That only confirmed her suspicions. “Why didn’t you tell me you had a relationship with the Tenmaru queen?”
Dash sputtered. “It’s not something we speak of in public. Ever.”
That actually angered her. “So we’re... what? Cast-offs? You sleep with us and then we’re ignored as if we never existed?”
Ryper burst out laughing.
Dash’s expression was one of deep confusion and horror. “What?”
“She thinks...” Ryper couldn’t finish the sentence as he broke off into another peal of laughter. He pounded Dash on the back.
Again, Ryper tried to speak, and still he continued to laugh.
“Stop!” Dash shoved him away from them. “Go over there and be stupid!” He pointed to a corner of the room.
Choking and laughing, Ryper actually obeyed him.
That only angered her more. “Why is this so funny?”
Dash stared at her. “She’s not an old lover of mine.”Then he curled his lip. “Why are you dressed like her?”
“She told me to protect you. If she’s not an old flame who still has feelings for you, why did she give this to me? And why does she care so much about your well-being?”
Dash growled in his throat as he considered the best way to explain this. A thousand lies went through his mind, but none of them were believable.
Ironically, the most rational lie was the one Tanis had jumped to. That they were lovers. But he just couldn’t make his mind go there.
Not with hismother...
He shivered at the very thought.
“Answer me, Dash. What is she to you?”
Ryper broke off into another round of laughter so hard that he actually slid down the wall to sit on the floor. If he didn’t stop that, Dash was about to be missing another sibling.
He didn’t want to answer that question, but if he didn’t, his dragon was about to take a significant portion of his unicorn hide and nail it to the wall.
The last thing he wanted was for this day to start with a fight. Especially with her. They both had too much they needed to be focused on.
So, he did what he’d never done before... he let her in on his secret.
“She’s my mother, Tanis.”
Her jaw fell open as he sent those words to her mind. “Wait... what?”
He nodded. “All my life. And that is not information anyone knows or needs to know.”
She gave him an irritated smirk before she cast her gaze to the hyena who continued to laugh. “Say you. Givenhis... reaction, are you telling me that he doesn’t know?”
“He’s my brother, as you noted earlier. That’s why he’s laughing. Please, don’t tell anyone.”
Tanis took a moment as those words echoed through her head. Not just what he was telling her. The fact that he gave her a secret he’d never given to anyone.
Other than those who knew because they knew.
Not to mention that it was a well-known fact that Dash was bastard born, but the common belief was that his mother had been a high-ranking unicorn who’d died giving birth to him.
No one had ever guessedthis. No wonder he held the powers he did. He was half oni.
