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In the back seat, nestled in shadows, Anna gazed out the window as her tortured soul ebbed her misery.
Thirty-four years since I saw this land. Thirty-four years of hiding.
She turned her gaze to Torin, so handsome, rather like the good-looking devil who robbed her of her family, her heritage and all she held dear.
“I can sense your anxiety,” Torin said, turning to face her.
“Coming back here is not easy,” she sighed. “I thought I had resigned myself to the pain, but now, being here, it’s raining upon me.”
“Just be assured that I’m an Iridescent. I will protect you with my life.”
“Iridescent,” she whispered, meeting his eyes. “You know, I first heard that word as a young child no more than six and I grew up, listening to fireside tales of your kind,” she drew a breath slowly. “Sadly, none of those tales prepared me for the brutality; it’s burned into my soul.” She closed her eyes.
“Did you witness an attack?” Torin asked.
“Just a slaughter.”
“Well, thankfully you survived.”
“Barely. My older sister and I ran. We hid inside a log and watched as demons killed six of my cousins. My sister and I escaped that day, or so I thought. Two days later, she went missing. She was never found. I lived in terror,” she said with a quiver in her voice. “I thought I was safe and I was for a few years. Then an Iridescent visited our fishing camp. I hid beneath my mother’s dress clinging to her legs, but he caught my scent. That night as we all gathered for the evening fire, he approached the elders, one of which was my father. He stated his intentions, which…” her words grew quieter, “was me. I panicked, the terror was just too great. You must realize,” she said, tears welling in her eyes, “I was just a kid, barely twelve and though this fanged demon agreed to wait until I was sixteen to rob me of my mother, he said that he had to mark me with a bite.”
“That must have been hard for you and your family.”
“For me and mother,” she said, “but my father,” she paused, “he just arranged the ritual for the following week, he didn’t even resist.”
“He couldn’t,” Torin sighed. “He would have been killed.”
“I know that now,” Anna said, “but at the time, I hated him. I was so scared, and I pleaded with my mother. She was already suffering the loss of three daughters and now facing a fourth, finally gave in to my pleas. In the dead of night as my father slept, she snuck me by boat across the river to my Aunt’s home in Michigan. That’s when I met Ardrey, my cousin who I had not seen since the age of six. He had lost his wife in a boating accident on Lake Huron and two of his sisters had already been killed by Iridescents. He agreed that if I would marry him, he would take me far away and keep me safe. He said it was the only way to save me.” She shook her head. “I was trapped, a scared skinny child who knew nothing of life, or men. Mother insisted. So, I fled, forsaking my family, this land I held dear, my way of life—my heritage.”
You married your cousin, that explains Donja’s blood. It’s mutated.
“I’m sorry,” Torin said.
“Are you?” she asked with soulful eyes.
“Yes, but if it’s any consolation, the Iridescent who lay claim to you was a good man.”
“Oh?”
“Yes, not at all like the ones who murdered your cousins.”
“You know him.”
“Yes, personally.”
She stiffened. “And is he still here, living in this area?”
“Yes, and for the record, he found you, Anna, when you were fifteen.”
“What?” she whispered, a hand to her brow.
“It’s true. He searched high and low until he found you living in St. Joseph.”
“If that’s true, why didn’t he take me?”
“You were married, pregnant and had a toddler at your side.”
Anna released a pent-up breath. “That’s hard to believe.”
