Darien said, “Your father had this precise pattern. In the same location on his neck as yours.”
Tension skittered through her as an ominous look filled his amber gaze.
“So?” she tentatively asked.
Picking up the documentation, he told her, “You share a common trait with him.”
“Sure.” Her voice was still full of hesitancy as she tried to ascertain the direction in which this conversation was going. “I already told you—and you’ve witnessed—that I have psychokinetic powers and can rapidly self-heal. So could he.”
Sitting up, Darien said, “Have you ever read Greek mythology?”
His question confused her—what did it have to do with genetic traits?
Regardless, she said, “A little, yes.”
“Some of the most renowned characters in Greek mythology were demi-gods. For example, Hercules and Achilles. The immortal ruler, Zeus, was their father, but their mothers were mortal. So they ended up with extraordinary strength and skills, but they could still die.”
His brows drew together. “Well, in some recollections, Hera actually granted Hercules immortality at the end, but he did suffer a mortal death. It’s rather complicated… Point being, these demi-gods possessed abilities gifted to them by their father, but they didn’t have immortality on their side.”
She eyed him curiously. “Are you about to tell me I’m a demi-god from Mt. Olympus?”
“No.” He chuckled. “But haven’t you ever wondered how your father ended up with the gifts you inherited?”
“Of co
urse. But he didn’t talk about it, especially because it seemed to be a sore subject with my mother.”
“That was because she wasn’t like the two of you.”
“No, she wasn’t. Not at all. She was actually very delicate. It worried my father incessantly.”
“Yet he didn’t obsess much over you? He knew how strong you were from the beginning?”
She considered her younger years and said, “I always thought he’d taught me to fight and to take care of myself because he secretly wanted a tough boy but ended up with a girl instead. Later on, I realized there was more to it than that. Looking back now, I can see he had a plan in mind for me.” Thinking of her parents was painful, so she asked, “Why are we having this conversation?”
“Because,” he said, his voice suddenly brooding, “I recently discovered something about your father that he didn’t share with you.”
This piqued her interest. “And what would that be?”
“It involves the marking on your neck,” he told her as his fingers grazed the skin below her ear. “I believe one of the reasons your father opted not to take the slayer’s oath, when he was clearly in the position to do so and possessed the expertise needed, was because he might have struggled with the moral dilemma of killing his kind.”
Her jaw dropped. She stared at him, her mind instantly assaulted by a barrage of thoughts and questions, the first one popping into her head being, “What the hell are you talking about?”
His apprehension was evident, though he forged ahead.
“I know this will be difficult to comprehend, but the marking you share with your father is that of a cross-breed. Somewhere in his—and consequently your—lineage, a demon impregnated one of Liam’s female, human ancestors. I don’t know when it occurred or to whom or whether the act was forced or by consent. My guess is it was many generations ago. But this explains your ability to heal yourself quickly, despite the fact that you are, indeed, mortal.”
Her eyes had to be the size of snowballs. They felt huge in the sockets. She gaped again, at a complete loss for words.
Darien took advantage of her silence and continued. “I know this comes as a shock, but it really does shed some light on your physical strength, your fighting skills and your territorial tendencies.”
She finally spoke. “‘Territorial tendencies’?”
Regardless of the obvious strain his revelation caused, he grinned at her. “You took me on without a second thought when Jinx died. You stand up for your rights and the rights of others.”
“Yes,” she said as her stomach tightened. “I want what’s fair for the people in the village. But…” She still couldn’t grasp what he’d told her about her gene pool. And yet, their discussion earlier about her being an effective liaison between races came back to her.
She mentally debated things she knew to be absolute truths—that humans had been, and still were to an extent, terrorized by demons and living in a repressed state because of it. Conversely, the king of those demons allowed her to open his eyes to life as a human and the fact that having compassion in his heart hadn’t equated to empathy in reality, until recently.