“That’s not true,” Del said. “You do have abilities. You’ve possessed them since birth. Even then, you were so small andsopowerful.”
Lexi’s fingers clenched Cole’s until his bones ground together. She didn’t realize she was doing it, and he didn’t try to extricate himself from her grip. A tremor worked its way through her as she shook her head.
“And what happened to them?” she demanded. “Did I lose them over the years?”
“No.” Sadness and a plea for understanding shone in Del’s eyes as they held Lexi’s. “We took them from you.”
Chapter Thirty-Two
It tookeverything Lexi had not to slump to the ground. Her mind screamed denials at her, but her father wouldn’t lie to her about this.
Are you kidding me? Are you seriously thinking he wouldn’t lie to you? He’s telling you that he’s lied to you your whole life!
Lexi’s mind spun, and she had to brace her legs apart as she leaned against Cole’s side or else she might sink. And she could not do that in front of Orin.
Cole helped to keep her up as she leaned against him. Everything she’d always known was falling apart around her, but he was still solid; she could still count on him.
“Who iswe?” Cole inquired.
It was then Lexi realized that all of what her father said hadn’t entirely sunk into her scattered brain. He had saidwetook them from you, notI.
Acid burned in her belly at who thatwewas. There was only one other immortal he would have trusted with this.
Her father gave her a sympathetic look as he responded. “Me and Sahira. We did what we believed was best to keep you safe. You were so young you couldn’t control your abilities, and if the Lordeverlearned of your existence, he would have killed you. I couldn’t let that happen, so we bound your powers.”
“And you planned to keep them like that… forever?” Lexi croaked.
“Oh no,” Del said ruefully. “We never could have kept them suppressed for that long. You were growing stronger with each passing year. We had planned to tell you, but then the war started, and I was captured.
“The two of you believed I was dead, and I’m sure Sahira didn’t know what to do about it after that, but it would have only been a matter of time before shehadto tell you because your powers would have eventually broken free. Neither of us knew how we were going to keep you protected once we stopped binding your powers. The arachs were powerful beings, but neither of us was sure what they were capable of or how their powers worked.”
“I don’t know either,” Cole said. “I’m not sure anyone does.”
Lexi gulped as she tried to process this information. She might possess these powerful abilities but have no idea how to control them, and losing control of them would only paint a giant bull’s-eye on her back for the Lord.
“Howdid you bind them? With a spell?” Lexi asked.
“Not just a spell. We learned real fast a spell alone wasn’t enough. We had to give you a daily potion, too,” Del said.
“A daily….” Her voice trailed off as the blood drained from her head. It took everything she had not to stagger into the tunnel to vomit. “My daily tea with Sahira. She wasn’t drinking tea with me because she wanted to… it was… it was to make me into something I wasn’t.”
“It was toprotectyou,” Del said. “We also put it in your bottle, and I donotregret it. It kept you alive.”
“Why didn’t you tell me what I was?”
“At first, you were too young, and then, as the years slipped by, it became easier to keep it a secret.”
“Easier foryou.”
Del flinched a little at her words. “Yes,” he admitted. “We knew you’d be angry and upset, and we kept putting it off because of that. But we were also trying to keep you from having to deal with that burden. We wanted you to live as normal a life as possible for as long as possible. We truly believed we were doing the right thing.”
She could tell he had believed this, and maybe they were right, or perhaps they’d been completely wrong. She’d never know because she was never given that chance by the two people who had loved her for her entire life.
Lexi released Cole’s hand and stepped out of his embrace. She couldn’t stand still right now; she had to move.
Pacing into the shadows, she stopped when she came to a wall. Standing there, she recalled all the times as a toddler, child, teen, and adult she shared her daily tea with Sahira.
At the time, she assumed her aunt wanted to play and be around her. But it had all been an excuse to get her to drink the potion that was suppressing who she really was.
