I tried to suppress the excitement I felt by staying alert and focusing on my surroundings, but the butterflies in my stomach wouldn't go away. I'd been thinking of this day for months, visualizing what this girl would look like–a lot like Mom, Rina and me, I assumed. Imagining how it would feel to be certain I had a daughter, a daughter I hadn't been able to raise myself, a daughter who might know nothing about us. And envisioning the consequences–how it would release the pressure off Tristan and me to produce a daughter, how the council would settle down and the Amadis unity could be restored, how everyone's trust in us and each other could be regained so we could do what we're meant to do: fight the Daemoni, not each other. Of course, there was still a traitor trying to take things over, but this girl seemed to be tied to her in some way, and when everything came out, surely we'd be able to identify the traitor, too.
Speaking of traitors, I wondered what Julia thought right now, knowing secrets were about to be exposed. She knew Rina kept a secret about the next daughter, and this was probably it. Was this why she didn't trust Tristan and me? Because she knew we'd discover Rina's secret before Rina wanted us to? Or did she expect to find us somehow betraying the Amadis with this trip? Was that why she really came, to prove herself right? Did she really think we'd take her along with us to have a powwow with the Daemoni? Or …
Shit! Why hadn't we thought of this sooner?
She could have been setting us up! Perhaps this was all her doing. Now that I thought about it, it was rather convenient that she showed up just as we received the information we'd been seeking all this time.
Only one way to find out
.
I felt out for her mind signature but before I latched onto her thoughts, three extra signatures floating around distracted me from Julia. Three more than our expedition accounted for, and two were relatively close by. And very different than I expected. The childlike one was vivid, like Dorian's, but not quite the same. It had a rougher and darker edge to it. The other one felt more human than anything, but that wasn't quite right. Something … different … layered it, a suppressed undertone. Tristan had expected a witch, and Jax had confirmed it, but this signature didn't feel like a mage's. Perhaps the witch worked with a Norman who helped care for the child. Perhaps that third signature belonged to the witch, but now I couldn't find it. The third one had disappeared from my range.
I tried to focus in on the second signature, the strange one, to find the thoughts that followed it, but there was nothing there. No thoughts at all. Completely blank. Perhaps she was a witch after all and was somehow able to block me. Did she know we were coming? Did she know about my telepathy? Or perhaps she was extremely cautious, which made sense considering she'd purposefully been hiding for all these years.
The trees began to thin, and beyond the edge of this wooded area was a clearing with a small pond and a little shack jutting out of its center. Jax held his hand up, and we all stopped short and fell silent.
"Nona, someone's here," a young child's voice said.
"It's okay, Lilith," said a scratchier voice, one that sounded as though it belonged to someone elderly. The second mind signature with the blank thoughts must have belonged to her. "They are friends."
At this, we took several steps closer and emerged into the clearing, seeing the faces of the voices for the first time.
Oh!
My breath caught, and my hand flew to my mouth. Partly to keep my heart from flying out because it had jumped into my throat.
They crouched on the other side of the pond, and now they both stood. The elderly woman's dull gray hair sprouted everywhere in a wild nest, seeming to have a life of its own as she lifted her head up to us. Her light gray eyes looked our way, but I had no idea if she actually saw us through their milky lenses. She hunched over in a stoop, her hand resting on the child's shoulder.
The child. The child took my breath away.
"
Tristan
," I whispered, grabbing his arm. We both stood frozen in complete shock.
This girl, this Lilith, looked nothing like I'd expected, how I'd envisioned her for the last several months. I looked so much like Mom, who appeared to be Rina's twin. Tristan had once mentioned my features–brown eyes, dark auburn hair and light olive skin–gave me away as an Amadis daughter. I assumed our genes dominated in our daughters, giving us all a similar, distinct appearance. But this girl …
She stood a couple inches shorter than Dorian, but since he was taller than average, I guessed them to be the same age. And her hair was a darker blond than his, but otherwise … she was a spitting image of my son.
"Friends and ...," the old woman paused for a moment, "…some are even closer. Family."
Holy shit! Can it be? Is she for real?
I waited for something in my heart to pull toward her, some kind of mother-daughter connection we surely had to have. I'd been looking forward to this moment for so long, but the emotions I'd expected didn't surge through me. I felt nothing but a shocked numbness. She apparently felt nothing for me either, because her eyes skimmed over me and dismissed me. But when she looked at Tristan, they stopped, and something flickered in them.
Recognition? But how?
"Family?" Lilith echoed. "Family like … like my brother?"
The woman never had a chance to answer. The last few minutes had passed as if in slow motion as we took in the scene, Nona and Lilith, and their conversation. Now someone pushed the fast-forward button, and everything sped in a blur.
The third mind signature appeared back in my range–a very familiar one. One I hadn't felt since we'd been on the Amadis Island. In the Council Hall, waiting for the coronation ceremony to begin. When Julia had threatened Rina.
"
Alexis and Tristan,
" she thought. The
other
voice, the other person no one else had sensed then, and no one seemed to now. "
Finally, they found her. And now it is time …
"
At exactly the same moment, Julia's face twitched in my peripheral vision, and then she was suddenly on the other side of the pond, gripping the old woman in a chokehold.
"Explain this," Julia demanded. "Explain this girl!"
