Luke snatched the vial from Evelyn's hand. "Where did you get this?"

"From the queen's chamber," she replied with a sly smile. "I took it once upon a time while I was drawing her bath."

"You shouldn't be so pleased with yourself," Luke said. "If the queen discovers that you have this—"

Evelyn scowled and grabbed the vial. "She won't find out unless you tell her."

Luke closed his mouth, his gaze returning to the seemingly harmless vial. Though similar to the glass receptacle he wore around his neck, the shape of the one in Evelyn's hand was slightly different, beveled at the bottom instead of rounded. "Why would she keep it?" he wondered aloud, almost to himself.

"A love token, perhaps?" Evelyn replied. "He would have no use for it, after all, in the mortal realm."

"What are you guys talking about?" Maura wondered.

Evelyn offered the vial to Maura. "This belonged to your father."

"My father?" Maura turned the vial to and fro as she inspected it, the glass catching the light of the overhead fixture in the kitchen.

"I suppose you should tell her," Evelyn said to Luke.

"Tell me what?" Maura demanded.

Luke closed his eyes briefly. "The queen and your father—" he began.

"Were once in love," Evelyn promptly finished, bouncing on the balls of her feet.

Luke narrowed his gaze at the faery and then reached for Maura's hand, guiding her to the kitchen table. "Sit down. There's something you should know."

"Like the fact my dad and Siobhan were apparently once in love?" Maura said, cringing.

"Siobhan hasn't always been the queen of The Otherworld," Luke said.

"Siobhan hasn't always been immortal," Evelyn added. "Many of us who belong to The Otherworld now were human, many lifetimes ago."

"Human?"

"Those faeries who are not born are the queen's chosen," Luke said.

Evelyn scoffed. "You make it sound so romantic." She turned to Maura. "We were the queen's promised."

Maura frowned. "Promised?"

"Debts to be collected," Luke replied.

"Generally speaking," Evelyn added, "faery queens are not very nice. Although I am certain Siobhan would say otherwise."

Maura's forehead creased. "So, faeries don't fall in love with each other and . . ." She waved her hand as her voice trailed off, but her cheeks blushed, making her meaning perfectly clear.

"Of course we do," Evelyn said. "Faeries aren't completely unfeeling."

"Though faeries rarely have children of their own," Luke added, answering Maura's question.

"Another generally speaking," Evelyn amended, gazing pointedly at Maura. "Or have you forgotten that she is a halfling? The only one that I know of, to be more precise. Brendan left the kingdom ages ago when he was just a young man. If Siobhan had granted him true mortality, he would be dust, and none of us would be sitting here having this conversation. Yet he did eventually grow up and father a child."

Maura laughed. "It always pissed Mom off that he never seemed to age, even though she did. I guess not being completely mortal explains it."

"As well as not being completely immortal," Evelyn replied.

"As the queen, Siobhan can grant immortality to whatever degree she chooses," Luke explained.

"What do you mean?" Maura asked.

"He means that Siobhan has the power to keep humans in their fragile, finite state, or she can gift them with some measure of eternity. Give them an unnaturally long life."

"Are there humans in The Otherworld?"

"Siobhan doesn't keep humans mortal for long," Evelyn said. "If she keeps them at all. Their lives are much too short for them to be useful."

"Beyond taking their essence," Maura said.

"Precisely."

"And what is a faery's purpose?"

"To serve the queen," Evelyn answered. "In whatever way pleases her."

"Sounds like a pretty boring life to me," Maura commented.

"It does grow tedious," Luke agreed.

Maura placed the vial in the middle of the table and stood staring at it, hands on her hips. "So, what does this have to do with anything?"

Luke took a deep breath. "Long before my time, your father served another queen. His mother and your grandmother."

Maura's eyes widened. "My grandmother?"

"You are royalty," Evelyn said. "I imagine that is why Siobhan is so interested in you."

Maura shook her head. "We definitely need to unpack that later. But back to my dad . . ."

Luke nodded. "He was what I am now."

"You mean he collected Essence."

"Yes."

"But then he met Siobhan and fell madly and deeply in love," Evelyn supplied with a sigh.

"When she was human," Maura said.

"She was young then," Evelyn said. "Sweet and beautiful. Much like you." Her face hardened somewhat. "It is difficult to imagine, I know, but that is what years of bitterness and unrequited love do to a girl."

"What happened?" Maura asked.

