I chewed on my lower lip. “Okay, but what I really want to know is how Mom ended up on Earth.”
“Nexon, a rogue Coletti warrior, kidnapped your mom. He was going to force her to mate with him, but Xara fought back.” Dad grinned proudly. “She kicked his ass and was heading back home when she was attacked by space pirates.”
“Shit! She was a trouble magnet like me.”
Dad tapped my nose. “You are your mother’s daughter, right down to that stubborn streak.”
“I’m not stubborn. I’m tenacious. I know what I want, and I go after it.”
Dad bristled. “No matter how dangerous it is.”
Time to change the subject. “So, did she defeat the pirates?”
“No, she was outgunned, and the ship was badly damaged in the firefight. These particular pirates like to sell the people they capture to the Tai-Kok.”
I made a face. “These pirates got a name?”
“Mygor. They look like harmless leprechauns, but they will slit your throat for your loose change,” Dad replied.
I picked up my helmet. “Gotcha. How did Mom escape the Mygor?”
“Xara rigged the spacecraft to blow. To distract the pirates, she put Nexon in a life pod and ejected him into space.”
Holy cow, Mom had a mean streak. “I bet Nexon was screaming blue bloody murder.”
“He was. The instant the pirates put a tractor beam on the life pod, she blew the ship and fled in the shuttle.”
I asked eagerly, “Did the pirates capture Nexon?”
“They did. Your mother landed outside of Yuma, Arizona. To make sure neither Nexon nor the Mygor could track her, she blew up the shuttle.”
Huh? Mom was good at blowing stuff up too.”
A reminiscent smile touched Dad’s mouth. “I found her walking down the roadway. I offered her a ride, and it was love at first sight.”
“Uncle Ben said a Coletti hunter tracked Mom down, and she was killed running from him. Is that true?”
A muscle in Dad’s cheek jerked. “No. Nexon came for you.”
“Me? How did he know about me?”
His face set in grim angry lines, Dad shook his head. “Don’t know.”
“Mom confronted him, didn’t she?”
“She did and he threw her in front of an oncoming truck.”
I flinched as a myriad of feelings blossomed inside me. Pain, guilt and rage. “Oh, my, God. She died protecting me.”
“No! Nexon murdered her.”
“You killed the bastard, right?”
A deadly smile formed on Dad’s mouth. “I did.”
Wiping at the tears running down my face, I asked, “Why didn’t you tell me I was a hybrid?”
“We wanted you to have a normal life. To just be a kid. We were going to tell you when you turned eighteen. When your mother was killed, I didn’t want to upset you even more.”
