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“What was it like to grow up with a mom?” Kya asks me quietly.
The question itself is painful to hear. “My mother is great. Fierce. Loyal. Understanding. Smart. Most of all, she loves me.”
“I bet that was great,” she says on a soft sigh.
“Your parents?” I ask, trying not to grimace at how cold that sounds. “I mean, I don’t really know anything about them, but you could go back after we finish, right?”
Obviously not the demonic parent, but—
“Karma doesn’t know our parents like she thinks she does,” she says instead.
“I haven’t talked to Karma about them.”
“I’m not even sure who raised her, but our mother was a mule. Our father was a donor.”
“Mule?” I ask, confused.
“The rings found mules to volunteer for mixing breeds after purgatory was opened. They found it easier than searching them out. Breeding in the rings was almost impossible, because most everyone was spelled against unplanned births. So, mules. Yes. Our mother was paid generously to give birth to a demon child. She didn’t plan on twins, and having us took her life. I came out of the womb dark and hungry. Karma came out like a normal human.”
That I sure as hell didn’t know. Did she steal her mother’s soul?
“Anyway, my mother died because giving birth to something like me was too much for her body. I didn’t need to feed, but I was still powerful. She was jaded and tainted. She’d already signed us over to the rings. Slade and I found some archived documents. My history was just one among them. The children birthed by mules weren’t usually as powerful as the natural ones from fierce bloodlines. I was the exception, but they didn’t realize it.”
“So who was raising you when you were taken?” I ask her, trying to wrap my head around it all.
“No clue,” she says with a shrug. “They were paid workers who were supposed to give us the illusion of a happy home so that we stayed put until we were called upon. I was brought in early to examine and study. Karma was brought in later to become one of their soldiers for whatever it was they planned. I’m sure they wanted to control our minds, and I wouldn’t doubt it if they were getting close to achieving that.”
I suck in a breath. What if they real
ly figured out how to do that?
“It’s all fucked up,” I tell her, unsure what else to say.
“We were born with a purpose. I want to fuck that up,” she says angrily.
I want to touch her, console her maybe, but touching her is a bad idea, considering my entire body is too alert of her presence right now.
Silence stretches on between us, and I get desperate for a distraction. The scent of her pain is killing me, and all I want to do is explore every possible way to make her forget it.
“Any clue what those blood-starved night stalkers were about? We haven’t seen any in a while.” It’s a shitty conversation starter, but it works.
“We’ve eliminated the majority of them. It was good training for the recruits we have. But we think they were just a distraction. The Master probably finished rounding up all the firsts, while we chased fanged savages.”
“Any idea what role the firsts play?”
She goes quiet, not answering me. “I want to tell you our theories, but that comes at a price.”
My lips twitch. “What sort of price?”
She turns her head, studying me, then resumes walking again. “A price I don’t want to discuss right now. Maybe later.”
She walks faster, and the silence grows again. Her heartbeat is fast, and my predator hears it as fear when it’s not. Doesn’t stop my dick from stirring with hope though.
Sick fuck. I’m a sick fuck now.
“Those demons are building an army, but how?” Kya asks, penetrating my foggy, wayward thoughts.
“No clue. Demons can’t escape easily, and when they do, they struggle to take hold of an immortal’s body, even if it is weak like a newly sired night stalker.”
