldn’t be fair to the other person.

  That time she had given me an exquisite bracelet made from amethyst and moonstone. Real moonstone, not the beads that pretend they are made from the lunar rock. I had thanked her, kissed her on the cheek, then that night when they had retired to my father’s room, I sneaked outside and buried it in the garden.

  Moonflowers grew in that spot now, encircling a small pond where two toads have taken up residence. Every night their dark blue petals unfurled to soak up the moon’s rays—the exact spot where Da always saw the pixies playing. Pixies from Nightfall, the place where my mother was born and lived.

  Movement stirred behind me. I hadn’t heard Da move up behind me. He set his empty cup on the counter and placed his quivering hand on my shoulder. I leaned into his touch.

  “You have to stop hating her, Nina. It will only eat at you from the inside out.”

  I shook my head. “Why should I? What has she done to deserve my forgiveness?”

  “She can’t help what she is. Would you fault a wolf from hunting and killing its prey to feed itself?”

  Thoughts of Severin instantly filled my mind.

  “Its nature is to do what it must to survive.” He squeezed my shoulder again then let his hand fall. “So it is with your mother. She does what she does to survive.”

  I didn’t look at him even when he pressed a quick kiss to my cheek and said, “Goodnight, darling. I’ll see you in the morning.”

  “Night.”

  I waited until he’d left the kitchen before I rinsed and set our cups in the dishwasher, his words mulling around in my head. I didn’t want to consider that A’lona had valid motivations for what she did. To me, there couldn’t have been any reason to abandon a child at the tender age of ten. No reason to leave her without any explanation to be raised by her father. I could never have done that.

  I stood at the sink and stared out the big window toward the backyard garden. The moonflowers were in full bloom. Dark petals fluttered in the light breeze as the stamens glowed like fireflies dancing in the moonlight. If I squinted, I knew I would see the buzzing of wings around the pond. Full dark was the perfect time for pixies to play.

  Instead, yawning, I turned from the display, clicked off the light in the kitchen and took the stairs to my bedroom. I was too tired to deal with those from Nightfall. I had my own supernatural being to deal with in this realm.

  Severin’s sexy rugged face and exquisite naked form planted firmly in my mind as I shed my clothes and slid under the covers. There went my good night’s sleep.

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  About the Author

  2008 Romantic Times Reviewer Choice Winner and Canadian author, Vivi Anna likes to burn up the pages with her unique brand of fantasy fiction. Vivi always writes fast paced action-adventure with strong independent women that can kick some butt, and dark delicious heroes to kill for. Readers can find out more about Vivi and her work at www.vivianna.net.

  Other books by Vivi Anna:

  NINA DECKER NOVEL

  Glimmer

  VALORIAN CHRONICLES

  Blood Secrets

  Dark Lies

  Veiled Truth

  The Vampire’s Quest

  The Vampire’s Kiss

  The Wolf’s Heart – coming October 2011

  HELL KAT NOVELS

  Hell Kat

  Inferno

  OTHERS

  Demon Dreamer

  In the Company of Wolves

  Of the Moon