It is dark and chilly, and I summon up a sweater to fight off the cold. I look around expecting Remiel to have brought me here, as he is the only one, I know that can conjure up imaginary Worlds. The clearing is empty and that is starting to freak me out.
“Hello?” I call and then kick myself. The stupid girl in the movies always calls out and then gets herself killed.
I wait for a few more moments, and then just as I am about to call out again, just so I am not standing here like a moron, a man appears.
Well, I say “man,” but he is more like a giant. He has to be at least seven feet tall and is as wide as two Lincolns put together. He has a shock of black hair and green eyes just like my mother. It’s not a stretch to assume Dragon.
“Sorry,” he rumbles. “I wanted to make sure no one followed you.”
“Okay,” I say, looking around. “We are alone. Who are you and why did you bring me here?”
He steps closer and I take a step back. He is rather intimidating, and I coil my Faerie power behind my back, ready to use it should the need arise. I don’t think Dragon magick would put much of a dent in this massive creature.
“Don’t be afraid. I am not here to hurt you,” he says, holding up his dinner plate-sized hands.
“Then what do you want with me?” I ask.
“I had to come and see you, Sister.” He says the last word hesitantly and I freak out. The last person who called me that was Lance and that led to nowhere good.
I hold up my hand and the bolt of lightning flashes and he grimaces.
“I am your brother, ValamAtrux. I am Dracul,” he says and in my utter shock, I drop the lightning, and my hand, to my side.
“What?” I ask incredulously. “Dracul is dead.”
He looks less than happy with my blunt statement. “No, I am alive, as you can see,” he says.
“But…” I trail off. Xane had told me that Dracul was dead. Not to mention, Tiamat never mentioned to me that he was still alive. “This doesn’t make sense,” I add with a frown.
“The Underworld was led to believe that we had died,” he says. “We had to let the Demon race evolve and they couldn’t do that while we were still there having children. It was the only way to ensure their survival as a separate race.”
“Oh,” I say, slightly dumbfounded. It’s a plausible excuse, I suppose. “But how has your presence been kept quiet all these centuries?”
“Dragons are secret-keepers,” he says with a shrug. “Once you tell them a secret, they are forbidden to tell.”
Huh. Well, I never knew that. I guess my dumbed-down line got rid of that trait in me. I can be a huge gossip when I want to be.
“Interesting,” I say. “So, what brings you to me now?”
“There is something you need to know,” he says and sits down on a fallen down tree. “You must know that I have been sworn to secrecy, as have all the Dragons, about this and my being here is traitorous. You cannot ever tell it was I who told you this.”
“Told me what?” I ask, getting frustrated.
“Swear it,” he demands.
“Okay, I promise I won’t tell anyone it was you,” I say to placate him. But, as soon as we are done here, whatever secret he has told me will soon fall on the ears of CK, of that I have no doubt.
“Very well,” he says. “Your daughter lives, ValamAtrux.”
I blink at him after several long moments. “I don’t have a daughter,” I say in confusion.
“Yes, you do,” he says and stands up again, causing me to shrink back. “The child you bore with Remiel lives.”
“No,” I say, shaking my head in denial. “No, I gave birth to a boy that died. Remiel told me that. He told me my son had died.”
Dracul is shaking his head in sorrow. “No, Sister. Your child was born a girl, healthy and happy, and she is in the Dragon Realms with her father and our mother. They lied to you.”
“Why?” I ask so quietly I don’t think he heard me. “Why would they do that?”