“It’s not about the label.” She stood and started pacing the dining room. Marius thought she must walk several miles a day just in her pacing. He’d watched the queen pace like this all too often these past weeks. “When she was born, I thought she looked like an angel. Everyone did. But I knew she was Gabriel’s and mine. She is half dragon and half witch. A hybrid.”
“Nothing wrong with that,” Marius said.
“Thing is, when I was researching your symbols, I came across some ancient texts, and I was able to put some things together with Penelope’s help. You see, she gave me access to some of Darnuith’s sacred texts.”
“What sorts of things?”
“Charlie isn’t the first of her kind. Witches and dragons have mated and reproduced before, and their progeny are what we on Earth call angels. You’ve confirmed for me what I’ve suspected. Charlie is not witch or dragon. She will never shift. She will never cast spells like her mother. Her powers are celestial, of the gods. Zeus’s lightning flows through her blood.”
“She is extremely powerful.” Marius paused, his brows knitting. “Wait, if there have been ones like her before, where are they now?”
Raven folded her arms as if he’d just now caught up with where she’d been the entire time. “It appears they are guarding temples in the underworld and likely those on Olympus as well. I only know as much from you, though. Their existence disappears from the books some hundred thousand years ago. It seems my daughter’s existence in the here and now is unique.”
Marius leaned back in his chair and studied the queen. He wasn’t the type of man to tell someone how they should feel. In general, he lived by the law of live and let live. He’d been a selfish little prick during his first life, and then he’d been nothing, and now he was a mated warrior. These immortal lives they led wove together. They bent and braided into one another in ways none of them would suspect. Not even Dianthe with her second sight had seen his resurrection.
“So what?” he mumbled.
“Excuse me?” Raven’s eyebrows rose.
“Charlie is one of a kind. She’s an angel. So what?”
The queen’s mouth dropped open. “I would think it was obvious, Marius! How am I supposed to raise her when I don’t know anything about what she is? How fast will she age? How tall will she grow? Will she ever have children of her own? Will someone come and try to take her someday to wherever the rest of the angels went?”
Marius crossed his arms. “So. What.” He shook his head slowly. “All of us travel the road of life blind to some extent. This mountain, this family, we like to think we have a preordained future because of our roles here, but I’m living proof that everything we know to be true can change in an instant. Immortal we may be, but we aren’t guaranteed tomorrow. We wake up and study the road. We think we can see all its twists and turns, but once we start moving, they change. Every decision, every relationship, changes the path. Charlie is one of a kind. You’ll have to take things day by day with her. How is that different from where we’ve all been before in this family?”
“I wanted it to be different!” Raven tossed her hands up and then covered her face with them. When she lowered them again, her eyes were red. “Ever since the day I met Gabriel, I’ve been navigating a sea of uncertainty. Would Crimson kill me? Would the baby in my womb survive? Would she be a monster? Would Eleanor kill us all? I wanted better for Charlie. I wanted her to have a more peaceful life.”
“She does have a peaceful life because she’s loved. She knows she’s loved. That’s more than a lot of people can say. What she doesn’t have is a life without challenges. Then again, one could argue that a life without challenges is hardly a life.”
The two stared at each other as the night stretched on between them. He continued eating.
Finally, Raven huffed out a deep breath. “Mating agrees with you, Marius. My goddess, you’ve become wise. I’m glad we had this talk. You’ve given me something to think about.”
He finished what was in his mouth and bowed his head. “Happy to be of service.”
A knock came on the door. “Who could that be this late?” Raven called out for the person to enter.
A guard ushered in Harlow and her parents, Darium and Lemetria.
“Harlow,” Marius said, “I didn’t think your parents would be joining us. I would have waited to eat if—”
Harlow raised her hand and turned toward Raven. “My father has learned more about the New Order.”
Her father nodded vigorously beside her. “I’ve learned who’s involved and where they’re going to strike,” Darium said. “And the best part is, we can stop them. Only, we’ll have to act fast.”
Chapter Thirty-Five
Three weeks later…
Harlow stared down at the pit where Marius was dealing a match-ending blow to his competitor and found it difficult to hide her smile. He’d risen through the ranks with little effort. She’d like to think she had something to do with that.
“Looks like we’ve attracted some attention,” her father whispered at her side. He offered her his bag of crispy fried wimble skins. She popped one into her mouth and looked toward the aisle. Sure enough, Adradys was making his way toward them.
“Darium, I’m so glad you’ve come to support the new champion.” He stared down his nose at Harlow. “And it seems you’ve brought your daughter as well. Maybe she’ll learn something today.”
Fucking bastard. “Always interested in the pursuit of knowledge,” she said, fluttering her lashes. Goddess, he made her want to vomit. “Perhaps you could tutor me on a thing or two after the match.”
He glared at her with violent sexual need. “I could teach you many things, Harlow, if you are willing to learn.”
