Kraven stepped forward, his hand outreached toward me while the other pulled my mother with him. “Of course we would know our daughter. We could spot you out of a crowd of a thousand souls.”
Chapter Thirty-Five
Nadia
Mybreathhitched,andI squeezed Bear’s arm.
They were here? How?
Bear pulled his arm away from me and laid his hand on my lower back. “I put out a call with some other shifters,” he whispered. “They found them, and we asked for them to come here.”
I let out a shaky breath and stepped forward. My parents, my biological parents, were here in the flesh. My father was a fae. He had pointed ears and a flawless face. He smiled, and small fangs glinted in the overhead lights of the bar.
“We are so sorry.” He kneeled in front of me. “So sorry we had to send you away.”
My mother held her cloak close to her body. She could barely look at me. Did she not want to be here?
“There were complications with your birth. You caused quite a stir. A powerful being found out about your existence and, well, threatened our clan. Unfortunately, we couldn’t come with you because fae are stronger in numbers, and I needed to stay hidden,” my father said.
I nodded, already understanding this. “Your mother took it the hardest.” He pulled my mother by the hand to stand closer to me. She had grey hairs mixing with her dark brown tresses.
“We never gave up hope. We wanted to come find you, but our kind is rare in this realm, and to be found out would be certain death. We all have had to remain a secret, and I am sorry we failed you.”
I shook my head, sniffing.
“You have your mother’s eyes. Nina, please come look.”
My mother lifted her gaze with tears streaming down her face. “You’re all grown up.” She sighed. “My little baby doesn’t really need me anymore, does she?”
I stepped forward and pulled her into a hug. She gasped when I took her in my arms and wouldn’t wrap her arms around me. “I still need you,” I sobbed. “I’ll always need you.” Finally, she pulled me closer to her and buried her face in my shoulder.
A thinner man with glasses and a messy T-shirt, who I had come to know as Switch, stumbled out of a security room. He was panting and cursing until everyone was staring at him with concern. “We have a problem, a big one. Everyone needs to get into—”
The shot pierced through the bar windows with a loud cracking sound. Shards of glass scattered in all directions, cascading down onto the floor like crystalized rain. Everyone around me was ducking and running for cover, yet I remained frozen in place, my eyes wide in shock and fear.
“Get down, Nadia!” Bear leaped forward and tackled me to the floor, along with my parents.
I heard more gunshots piercing through the air like a swarm of bees. They created a flurry of sparks on the floor and walls as they ricocheted off. The screams and shouts of people in panic followed as they scrambled to take cover. Amid the chaos, Hawke and Grim shouted out orders for their men to arm themselves.
The smell of gunpowder hung heavy in the air, accompanied by the metallic scent of fear and adrenaline. An underlying scent of fresh blood filled the room, mixed with the sweat and fear for those who remained.
Suddenly, I felt warm, sticky liquid on my hand. I pulled it up to my face and saw that it was blood.
Whose blood?
“Stay down!” Bear ordered me. He crawled several feet away. The blood that had trickled over to me was Switch’s.
Bear flipped over his body, swore, and put his forehead on Switch’s. He took his fingers and closed Switch’s eyes.
Oh my god!
The lights went out, and my parents grabbed my hand. My father pulled us to the other side of the room. My mother sobbed, but not for reasons that it should be. This was supposed to be a happy moment.
“Who did you say was after me?” I yelled over the thunderous footsteps, the guns clicking, and magazines being shoved into weapons.
My mother pulled me closer, covering me with her body. “Duke Idris, he was a fae, a powerful one. He messed with dark magic and wanted to use your body like a blueprint to fuse our genetics with humans.”
What?