The woman choked and gasped for breath. Lilith's eyes grew wide at the threat to her caregiver, and her sweet face, so much like my Dorian's, immediately changed. Her hazel eyes narrowed to slits. She bared sharp, pointy teeth. Her features twisted into those of a monster. Then she flew our way in a blur. She hit Jax first, and he dropped like a stone. Then she whizzed by Owen, and he, too, fell to the ground.
"Owen," I cried out, springing toward his still body.
But the girl already zoomed at me now, a noise like a siren escaping her throat.
"No, Lilith," Nona yelled. "Stop!"
Lilith halted in mid-motion. But not out of obedience. Tristan's hand was up, palm facing her, paralyzing her with his power.
I dropped to Owen's side and took his limp hand into mine.
"
Why?
" I cried, heartbreak ripping through my throat and causing my voice to crack.
But I knew why. I knew why Rina had taken her, why our daughter had been kept from us, away from everyone, why I didn't feel as I should about her. Why she needed to be kept a secret.
Her Daemoni blood was too strong.
It overpowered her Amadis blood and humanity. Evil dominated her. She'd never be able to lead the Amadis, so her existence failed them. Rina had told me they would have killed me when I was an infant, if the Daemoni power was too strong in my blood and there had been no hope.
But … they hadn't killed this girl, which meant …
"Lilith, you don't need to do this," I said, conviction now strong in my voice as I slowly rose to my feet. "There's no reason for it. You don't
have
to be this way. We can help you."
The hatred in her eyes flickered, then dissipated. Tears welled up and spilled over her cheeks. "I'm sorry! I'm so sorry. But I can't help it."
"Alexis–" both Nona and Julia warned at the same time. I waved them off.
"I understand, Lilith," I said. "Sometimes we can't control our feelings. But we can help you. You can learn to be different."
I lifted my right hand and pushed Amadis power her way. She yelped, but she didn't writhe in pain as the vampire yesterday did or Sheree had when I'd tried to help her change over. Maybe Lilith wasn't as bad as everyone thought. Maybe she simply needed Amadis power and real love–love only her parents could give her–to overcome the Daemoni blood.
"Do you know what love is?" I asked her.
"Nona loves me," she said in a small voice. "I love her."
I nodded. "Good. Think about that love."
I delivered more Amadis power at her for several moments. Her body stiffened at first and trembled in mid-air, but it eventually slackened, even under Tristan's power. He slowly lowered his hand, and she dropped to the ground in a heap. Nona struggled in Julia's arms, wanting to comfort her charge, but Julia refused to let her go. Lilith lifted her face, streaked with tears and dirt, but so much like Dorian's. My heart finally responded.
I looked at Tristan, a small smile tugging at the corners of my mouth as I started toward Lilith to give her more direct Amadis power. Everything would be okay, just as I'd hoped. We already had the next daughter, and she would eventually be fit to lead. She had at least a hundred years, after all, to learn the Amadis ways, to overcome the Daemoni within her and become a true Amadis. She only needed our help.
Tristan's face twisted in horror.
It's okay
, I told him
. She'll be okay. We'll all be okay now.
"Alexis," he shouted, looking past me. "Focus!"
Uh-oh.
I spun back toward Lilith in time to see her springing to her feet. She crouched, one hand on the ground. She reared her head and curled her lip to bare her teeth. Her eyes glowed red. She became a monster once again.
Then she lunged at me.
Julia shouted something incomprehensible and flew our way, a murderous look in her eye.
"NOOO!" I screamed.
I threw myself in front of Lilith. Julia's stone body collided with mine, knocking me to the ground. My head slammed against a rock with a deafening crack, and stars shot across my vision. My eyes rolled up to see Julia's arms wrapped tightly around Lilith, both of them still as statues. Tristan stood over me, his hand facing them.
"You threaten a
council
member?" Julia seethed.
"You harmed an Amadis daughter and are about to kill another?" Tristan shot back.
"This is not–"
I didn't hear the end of her statement, distracted by the voice in my head.
"
Perfect,
" thought the traitor. "
This ended perfectly.
"
A tree branch snapped in the woods behind us. I rolled over and peered into the trees, catching a glimpse of movement. I pushed myself to my knees. The world tilted, then settled. Forcing myself to focus, I finally made out a cloaked figure half-hidden behind a palmetto tree. I tried to stand up. I lifted my left hand in defense. But as I struggled to my feet, before I could shoot electricity, a flash of blue light flew at me and drove into my chest like a double-edged sword.
My heart exploded.
Ice shot through my veins.
All I could think about was the
Ang'dora
and how that pain felt nothing like this.
I screamed.
Then all went silent and dark.
I came to with a gasp and bright light blinded me. When my gaze focused, it rested on Dorian and Sasha sitting on a bed next to me. Dorian's eyes grew huge.
"Mimi," he called as he bounced on the bed. "Mimi, she's awake! Mom's awake!"
I tried to sit up, to get my bearings, but I didn't have a chance.
"Oh, thank God," Mom breathed, gathering me in her arms and holding me tightly. "I was so worried."
As she held me, my eyes drank in the familiar surroundings. We sat on the bed in my suite. But not in Tristan's and my bedroom on Sanibel Island. This bed had stone pillars at the corners and a gossamer canopy. Somehow, I'd been brought to our suite in the Amadis mansion.
Mom pulled away, and her eyes scanned my face from forehead to chin. "Are you okay?"