“So?” Dexter and I both ask.
Zuzu sighs. “It has been so long, little one. Here, in our world, there are no females. There haven’t been since the rangnork sent all the others to your world long, long ago. When the ruling class decided. That’s when the stone rings were created by the old families who controlled the magick. They were used to move the sorted, and anyone else who wished to go, to the other world. The old magick was centered here, but those who were sorted didn’t care because they were then free of the ruling class and could do as they wished.”
I’m glad Dexter looks as confused as I feel right now. His Scottish accent keeps bleeding through. “Then how do ye have babies if ye don’t have women?”
“Omegas, mostly. Like me. Some zetas and gammas, although most cannot, anymore. Some betas can father children with omegas, but most cannot with zetas and gammas.”
“So, does that mean ye’re her…mother?”
Zuzu laughs. “No! Parxon marked Sorcha and mated with her. He was secretly visiting that world to compile research when they met. He fell in love with her instantly and mated and marked her. I helped them keep their secret.”
Zuzu smiles at me. “And then our miracle happened. I’m not sure who was more shocked—Parxon or myself—when Sorcha caught with child. We had no idea she could catch so quickly, or even at all. Some couples here try for decades before catching, if ever. I will never forget the day of your birth. I am so glad I was there for it.”
“An’ who are ye, then? Yer relationship to Parxon an’ Eilidh?”
Zuzu strokes my hair, smiling at me. “Technically, I am Parxon’s mate, although we never consummated it and he never marked me. In your world, I suppose I would be called his husband.”
I reach up and touch Zuzu’s ear, where the gold earring still sits in his lobe. “You always matched.”
He smiles. “Yes. One for mates, and an additional one each for offspring.” His smile fades. “We could not, of course, add one for you without revealing our secret.” He sighs. “You are my heart’s child, little one, and always have been. I love you so much and have missed you terribly.”
“Then we’ll stay here,” Dexter says. “I’m feckin’ rich. We’ll make it work somehow, even if I have to bribe people.”
Zuzu’s eyes widen. “No! You donotunderstand—this magick is old and forbidden. We would all be killed if her presence is revealed.” He wrinkles his nose at Dexter. “You, perhaps, could stay. We could pass you as a distant cousin from far away. You don’t smell too different. But she isfemale. Females only exist here in myths. It would mean our deaths.”
“Did ye love her mum?” Dexter asks.
Zuzu nods. “I loved Sorcha as I do Parxon—as a sibling. That is why Parxon and I never consummated our mating and he never marked me. We both knew we did not have those feelings for each other.”
Dexter looks as confused as I feel. “Then why are ye together?”
“Because it was arranged by our families when we were children. Parxon and I practically grew up together as siblings. We were both from old families, with ruling class Alpha sires. I am an omega, and he is an Alpha. The hope was that we would produce an Alpha heir to carry on the family lines.”
I sort of…tune out as they talk and Dex asks questions. I can’t stop staring into Zuzu’s eyes—lavender eyes. A clear, light color that reminds me so much of my own. All while a bad feeling grows and swells inside me until it smacks me in the head, and I jump to my feet.
“Dex, what time is it?”
He and Zuzu both stand. “How long until dawn?” Dex asks.
Zuzu checks his watch. “Fifty-nine minutes.”
“We have to get you out of here!” Panic threatens, tightening my chest and making my pulse gallop.
Dex grabs my arm, his Scottish accent gone again. “Listen to me,girl, I amnotleaving you. Youpromisedno more running. That we’d face everythingtogether.”
“Yeah, but that can’t happen if you explode into a pile of ash!”
Zuzu’s eyes widen. “Wait…he has the virus?”
We both look at him. “What do you know of that?” Dexter asks.
“No one has had that in… Well, since rangnork. The sorting. But people rarely got it so bad that the sun burned them like that. Especially if they mated with an Alpha or beta. That usually neutralized the worst of it.”
I try to process that. “Wait,what?”
He’s getting distracted. “We can talk about this later. You need to leave.Now! Come back at night, when it is safe, and I can bring you to the house.”
Dexter runs a hand through his hair. “Isn’t there someplace dark, without sunlight, where I can hide for the day?”
