I turn my head slightly in Maze’s direction. “Dahna is Lucan’s sister.”
She nods in understanding while Lucan says, “The guard thought she was nice when she offered her fruit and was kind enough to warn her. Mentioned the legend and how their princess would become the devil itself if she embraced the evil inside her.” He shifts on his feet. “You ordered me to make sure Ramil left but I had someone tail him. Fucker went straight to the airport.”
“We were alerted most of the fairies have left the mainland,” my father states.
“Traitorous assholes,” Zipporah’s voice flows from our right but there’s nothing there to see since she’s rendered herself invisible.
Lucan’s nostrils flare and his hand flashes out, gripping something invisible until Zipporah materializes in front of him. She glares at Lucan who has his fingers wrapped around the back of her neck.
“It’s rude to eavesdrop, Sparky,” Lucan tells her in a low voice.
“Zipporah is my name, not Sparky.” She rips herself from his grip and quickly dashes over to Maze to stand beside her.
“Your mouth is fire as are your eyes. You damn well spark that shit around by spouting words or shooting glares, Sparky.” The corner of his lips twitch in amusement and any other time I would have appreciated the bickering of these two but we have other shit to deal with.
“Either of you two can take a wild guess why they would leave?” I throw my question at Zipporah but glance at Maze to see if either of these two have something to tell us.
“I’ve only heard my father mention the legend. He didn’t really explain because I never wanted to have anything to do with it. After my mother killed herself because she was afraid of me, I simply blocked everything out. It’s why I wanted the dermal piercings…something…anything to bind my abilities so no one would be afraid of me.”
“Maze has been locked away inside her home ever since,” Zipporah says. “Ramil took advantage of how she felt about herself and it made it easy for him to deprive her of everything life has to offer. He knew they were after her. Hell, the fucker wanted to kill her if they attempted to get to her a second time. It’s why I wanted her to come to the gathering. I had a strong feeling about it.”
“You had a strong feeling about it?” Lucan narrows his eyes. “What kind of shifter are you? Horse shifters don’t have any special mumbo jumbo other than their strength.”
“A second time,” my father grunts. “They tried to get to her?”
Fucking hell. I take a deep breath and try to keep my shit together when I grit, “Who. The. Fuck. Are. They?”
Zipporah locks eyes with me. “Demons. Ramil said there’s a group who wants to have her, bed her, and either breed or turn her. I’m not sure what their plan is but the legend says the fairy born without wings has the inheritance of the elders and will be a goddess walking the earth. We all know what can happen to a goddess, right?”
“Sorry, Sparky,” Lucan dryly replies. “Obviously we don’t run into goddesses all that much. So, mind sharing your words of wisdom?”
“They can be turned, doofus. Pure good turns pure evil just like that.” She snaps her fingers in front of his nose, or hell, maybe even hits his nose by the way anger flares across his face.
“How do you know all of this?” The words are a mere whisper but the load of hurt in Maze’s voice is like a motorcycle roaring its engine.
“Yeah, we all would like to know the answer to that one.” Lucan crosses his arms in front of his chest and looks down his nose at Zipporah.
“Go suck on a hoof,” she hisses and steps closer to Maze. Her voice turns apologetic. “You know I was drawn to you for protection. You’re a troubled soul as it is. If I would have told you everything you would have hurt yourself. Exactly what your mother did because you always mention how she threw herself off the cliffs and didn’t use her wings. But you refuse to mention she decapitated herself with two swords mid-jump. You don’t need this shit, Maze. The burden you have carried with you since that day is insane because you never really lived.”
“She fell on the swords. She always carried those with her.” Maze shakes her head and I can tell she’s trying to remember with her eyes glazing over and the soft murmured words.
“Enough,” I snap, not liking the torment sliding over Maze’s face. “Lucan, get me all the background information you can find. Father, we’ll discuss everything once we have more details to talk things through and think of a plan to handle this. But I can tell every single one of you right now there won’t be any chaining my woman or binding her powers or whatever. She’s as free as a bird in the sky and it’s about time she spread her wings. Understood?”
“I’ll tighten security and have everyone on full alert,” Lucan announces.
“Call if you need us,” my mother chimes in. “Nice meeting you, Maze. You too, Zipporah.”
My parents leave right after Lucan strides away.
“Why don’t you two head into the living room? I’ll head for the bedroom to give you some room,” I offer. “I can imagine the two of you have a lot to discuss.”
“No need,” Maze tells me, defeat a heavy undertone in her voice. “I’m tired.”
She walks into the direction of the stairs to head for the bedroom.
Zipporah’s shoulders sag. “Please look after her.”
“That goes without saying.” I glance in the direction of the stairs to make sure Maze isn’t within earshot. “You were drawn to her for protection?”
“I’m–” She releases a sigh and takes a moment to carefully choose her next words. “My kind is rare and were originally considered a shield of protection to those in need. We’re drawn to an emotional state. I can sense when Maze is in pain, scared, troubled, I’m basically tapped into her emotions. She likes you very much by the way. But I can also sense her fear and hesitation. She thinks your feelings and actions are only due to the bond and not on a personal level if you know what I mean. With the shit that happened with her mother she considers herself a ticking time bomb. Her father’s idiocy isn’t helping either.”
Zipporah tips her head back and inhales a deep breath. When her eyes hit mine, she gives me a faint smile.
“I can tell your intentions are true. You’ve been saving yourself for her and are fully committed.” The corner of her mouth twitches. “There aren’t many badass vamps out there, especially not ones who are an underboss, who believe in love. You’re one of a kind.”
“Like you,” I fire back. “Mind telling me what ‘kind’ you are?”
“I could, but then I’d have to kill you.” Somehow I don’t think she’s kidding when she tells me that, especially when she adds, “It’s also what they like to do with my kind so it’s more of self-preservation why I’m not throwing details of my family tree around like candy on Halloween.” Her eyes flicker toward the ceiling. “She’s hurting. The sadness she’s wrapped in is clogging my throat. Please go to her.”
“Thank you,” I tell her in all sincerity. “And I meant what I said. You’re always welcome to stay…to live here…for as long as you like. With all things said and done, I know you’ve been there for her, no matter if your actions were the right way to handle shit.”