Family Reunions Always Suck

My father?" I stared at Reth, trying to process what he'd said. "I'm going to meet-I have a father? And he's here?"

The pack of multicolored logo-plastered cars roared past on the track, separated from us by a massive chain-link fence and a maintenance area. It was too much to process. In spite of Reth and Vivian's claims that I had been "made," I had a father. A father who was going to NASCAR races instead of, say, taking care of me.

Reth surveyed the scene around us, his face a picture of disdain. "Unfortunately, yes. This way, please." He wove his way through the crowds wandering to and from their seats. I nearly got beer spilled on me three times, but everyone moved for him, most (male and female) pausing to stare dazedly at his glamoured glory.

"So," Jack said as we started up an infinite set of concrete steps through the stands, "this is exciting!"

"Can we not talk?" I was finally getting some answers, and I was scared bleepless.

Reth turned to a section of booths that looked far nicer than the aluminum benches everywhere else. He opened the door to the first and gestured for me to go in. Trembling, I walked through. The plushly furnished booth had four armchairs and a side table littered with empty Coke cans.

In the center chair overlooking the race sat a man with shoulder-length hair such a rich brown it looked like polished wood. His back was to us and he leaned forward, intent on the race.

"Do be a good boy and get me something to drink?" Reth asked Jack, shutting the door in his face before he could come in. The man in the chair hadn't turned around yet, and Reth narrowed his eyes in annoyance. "Lin." The man waved us away with one perfect, slender hand.

A faerie hand.

My stomach sank. No. No, not that. Anything but that. It couldn't be-he couldn't be-I couldn't be. Reth put his arm around my shoulders, steering me gently down the two steps to the window. When Lin's face came into view there was no denying it. His glamour was fuzzy, as though barely there, and his face had all the faerie features. Far-too-big almond eyes, delicate nose, full lips, ageless skin. But his eyes, an unnaturally emerald green, were ringed with red as though he hadn't slept in days. I'd never seen a faerie besides damaged Fehl look anything but pristine.

"Lin," Reth said again, his golden voice hard.

"Oh, go away. Thirty-three's making a pass."

I looked at Reth, not wanting to watch the strange faerie anymore. He set my teeth on edge, something about him making me instantly wary, tired. There was something there, something that tickled at the back of my mind. Please, don't let it be recognition. Reth looked disgusted as Lin cracked open another can of Coke and chugged it.

"Melinthros," Reth said, his voice ringing powerfully through the box.

The faerie snapped his eyes up, finally looking at us. "Watch it, pretty boy. I've got a nasty headache and if you go throwing around my name, things are liable to get ugly real quick around here."

Since when did faeries call each other "pretty boy"?

Lin turned back to the race. "No!" he shouted, throwing his now empty can against the glass. Then, a wicked smile cutting across his smooth features, he whispered something under his breath and flicked a hand toward the pack of cars zipping by. The car in front flipped onto its side, sliding as bits of it flew off and sparks trailed the ground. The cars behind smashed into it and each other, unable to avoid the wreck. One bright yellow car slammed into another and flipped over the top of it, crushing the roof before spinning off into a wall.

The entire thing took less than ten seconds, and then the track was a mess of smoke and colorful pieces of what used to be cars. An announcer buzzing in the background let off a long string of swearwords, declaring it the worst crash in the course's history.

Lin sat back, a pleased smile on his face. "I love this sport." He grabbed another Coke from the floor and drained it, wiping his mouth before he looked at Reth. "What are you doing here again?"

"I've brought your daughter." Reth's voice was devoid of emotion as it destroyed my life. I couldn't breathe, couldn't process this, couldn't tell whether the room was spinning or I was. Reth's grip on my shoulder tightened, steering me to one of the chairs. I sat heavily, staring at the floor.

I wasn't part faerie.

I couldn't be! It didn't make any sense.

Oh, bleep, when had anything in my life ever made sense?

"That's not her." Lin frowned, holding his hand near the ground. "She's about yea high, doesn't talk much, cries a lot. Bound to be around here somewhere." He looked over the top of one of the chairs as though three-year-old me would be there, playing.

Reth's golden eyes darkened. "Yes, that was an accurate description, fourteen years ago when you lost her."

"I didn't lose her." Lin straightened indignantly. "She's-" He paused, scratching his head. Then he looked at me, squinting. "Well, fancy that. You're right. Pale, tragic little thing, isn't she? Still, here she is and she is here. Go take her to the queen or whatever it is she was for. I forget. Ooh, they're clearing the track!"

He stared, transfixed, as what was left of the cars were leveraged off the track while paramedics carried out several people on stretchers.

I looked up at Reth, my lips trembling. I didn't know which was worse-that my father was a faerie, or that he spent the last fourteen years oblivious to the fact that I was missing. Reth's mouth was pursed, his full lips smashed into a single disapproving line.

He picked up a can, holding it with the tips of his fingers as though it were contaminated. IPCA had discovered, at great loss, the only thing from our world that affected faeries was carbonation; it was like hard liquor. Which made my father a faerie alcoholic. Of course. Brilliant. Reth set the can gingerly back down. "This is why I avoided court business. Mixing our fates with humans' never ends well. It's disgraceful. This is what comes of forcing a faerie to live outside our Realms. We'veall become tainted by the nonsense and decay of this world."

"Reth." I whispered so that my voice wouldn't crack. The tears were already out, but I didn't want to lose it. Not here. Not in front of that thing that was my father. "Please. I don't understand any of this."

Brushing off the seat, he sat in the chair next to me. "I'd hoped he could explain, but once again it falls to me." Reth fixed his depthless eyes on mine and took my hand in his. There were none of the forced flames from before, just reassuring pressure, like he was trying to anchor me. "I suppose the idea for you started about twenty years ago."

He traced a finger tenderly down my cheek. "It was a very bad idea from the start."