“Her name was Galeah. She and your father were the last two surviving arach. She was once a princess in her realm, but shortly after she married your father, they were driven from Dragonia when civil war broke out a thousand years before.
“They’d been trying to hide by traveling through all the realms and keeping a low profile. It was simply bad luck when they ran into a pack of lycan that day.”
“Why didn’t they return to Dragonia once the civil war was over and all the arach were dead?” Lexi asked.
“Because, by then, the first Lord had seized the throne and the land. They were both tired of fighting and only wanted to live a simple life with each other.”
“Isn’t that what we all want?” she whispered so low the others didn’t hear her.
“It is,” Cole whispered back as he hugged her closer.
But it was something he never considered for himself until meeting her. He’d never wanted the endless war and death the last two years of his life had become. But hehadcraved adventure and women as he traveled the realms.
Now, all he wanted was peace, a home, and a family with her. And they were going to have to fight tooth and nail to get it.
“What happened next?” Lexi asked.
“As the day progressed into night, she weakened more and more. No matter what I did for her, it wasn’t enough to stop the blood from flowing, and her injuries weren’t healing at all. The attack had weakened her too much, and her injuries were sobad.”
“And the labor weakened her further,” Lexi stated.
Del hesitated before replying. “Yes, but she wouldnotgive up. She so badly wanted you in this world. She’d never met you, but her love for you was so obvious as she rubbed her belly and coaxed you to come out.”
The scent of Lexi’s tears on the air drew Cole’s attention. She kept her head bowed as she wiped them away.
“You were born shortly before midnight,” Del continued. “She wept when I gave you to her. I tried to stop the bleeding, but I… I was clueless, and she’d endured too much. Even if I’d gone for Sahira, I wouldn’t have gotten back in time to save her. She begged me to keep you safe, and I promised her I would.
“I have no idea what compelled me to make such a promise. I’d always been a rather selfish, carefree immortal, like most vampires, but looking at the two of you and seeing the vastamount of love she had for you, I knew I wouldneverlet anything happen to you.
“She whispered your name to me and died while still cradling you in her arms. I took you from her, and the second I held you, I wascertainI’d done the right thing in vowing to protect you.
“After a few hours of holding you and reassuring you that we would somehow get through this, I cleaned up the mess, went to the store to buy you some formula, which was thankfully enough to keep you alive when mixed with my blood, and called Sahira to ask her to come home.
“I didn’t want to carry you through a portal or bring you around other immortals. She was the only one I trusted completely with my secret, and she’s never failed you or me. I didn’t tell Sahira why I needed her, but she arrived less than an hour later and never left again.
“After I buried your mom beside your father, Sahira and I came up with the story that one of my human mistresses arrived on my doorstep while nine months pregnant. She died while giving birth. No one questioned it. Once we bound your powers, there was no reason for anyone to question your heritage.”
When Lexi finally looked at him again, tears streamed down her face, but she didn’t speak. Del stared helplessly at her as he held out his manacled wrists.
“I’m not your father, Andi, but I am your dad.”
She released a hitching breath but didn’t move toward him.
“Thisis the reason you built these tunnels,” she said.
“Yes,” Del confirmed. “I always knew there was a chance our secret would get out and I would have to get you away from here as quickly and quietly as possible. Or I would have to keep you hidden away for a while.”
“We have to figure out how we’re going to use this information to our advantage,” Orin said.
Cole envisioned ripping Orin’s head off, but he wouldn’t release Lexi to go after him, and death was the last thing she needed right now.
“No one is going to useanythinguntil she’s had time to process all this, and even then, our number one priority is to keep her safe andalive,” Cole said.
“We can use her to take down the Lord,” Orin said.
“Noone is using her for anything,” Cole snarled.
“Noone is going to fight over me either,” Lexi interjected in a voice far steadier than her tear-filled eyes would have indicated.
