I woke up freezing and rolled over to see Joe wrapped up in all of the blankets. We'd never shared a bed before, and I would never have pegged him as a cover hog. Rubbing my arms to warm them up, I stared at the ceiling for a moment while I considered if I should steal the covers back or just get up.

Sunlight was pouring in through the pale pink curtains that were blissfully free of paisleys. I rubbed my eyes and sat up, stretching. I wondered how long it would be before I'd get to wake up in my bed. My heart fell into the pit of my stomach. Thanks to Brenan and his circus, I didn't have a bed or a home. I leaned over, resting my head in my hands. If I wanted to get back to having a home again, I'd need to be safe to stay in one place without being hunted. Was I at risk from Brenon? Was he looking for me? Or was it just Terra who was chasing me?

"Good morning."

I turned to see Joe untangling himself. He threw the blankets on to the floor. "How'd you sleep?"

"Fine." I was tired enough that I probably could have slept just about anywhere. A familiar scent filled the air, and I took a deep breath in. Someone was making coffee. I rubbed my eyes again and stood. Coffee was worth getting out of bed.

As Joe and I entered the kitchen, we found Aunt Kay and Adam already sitting at a table eating breakfast. Aunt Kay stood when she saw us and quickly piled food on a plate, then handed it to me.

I looked down at the pile of hash, then back up at her.

"It's a tofu scramble." Aunt Kay beamed.

"It's disgusting, but she insisted on making it for you," Adam said.

I smiled. Maybe Aunt Kay was looking out for me all this time. She'd remembered that I didn't eat meat. I took the plate from her. It didn't look very appetizing, but I was going to eat every bite. "Thank you."

I sat down next to Adam and Joe joined me, his own plate of tofu in front of him. "What's the plan for today?" Joe asked, mouth full of food.

Joe was one of those people who would eat anything, but I hoped his enthusiasm for the dish meant it was tasty.

"We going to find daddy dearest or go see the Sayge?"

Aunt Kay shot him a glare, then turned to me. "I still don't think you need to trouble yourself with Tristan. He's bad news, Ara. But I'm sure you already know that."

Chewing the surprisingly good tofu, I swallowed. "I still want to talk to him, but I think I need to learn more about myself first."

"What do you want to know?" Aunt Kay set a steaming mug of coffee in front of me, then dropped two sugar cubes into the cup.

"Well, I want to learn how to protect myself. Somehow, I was able to send Terra away once, but I don't know how I did it. I want to be able to fight back if I run into her or her wolves again."

"Morning, everyone."

We all turned to face the newcomer. Maggie was standing in the arched entryway to the kitchen. Her short black hair was spiked in all directions, and her eye makeup was smeared under her eyes, giving her the impression of being an angry raccoon. It was a look I'd sported myself back in my partying days all too often on the morning after.

She shuffled in on bare feet and poured herself a cup of coffee before sitting down across from me. She took a few sips, eyes darting around the table. "Did I walk in on something? Why is it so quiet?"

"We were trying to convince Ara that it's a bad idea to go find Tristan," Adam said.

Maggie raised her eyebrows and looked at me from over the top of her coffee mug. When she finished her drink, she set the cup down. "Why on earth would you go looking for him? It's bad enough that Terra is hunting you down. Why make it easier for her to find you? He's teamed up with her for some reason, so you find him, you'll find her."

Her words brought some memories flooding back. Tristan seemed to scare the members of the Rose Circus, almost more than Terra. And Maggie made it sound like it was unusual that the two of them would be working together. "What's their deal? Tristan and Terra? They're not related, are they?"

My stomach flipped. The last thing I needed was to find out I'd made out with someone related to my biological father. Being half-fae was really complicating my life.

Maggie spit her coffee back into her mug then started coughing.

Adam shook his head. "If that were the case, their past would be very, very wrong."

A rush of relief filled me. "So, they're not related. They're what, lovers?"

"Word is, that when they lived in Faerie, back when Terra was queen, Tristan was her favorite plaything. He was a lesser lord of the Dark Fae, and he's the only Dark Fae that came to our world when the gates were sealed," Adam said.

