Veiled Shadows (The Age of Alandria: Book Two) by Morgan Wylie

jumped into the conversation, asking questions and getting Hunter to talk about Alandria, the history, the people, others of her kind. Talking may have seemed a little too casual while their friend lay on the table just beyond them, but they were worried and the only way to distract from the current situation was to talk.

 
     
    CHAPTER FIVE
     
    Kaeleigh stared into Eva’s sad eyes with confusion. Thoughts of what her mother said ran through her mind and as it suddenly dawned on her she gasped. “ I’m not dead... but you are, aren’t you?” Kaeleigh finished with a strangled whisper as her head and shoulders dropped with defeat.
    A single gold tear slid down Eva’s face at the sudden emotion shift rolling off Kaeleigh; elation at finding the mom she never had to the gut-wrenching tear of immediate loss once again. Eva would have spared her daughter this turmoil if she could have, but she believed it a necessary torture.
    Refusing to waste her limited time with her mother grieving—she could always grieve later—Kaeleigh regained her composure, pushing her emotions back into an airtight compartment tucked away in a dark corner in the back of her heart. Taking a deep cleansing breath, she looked back to her mother’s beautiful face. “Why are you in this place—the In-between? Are you a lost soul?” Kaeleigh lowered her voice at the last part, afraid if she said it out loud it would be true.
    “No, sweet child, I am not lost... but yes, I am no longer among the living. I found a way to pull us both here together when Hunter’s magic was released. I’ve been watching, anticipating a shift in your energies, looking for an opening. Being where you are at the cottage, our connection is strongest. You see, your father and I hid there when I could not keep you hidden in my womb any longer; and after you were born, for a time, that was your home. I knew he would be the one to perform the ritual needed to return you to your original state. I guess you could say I intercepted his spell.” Taking a deep breath, she admitted, “I know it was risky for both of us, but I had to take this, my one and only opportunity to see you, to hold you, and to give you what knowledge I could.”
    Before Eva could continue, Kaeleigh jumped in. She had to know. “How did it happen?” At Eva’s confused face she clarified, “How did you...” Looking rather uncomfortable, she amended, “How did you end up here, well, not here, but where it is that you are? And where is that exactly?” Kaeleigh bit her lower lip and wrung her hands with the sudden nervous energy.
    Eva gave a small laugh. “So many questions, dear daughter.” She paused but nodded her head at her own resolve. Eva clasped Kaeleigh’s hand between both of her own, took a deep breath as if it pained her to talk about it, then went on to share with Kaeleigh the story of how she died.
    “There had been a battle,” she explained, “one of several in the history of Alandria, but this time we were outnumbered and unsuspecting. It was a time of unification among the kingdoms and peace.” Her gaze became far off as she remembered, “We had been outnumbered before, but this time was different. There was too much dissention among the territories—too many beings working for both the side of the light and the side of the dark. The king of the Faeries and the king of the Elves had been working together for unity and peace, when there was an uprising among the people who did not want to see this union come to pass.”
    Eva looked down at her slender hands folded in her lap. “Sadly, the king of the Faeries—my father—was being deceived. He was impressionable and fearful for his family and his people. He planned to back out of the agreements, but unbeknownst to him...”—Eva blushed and looked away shyly—“your father and I had our own secret ceremony of union.”
    Kaeleigh’s eyes were big and she looked around, slightly uncomfortable, with a blush creeping up