"Brendan developed feelings for her, and she for him. He could not bear to see her vitality wasted, and so he found himself in quite the predicament. He could abide by the queen's orders and collect Siobhan's Essence, or he could save her at the demise of the kingdom."

Maura glanced at Luke. "Sound familiar?"

Luke nodded without answering and turned to Evelyn. "You still haven't told us exactly why you are here."

Evelyn pursed her lips. "I have my reasons, not the least of which is I am exhausted from being the queen's whipping post whenever anything displeases her." Her eyes lost some of their mischievous gleam as the corners of her mouth turned down. "I have been at Siobhan's side all these many years. She and I were friends once, and yet she treats me with such disdain."

Moments of silence stretched between them until Maura finally spoke. "Siobhan didn't die and The Otherworld still exists. How did she and my father solve their problem? How did she become queen?"

"They made the ultimate sacrifice."

"Which was?"

Evelyn shrugged. "Love. The queen spared Siobhan's life but did not grant her immortality. She grew up while Brendan stayed young. It wasn't an issue at first, though it mattered after a time. Being unable to be with the one you love, when you are around them day after day, is the worst kind of torture."

"You know that from personal experience," Maura guessed.

Evelyn glanced at Luke, though he averted his eyes. "I do."

Maura cleared her throat. "Why did the queen spare her?"

"She loved her son, of course."

"Why do you have that vial?" Luke demanded.

"Siobhan and Brendan were once in love," Evelyn said.

"So you've said," Maura pointed out.

"Siobhan is still in love with Brendan."

Maura shook her head. "And I'm still not following."

"With that vial, we can trap the queen's essence."

"Have you forgotten that only the queen's magic can seal the vial around our necks," Luke said.

"Magic is nothing more than pretty words," Evelyn said dismissively. "I have stood silently by the queen's side for millennia. My silence has not been in vain."

"You know the words," Luke said.

Evelyn smiled. "I do."

"And we're supposed to trust you?" Maura asked.

"Whether you trust me or not is entirely up to you," Evelyn replied. She turned back to Luke. "All we need to do is seal the vial around Brendan's neck. Once the vial is filled with Siobhan's essence and he kisses her . . . POOF! No more queen."

"You make it sound so easy," Maura said.

"Simple plans are often the most effective," Evelyn answered.

The side door opened just then, and Maura's mother stumbled into the kitchen, her arms laden with paper grocery sacks. Maura and Luke rushed to help her.

"Thank you," she said, slightly breathless. "What are you two up to?"

"Nothing," they replied together.

"Okaaay," her mother said, eyes slightly narrowed. Maura noticed that Evelyn had pulled one of her disappearing acts, taking the vial with her. "Will you stay for dinner, Luke? I've got a frozen pizza."

Luke glanced at Maura, who offered him nothing more than a shrug. "I will," he said. "Thank you."

"We're going to watch TV," Maura said. "Let me know if you need help with anything."

Maura grabbed Luke's hand before her mother could ask any more questions and pulled him in the direction of the living room. After turning on the television and making sure her mother wasn't listening, Maura sat on the sofa next to Luke. "Do you think Evelyn's plan could work?" she whispered.

"I don't know," Luke said. "As you said, it sounds too simple. Even if we're able to trap the queen's essence in the vial, what do we do with it?"

"Hell if I know. Flush it down the toilet?" When Luke didn't laugh, she elbowed him in the side. "That was a joke."

Luke stared beyond Maura, though, unsmiling. "Siobhan may not be my birth mother, but she is the closest thing to a mother I've ever had. She is who she is, Maura. She does what she must to keep the kingdom alive." He turned to look at her. "What if I am the unnatural one?"

Maura shifted to her knees beside him. "You're not unnatural for having a heart, Luke. That's called being human."

"But I'm not human," he pointed out.

"You were born one." She sighed and shook her head. "Listen, my father left The Otherworld because he knew that taking Essence under the guise of love was wrong. You can argue that Siobhan is doing what she must for her kingdom, but I don't believe that."

"What if it's the only way to keep The Otherworld alive?"

Maura rested her hand on Luke's knee and squeezed. "I don't buy that, either."

He glanced down ather hand and covered it with his own. "I don't know what will happen if we trapthe queen's essence, Maura. All I know is that I won't let her have yours."

*****

Thank you for reading! If you enjoyed this chapter, please vote, comment, and recommend Love You To Death to others.