Read Online Stone of Destiny (The Danaan Trilogy) by Laura Howard - Free Book Online

cursed so he couldn’t come be with Mom. Oh, and Niamh isn’t his sister, she’s really a fairy princess from the other world. Her crazy sister Aoife is an evil fairy who steals human blood to make her more powerful. It’s her fault Mom lost her mind, so don’t blame Liam, okay?
    No, lying was the way to go.
    With a sigh I told Gram I’d see her in a couple hours and that Niamh and I were going to watch a movie next door.
    We found Liam stretched out on a lawn chair in his backyard with his eyes closed. I hesitated when I imagined how our news would turn his life upside down. Again.
    Niamh turned to look at me and squeezed my shoulder. It was such a human gesture, I almost laughed. Maybe there was hope for their race after all.
    “Hey old man,” I said, nudging his chair with my foot.
    Liam opened one eye and looked over at me. “How right you are,” he said. He sat up and rubbed a hand over his face.
    “Liam, we have some news,” Niamh said as she pulled two more lawn chairs over.
    I sat on the chair she offered me. Liam looked between us as I pulled my legs up and wrapped my arms around them.
    “Before we captured Aoife in Tír na n’Óg, do you remember a time when she was gone for longer than usual?”
    He raised an eyebrow. “Gone? Well, a few times that she left for what seemed longer than others. Why do you ask?”
    “From what I can gather, it was right around the time you met Elizabeth. She came to this realm, alone. She stayed here for nearly a year without returning home to you. Of course it would have felt like little more than a week to you.”
    “Yes, I suppose I remember. At that point I was able to see Elizabeth every few days. Why?”
    “Well, during that time, Aoife had a secret she was keeping from all of us.”
    “Just one?” Liam asked dryly.
    “One in particular,” Niamh said. She drew in her lips and looked at her lap for a moment. “Liam, Aoife became pregnant with your child. She didn’t want the baby, afraid you would love it more than you loved her. So she made Eithne hide her in this world.”
    Liam stood. “My child?” His hands flew to his hair so fast they blurred. “That’s not possible, I would have known…”
    “There’s a lot of that going on lately, huh?” I said and wished I could stick my foot in my mouth.
    Niamh chuckled softly. “There’s more. Your other child, your daughter, has come looking for you. From what I’ve read of the girl’s thoughts, Aoife found her living in Thunder Bay. She knows about you and about Allison.”
    He laughed, a small desperate sound. His hair stood up at odd angles from the abuse he was inflicting on it as he paced back and forth.
    “I don’t know what to say.. What am I supposed to do?” His words all melted into one another.
    “Liam, it’s okay. We’re going to talk to her. Figure out what she’s doing here,” I said as I reached for his wrists, trying to get him to stop before he pulled all his hair out.
    “How long have you known about this?” he asked Niamh.
    “Does that matter right now?” Niamh asked, neatly deflecting him. “What’s more important is finding out any information she has about Aoife, wouldn’t you agree?”
    “Yes, yes. I suppose you’re right.” He ran a hand down his face.
    “Okay. She has one of Aoife’s guards with her. You remember Ciarán?”
    Liam nodded, but kept his hand over his eyes. “Is he another murderous fiend now, draining humans?”
    “I don’t know. I can’t get past his mind shields. But he doesn’t look haggard like Aengus does in your memories.”
    The image of the guard who attacked Liam and me in Thunder Bay, like a walking cadaver, popped into my head. When Liam and Niamh imprisoned Aoife, her guards had become addicted to the small bits of magic in human blood.
    “Good to know the girl isn’t traveling with the likes of him,” Liam said.
    Niamh shifted in her seat next to me. “We’re going to try to get my father draw Ciarán out. After that,