"That's part of why we have to stop them," Aunt Kay said. "The Dark Fae were left behind in Faerie, and with the two Fae monarchs gone, it's likely that they rose to power. We don't even know if there's anything left alive over there that isn't pure evil."

"Wait," I set my fork down, "pure evil? Don't you think that's a bit extreme? I mean, I met Tristan. He was a brawler, but he didn't seem like he was pure evil."

"He's a labradoodle compared to those who were left behind," Adam said.

"What do you mean? He freaked me out, but he didn't seem as bad as Terra."

"From what we're hearing, she's got him on some sort of leash," Maggie said.

"Maybe he's back in her bed," Adam said.

"I don't think so," Maggie said. "That's not what Emi told me."

"It doesn't matter why," Aunt Kay said. Everyone stopped talking to look at her.

"Whatever the reason, Tristan is helping her. And that means bad news for us." She rubbed her forehead, then dropped her hand. "Arabella, I know things have been bumpy between us. But you have to understand, I'd never do anything to hurt you. You won't get the same promise from Tristan, father or not."

My throat tightened. Growing up, I'd occasionally wondered about my birth parents, I'd wondered who they were, what they were like. I'd even had a few daydreams about meeting my father. Sometimes I screamed at him and told him off. Sometimes he came to me in tears, swearing he never knew about me and regretted losing me. Never once had I thought I'd find out my father was a Dark Fae, capable of hurting me, and working with someone who was trying to kill me.

I leaned over, resting my forehead on the cool table, and took a few deep breaths.

"You okay?" Joe set his hand on my back.

I sat up and looked at him. "At this point, that word has lost all meaning."

"What word?"

"Okay. I don't even know what okay means anymore. But I don't really have a choice, do I?" I looked around the table. Everyone I'd met seemed to want something from me lately. Brenon wanted me to help him defeat Terra. Terra wanted me to break Brenon's curse somehow.

I narrowed my eyes at my Aunt Kay. "What is it that you want from me? Be honest. No more games."

She pressed her lips together and glanced at Maggie and Adam, then looked back at me. "I already told you, we want to put an end to the Fae. And I think you're the key."

"Why does everything have to do with me? What makes me so special? Why not Adam? Why not Maggi, why not you, Aunt Kay?"

"Because we are what we are. The three of us, we're just Sayges. Humans who can channel the earth's magic. We belong here. We were charged with protecting this realm by the goddess herself. While our kind would sometimes travel to Faerie, we never belonged in that realm. We were only visitors. Faerie is the realm of the Fae and their kind." Her forehead creased. "Do you understand?"

"Understand what?" I said. "You're not explaining anything."

"You're not like us, Ara," Maggie said. "You're only half Sayge. Only part of you belongs in this realm."

My heart pounded. I hadn't thought too much yet about what being half-Fae meant. From what she was saying, it sounded like I might as well have come from another planet.

"You're a child of two worlds, dear," Aunt Maggie said. "That's why everyone thinks you can help them. You're the only one we know of who belongs half on earth and half in Faerie. You could be the key to opening the gates, or closing them forever."

I leaned back in my chair. It felt like I'd had the air knocked from my lungs. Aunt Kay reached her hand out, touching her fingers to mine. "But you must never, ever do that."

I narrowed my eyes. "Do what? Open the gates?"

She nodded. "There are things worse than Terra that were left behind there. If those gates ever open without something to keep them in check, it could mean the end of the human race."

Knock, knock, knock.

My heart pounded, mind immediately imagining Terra standing outside the door. "Expecting someone?"

Aunt Kay jumped, then rose from her chair. "We sent a message last night."

Without any other explanation, Aunt Kay, Maggie, and Adam walked toward the front door. I stood, taking a few cautious steps to the rear of the kitchen to peek out into the living room. Joe was standing right behind me.

The sound of cheerful greetings calmed my nerves. Whoever was at the door was a welcome visitor. After the stress of the last few days, I had let my imagination run wild.

