“You.” Zara mustered every ounce of fury in her body into that one word. “What are you doing here?”
Hektor stood there, a few feet away from the table, his gaze boring right through her with its intensity. “Zara, I’ve finally found you.”
Her mother cleared her throat. “Oh, my. Zara, who is this handsome man?”
Her head snapped toward her mother. “Handsome?”
Papá, too, looked confused. “Are we seeing the same thing, cariño? Do you not see the gigantic lizard man on our patio?”
“Dragon, actually,” Zara corrected. “A very unwelcome one.”
“I can explain, sir, madam.” Hektor took a tentative step forward. “I’ve been glamored so that to ordinary humans, I look like any other human. But to anyone with magic in their blood, I appear as I am.”
Papá looked back and forth between Mom and Hektor. “I see. And how did you get this glamor?”
“I prayed to the goddess Aphrodite to bring me here. She came to me and I told her why I wanted to come here. She agreed, but she cast a spell so as not to frighten the humans.”
“Why did you come here?” Zara asked.
Hektor turned his gaze to her. “For you. To ask for your forgiveness. And to ask you to be my mate.”
Her lungs squeezed every ounce of air from her body. He really was here. Hektor was here and?—
No.
Memories from the last time they were together flooded into her brain.
What he said.
Do you love me?
I care about you.
Not the same.
But it wasn’t about the words or his reluctance to say them.
So, she hardened her torn-up heart.
“Well, you’ve wasted your time and Aphrodite’s magic. Leave. Now.”
“Honey, don’t be rude,” Mom said. “You must be Hektor.”
Zara’s jaw nearly dropped to the floor. “Mom? How do you know his name? “
Papá answered. “When you showed up, we could tell something was wrong so we asked your brother and sister what happened.”
Damn Liora and Elian!
“And what did they tell you?”
“Everything. But basically, that you were running away from your problems,” her mother said quietly.
“Zara please,” Hektor said in a low, raspy voice. “Could we please talk?”
“No, you’ve said all I needed to hear.” Irritation prickled at her. “And if you don’t leave, then I will.” Shooting to her feet, she threw her napkin on the table, then stomped off. Every muscle in her body tensed as she made her way inside, to the living area.
Letting out a small scream, she stopped right by the console table behind the sectional, itching to reach for the heavy marble bookend.
