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Was.“She’s dead?”
Violet nodded. “Yes. She died giving birth to me.”
Percy’s head swam from so much information: Bronx asking her a question and giving her a choice; learning Violet was also a half-human, half-dragon female; and watching a dad actually care about his daughter and, not only that, but freely apologizing to her. She had absolutely no bloody idea how to process it all. Their actions went against everything she’d been taught and told her whole life. Had someone lied to her on purpose? Or were these people part of an elaborate scheme to see if she would fall for kindness bullshit?
She never took her eyes from the four people as she rubbed the sides of her temples. For once, she wished she didn’t have to second-guess every little thing.
But of course that would never fucking happen. Nothing good ever happened to her, and no one ever told her the truth.
Bronx cleared his throat. “Go get the sandwich stuff, Violet. And Tristan can go with you, to bring the drinks.”
Tristan grunted. “There’s no bloody way I’m leaving Melanie alone in here.”
Melanie walked to her mate and placed a hand on his arm. “How about Tristan and I go get the stuff? You and Violet can stay here.” She switched her gaze to Percy. “Sound good?”
Tired of trying to figure out whatever game these people were playing, Percy nodded.
As soon as Tristan and Melanie left, Violet moved a chair a little closer to the bed, facing her. Once she sat down, she swung her legs and said, “Percy’s a pretty good name, better than being named for a flower.”
She glanced at her dad and winked, and Bronx smiled. “Your mother wanted it, and you know that, so stop grumbling.”
Violet laughed. “I know, I know.” She moved her gaze back to Percy. “Still, it’s pretty cool.”
Percy wanted to hold back, to not give anything else away. But something about this teenaged girl made Percy want to trust her, which was bloody ridiculous.
However, her name wasn’t going to give anything away; they could find it in the files from the research facility. So she took a deep breath and replied, “I was given the name Persephone Smith at the orphanage where I grew up. All of the kids had names from mythology.”
Not that they’d taught them any of the mythology related to their names. No, Percy had barely learned to write and read simple books before she’d been sold off.
Violet said, “Well, Persephone was the wife of the ruler of the Underworld, Hades. I’m not sure if that’s a good thing or a bad thing. I’m fairly sure she had to divide her time between worlds or something like that. Dad? Is that right?”
Percy moved her gaze to Bronx, and he nodded. “Yes. She spent half the time in the Underworld and half the time on Earth with her mother, or so one version goes. There are all sorts of conflicting points about whether she wanted to be there or her mother wanted her there, and it goes on and on. But she straddled two worlds.” He nodded toward her. “Which fits, I think, if your mother was human but your father was a dragon-shifter.”
She highly doubted the staff at the orphanage had thought that deeply about her name, especially since all of the children had been half and half like her.
Although she’d been the only one with a birthmark, or the mark of a freak, as the other kids had called it.
She nearly raised a hand to touch her neck where the mark was the strongest, but resisted. She’d made that mistake in the early days at the research place, and the guards had quickly used it to belittle her.
Now, she didn’t give as much of a fuck. But she wouldn’t share even that little weakness with these strangers.
Used to silence, Percy merely sat on the bed, her knees pulled up to her chest, her arms wrapped around them.
Violet, on the other hand, didn’t stay quiet for long. “Well, we have the half dragon-shifter thing in common. So you know, if you have any questions about being half-human and half-dragon, you can ask me. I don’t know everything, although I know heaps. And there are lots of kids here now that are like us, more than when I was growing up. Maybe we could form a club or something.” She lowered her voice. “Although we should maybe watch out for Mel and Tristan’s twins. They’re always getting into trouble.”
Melanie’s voice filled the room. “I heard that.”
Percy expected the human to yell, or scold, or do something in retaliation. But Melanie merely smiled and shook her head before adding, “And it’s true sometimes. But they’re kind and giving, when they want to be. Give them some time to grow up. Maybe when their inner dragons start talking, it’ll help tame some of their extra energy. Tristan says it can help since the inner dragon becomes a lifelong distraction, so I have my fingers crossed.”
The way they all casually discussed their lives, their children, and even their inner dragons was weird to Percy. Even in the orphanage, everything had been about keeping or trading secrets, trying to find allies, and generally keeping most people at a distance.
Because if someone didn’t know your weakness, they couldn’t strike out and hurt you.
But already, Melanie had revealed a massive weakness—her children. And Percy guessed it was the same with Bronx and Violet.
Didn’t they see how dangerous that could be? She blurted, “You know nothing about me, so why are you being so open? I could be here as some sort of spy, set up this whole thing, and will be rescued when I give the word.”
Tristan narrowed his eyes. “Are you a spy?”
