Her hand folded around my arm. “It is a big revelation, I realize. I have a few things to investigate, and you will be safe on your run.”
“Safe?” Matt’s eyes lit with green fire.
“Yes. She’s safe because, so far, Galeran doesn’t know she survived that accident. But our visit to the Queen may have jeopardized that. So stay with her, okay?” She fixed him with a stern look.
The big Dire nodded once.
My mind spun. “Wait a minute—are you saying he’ll come after me?”
Her lips straightened. “He already has.”
An image flashed—of the Watcher, mounted on a Gryphon. I felt a pang for those I’d lost, who I could now barely remember.
“They may not have been blood, but they did what family does. They tried to protect you,” Cara said.
I was so confused. “But why was Galeran after me?”
Cara’s lips pursed, but she answered. “We may never have all the answers. But here is what I think—Lyric’s pregnancy was planned, in an effort to get a male child Galeran could utilize, much as he tried to with Nikolai.”
I stared at her. “But—I am neither male, nor do I have the power that Nikolai does.”
“They wanted a male child,” Cara stated.
Nikolai’s expression was thunderous, and wisps of black fog drifted off his skin. “Does that mean Galeran killed her mother, trying to boost Anna’s power?”
The Watcher rubbed her temple. “It is possible, yes. I am reasonably certain that the midwife took you and ran. Either she figured out what was going on, or Lyric did.”
I stared at Nikolai. “Did your father—I mean, our father—really kill your mother to boost your power?”
The big Bellati nodded. “Yes. He did. But I do not think of him as my father. My father was a good man who found me and raised me in the desert,” Nikolai rumbled. “Galeran is a monster, plain and simple.”
Matt had moved so close to me that I sensed his body heat. His green gaze measured Nikolai before he nodded. “I get that, mate. We can’t pick our bleeding relatives.”
He understood such things. His own father had also become a monster.
“Don’t worry, Anna, we’ll get this all sorted.” Cara turned to Aria. “Anna needs armor. Can you get her fitted? I was thinking Emmanuel might be best. The academy has already commissioned him for when the students graduate. Take her to the Richin market after the run.”
Lucas snorted. “She says, ‘don’t worry.’ Galeran’s your father, and you need protection from him, but everything is fine.”
“Everythingisfine,” Cara said. She gestured to Aria as she led us into the building. “But I think you should take Mari as well when you visit the market. Just in case.”
The Morph waved a hand and met Aria’s eye. “Just don’t get lost in retail therapy. Be back in time for lunch—Anna and Matt can join us. I am trying out a new recipe.”
Nikolai’s mouth pulled straight. “Hopefully, this time it isn’t burned.”
“You could always cook,” Aria pointed out.
“I tried. You didn’t like it.”
“Never eat anything you can’t pronounce.” She rolled her eyes at me.
“Veldkos is a perfectly good Khomani recipe,” Nikolai protested. “I found suitable berries. Springbok meat is best, but what the cook gave me worked. It’s not my fault we can’t get good grubs here.”
“I stated then, and do so again now, that I do not eat bugs,” Aria said as she followed Cara and her mates up the stairs.
Despite my swirling thoughts, my lips twitched as Matt and I watched them go.
“What’s a springbok?” he asked. “Is that like a deer?”
