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“Yes, and so will I. That is the general point.” Eternity together.
After all these years, Jeni was the only one who’d reached my heart. With her, I’d finally begun to heal and be able to look beyond myself and my need for power. I learned from her because she had done it. What sort of woman would give up her baby to save the world? Or give up her power for love? Jeni.
Mother already knew this. Then again, she’d been the one who urged me to kill Jeni. Was she upset because I hadn’t? Or that she’d been wrong about Jeni? Either way, I didn’t give a fuck.
“What if she turns on us?” Mother asked. “What if she wishes to mend fences with her sisters some day? She could open a doorway between our tribes, and we would not be able to close it.”
I understood what Mother meant. The Seers had once been powerful healers, tasked with looking after the earth. They’d used their powerful gifts to protect it along with all living creatures. Somewhere along the way, like many of our special ilk, they became poisoned.
“I am truly sorry, Ansin, but we won’t allow that cancer into our world,” Mother added.
“And what about my children?”
“They will have your blood. They will be healers and welcome always.”
I stayed calm despite my anger. I’d carried our torch for thousands of years, and now Jeni would finally help me fulfill a promise to carry on the bloodline. Without her, none of this worked. “If I cannot marry her, then what will happen when she dies? I will never see her again.”
“You will have her natural lifetime to be together. It will have to be enough. But if you are determined to marry, you can try with Obliza again. I am certain she has the gene and will give you strong children, too. We can manage her if you choose to marry. She is no threat.”
“Obliza? I would rather fuck and marry a doorknob.”
“Do what you like, son, but our decision will not change.” The connection broke off.
“She hung up on me?” I opened my eyes, pulsing with rage.
“Ansin?” Jeni said, lying next to me on the bed, naked. It was per my request. She should never hide her round stomach or swelling breasts. I wanted to cherish every day and every moment of our child growing. I wanted to cherish every day after, as well. “Everything okay?”
My urge to lie reared its ugly head, but I’d sworn an oath to never lie to her again. She’d sworn the same. “My tribe will not condone our marriage.”
“Why?” She sat up, hugging the white comforter.
I groaned and scrubbed my face with my hands. “Let us get breakfast first. You need to feed the baby.” It was growing fast, and Jeni was still healing from a very turbulent episode in her life. Rest, food, and peace of mind were required.
“Ansin. Stop. Why won’t they let us marry?”
I inhaled slowly. “They fear you might invite trouble into their world.”
“Trouble? You mean the Seers? But I can’t see, hear, or even speak to them. All my powers are gone.”
True. Since she’d broken ties, Jeni no longer drew away my powers. She couldn’t mindread or peer into the future. She was basically a regular person, and oddly enough, I think I loved her more. She’d given me a normal life filled with simple pleasures. Ironic, given how I’d originally tracked her down for her powerful gifts.
“I know, my little treasure.” I sat up and brushed back a lock of her wavy dark hair. “But they cannot be persuaded. They fear the Seers too much.”
“It doesn’t make any sense. They’re all dead.”
“Think of the afterlife as a stadium of spectators—if the spectators could direct the teams on the field.”
“Seriously?” she asked.
“How do you not know this?”
She flashed an angry look.
“My apologies.” I knew her people had purposefully neglected her education and that she’d forgone the knowledge contained in that book. All to give us a clean slate. Only, mine was not so clean.
“So if we can’t marry, what’ll happen?” she asked.
She knew we could marry here, now, in this world. That wasn’t the problem. “When you die, you will go your way, and I will go mine.”
“Is that a good or bad thing?” She smirked.
I snarled.
“Sorry. Sorry. Only trying to lighten the mood.” Her light brown eyes filled with distress. “Is there anything I can do to persuade them?”
I shook my head. “The word persuade is not in my people’s vocabulary.”
She took my hand and kissed it with her heart-shaped lips. Damn how I loved those lips—their softness, the pillowy shape they formed when she smiled, and how good they felt wrapped around my co—
“Then I don’t care,” she said. “I’ll take this. I’ll take however much time we get, and I’ll be grateful for it.”