Aunt Kay stepped back from the door to allow a group of four people to enter her home. They walked into the living room, chatting in low voices. Feeling both curious and left out, I shrugged at Joe, then made my way to the living room to find out what was going on.

All four of the newcomers squeezed across the overstuffed paisley couch. Two women, both with dark hair, grayed around their temples, and dark brown eyes, looked up at me. They could be twins. One of them smiled and nodded, the other narrowed her eyes as if studying me. A flicker of recognition stirred in my memory. She looked familiar somehow, but I couldn't place it. "Have we met?"

"That's unlikely, child," one of the twins said.

"I don't think so," the other said as she settled on the couch.

I turned away from them, feeling like maybe I was losing my mind. Why had they looked so familiar?

The two men sat on the couch next to the twins. They were younger, maybe late thirties. One had a full red beard, and long red hair pulled into a ponytail at the base of his head. The other had close-cropped dark hair, reminding me of a soldier in the military. Neither was looking at me as they were too engaged in conversation with Adam to notice.

"Everyone," Aunt Kay stood in the middle of the room, "I'd like you to meet, Arabella. With her magic, we can end the Fae war, once and for all."

"Wait, what?" I stared at my aunt, then looked around the room. "I only just found out about all of this."

Aunt Kay set her hand on my elbow and led me to the love seat at the back of the room. "I know, sweetheart, but we have to move fast. We can't afford to wait anymore."

I sat down, and Joe sat next to me. He leaned over, so his mouth was next to my ear. "Are they talking about putting you in the middle of all this?"

"I have no idea." I turned away from Joe and looked at my aunt, who had settled herself into one of the matching chairs. "Look, Aunt Kay, and everyone. I'm not even sure what's going on here yet. Right now, I want to learn how to defend myself and get away from all of this. I just want to live a normal life."

"You realize there is no more normal," one of the twins said. "Terra knows who you are, what you can do. That's the only reason she didn't kill you when you were with her. And it's likely the Circus knows, too. And we can't have either side opening those gates. It's time to seal them once and for all."

My stomach tightened. Lock the gates to Faerie? I knew the members of the Circus were not planning on breaking the curse and going back, but they sure wouldn't like the idea of being locked out of their home forever. "I don't think I could do that. It's not fair. Not all of the Fae and creatures that are here can be bad, right? Isn't there a way to eliminate Terra and let the good guys go back?"

"I told you she spent too much time with that circus to be trusted," the other twin said. She stood and walked over to me, stopping in front of me with her hands on her hips. "You can't possibly think any member of that group cares for you?"

My heart fluttered in my chest as my memories shot back to Brenon and the look in his eyes when he told me he'd never felt this way before. The way he just tore up the contract without argument, the defeat in his face. He had to care about me, at least a little, right? I shook my head. "It doesn't matter how they feel about me. Nobody deserves to be locked away from their home."

"They've been here five-hundred years already. If this isn't their home by now, no place will be." She walked over to Aunt Kay. "She's more harm than good to us if she's not on our side. Fix her."

I stood. "Excuse me? I'm right here. And I'm fully capable of making my own decisions. I just met you all. I'm not ready to jump into the middle of a war with a bunch of people who never cared enough about me before to even acknowledge me."

Twin two shot me a look. "That's your aunt's doing. She had you hidden from us. We've been looking for you since you were born."

I nearly fell back down into the seat behind me. "What the hell are you talking about?"

"A child of Tristan's can't be trusted," twin one said, then moved to stand next to her doppelgänger. The men, who had been silent this whole time stood as well, and the group walked toward the door.

"You've got a week to figure out where you belong, Ara," twin two said.

"Are you threatening me?"

Before they could answer, another knock sounded on the door.

"Great, more people to try to control my life?" I asked.

The knocking stopped, then a bang sounded as the door shattered, flying into the room. I lifted my arms over my face to keep the debris from my eyes. Screams rose in the room, one of them coming from me.

When I dropped my arm to assess what had happened, I found myself staring at Tristan.