The Wanting (D'Shar Men 1)

“No, I’m here to explain. You’ve spent all these years thinking I’m some kind of villain when you couldn’t be further from the truth.” The feel of his cool fingers across her face made her flinch.

“Your mother and I had a history that goes back to before you were born. Why else would she welcome me into her home the way she did?” His words rang true about the woman who had raised her. But she didn’t want to believe the explanation.

“I knew Tatiana wasn’t my mate, but I loved her anyway,” he said. A heavy sigh expelled from his lungs. He seemed to shrink in that moment. Shoulders slumped as his face aged before her eyes, almost as if the loss of her mother crushed him.

“You have one fucked up way of showing it,” she said. Not about to have sympathy for the devil.

“I thought she would be able to share my power. I never imagined it would take her life.”

“Why the hell would you think that?”

“Because she married me and later carried my child,” he said.

His blue eyes locked with her own as she shook her head. No.

“My father died in a fire!”

“No, Zasha, he didn’t. I left to escape the hunters who had found me here on Earth. Led them away from her and kept my distance until I was sure they were off my trail. I thought I’d found the right elixir to alter her DNA. It took me years to gather the right ingredients, and many failed experiments…but I was wrong.”

“I don’t want to hear any more of your lies!” She barely recognized the snarl that left her lips as her head spun. How could she be born of this man?

“I knew you’d be my greatest creation, the first child of both worlds to flourish.”

“I am not your anything.”

“Deny all you want. It’s still my blood that runs through your veins.”

His face flushed blue, and his eyes almost glowed as his expression darkened.

“Imagine my disgust that you’ve become the King’s whore! My own spawn bonded to the family of traitors that caused me to flee to this planet in the first place.”

“You’re from Tagget?” she asked.

Eager to draw him into a conversation so she could buy herself more time. Her eyes had adjusted to the dimness, and she surveyed the areas visible. She was surrounded by concrete walls and next to her metal table was a silver medical tray. Lined with still packaged instruments and beakers that contained fluorescent liquid it filled her with a sense of dread. Her wrists strained as she pulled against the leather straps that refused to give.

“I was the best alchemist they had. A scientific genius revered by our people until the royals stuck their noses where they didn’t belong, and we had a…difference of opinion.”

The maniacal gleam that leapt into his cerulean gems left no doubt in her mind that he’d killed them.

He disappeared from her view once more, only to return a moment later with his hands encased in latex gloves and a blue mask over his face.

“I came back her with the hopes of passing on my knowledge to you. I thought once you understood what happened with your mother you’d want to be a family again. But now you’re tainted.”

“W-what ?” she asked. Not able to follow his crazed logic. Panic sunk in as she realized she was at this man’s mercy. Had Phelan showed up for dinner yet? Did anyone know she was missing?

“You don’t even know, do you?” he asked.

“Know what, Tavel?”

“That you’re pregnant.”

Stunned, her mouth opened and closed, but no sound came from her larynx. Could he be right? They never used protection, however, she was on the pill. Who says that works on Shar biology, Zasha? A million unanswered questions rose, making her dizzy. She wanted to believe it was a lie, yet deep down she knew.

“Don’t worry, Zasha. Daddy’s going to make it all better. ” He moved to the tray and mixed an electric blue potion with a vibrant red one. Her body trembled. No one would harm her child.

“This will keep you from any pain while I figure out why you thrived.”

A war cry spilled from her lips as the anger bottled up inside of her exploded in the form of blue sparks that shot from her fingertips. The spray hit Tavel in the chest. His body sent across the room like a crash test dummy, arms and legs flailing. Round eyes and an open mouth was the last thing Zasha saw as he was claimed by the darkness. The heavy thud of his body against the wall, then the floor seconds later before silence descended. Adrenaline coursed through her veins, and she used the momentum to rip her left arm free of the restraint.