“It was to protect you,” Del said. “We also put it in your bottle, and I do not regret it. It kept you alive.”
“Why didn’t you tell me what I was?”
“At first, you were too young, and then, as the years slipped by, it became easier to keep it a secret.”
“Easier for you.”
Del flinched a little at her words. “Yes,” he admitted. “We knew you’d be angry and upset, and we kept putting it off because of that. But we were also trying to keep you from having to deal with that burden. We wanted you to live as normal a life as possible for as long as possible. We truly believed we were doing the right thing.”
She could tell he had believed this, and maybe they were right, or perhaps they’d been completely wrong. She’d never know because she was never given that chance by the two people who had loved her for her entire life.
Lexi released Cole’s hand and stepped out of his embrace. She couldn’t stand still right now; she had to move.
Pacing into the shadows, she stopped when she came to a wall. Standing there, she recalled all the times as a toddler, child, teen, and adult she shared her daily tea with Sahira.
At the time, she assumed her aunt wanted to play and be around her. But it had all been an excuse to get her to drink the potion that was suppressing who she really was.
How many of those teas had she consumed over the years? She tried to do the math in her head, but her brain was too frazzled to add two and two, never mind years and days and whatnot.
As a child, she’d laughed over those tea times while they sat at her little table in their pink dresses and tiaras. She’d layered bracelets and necklaces onto herself and Sahira, and they would sometimes do their makeup and hair.
She recalled all the times she’d prattled on about dragons and palaces and faraway realms, all while drinking that tea. And it had all been lies.
The betrayal of it twisted deep in her gut and tore at her heart.
And then she realized something else. Turning, she walked back toward her father and stopped next to Cole.
“How often do I have to drink this potion?” she demanded of her dad.
“Every day, without fail. We tried doing it more rarely while you were still young, but your powers would slip through after a couple of days.”
“Things have been so crazy lately that I can’t remember the last time Sahira and I had tea together.”
“Then she must be giving the potion to you in some other way, but it has to be consumed daily. The potion can go in anything; we put it in your bottle when you were a baby and in your tea later. Whatever the potion is in would probably still be effective for its intended use.”
“No, there’s nothing else… except… oh,” she breathed as that sickness returned, and much to her horror, a blush crept up her neck toward her cheeks.
Chapter Thirty-Three
“How is she doing it?” Orin demanded.
“Lexi?” Cole inquired.
When she looked helplessly toward him and the blush started burning her cheeks, he stared at her before nodding. He had come to the same realization as her…
The potion was in the birth control Sahira made for her. No wonder her aunt was so adamant she take it.
“I see,” Cole said.
“What is it?” Orin demanded.
Lexi refused to answer him.
“So you are taking something from her every day?” her father asked.
“Yes,” Lexi murmured.
“If you were to stop….” Her father’s voice trailed off.
“What would happen?” she asked.
“I’m not sure. Your powers have been bound for most of your life. Sahira has continuously had to increase the dosage to keep them that way. The arach were extremely powerful beings, and if you were to stop taking the potion, there’s no telling what might happen.”
Lexi really wanted to sit somewhere and think, but she was acutely aware of Orin’s attention on her, judging her. That treacherous, manipulative bastard would not find her lacking.
So instead, in her head, she tried to remember the last time she took her birth control. “It’s ah… it’s been two or three days since I last took it. Things were so crazy in the Gloaming with the rebellion that I completely forgot.” She glanced anxiously at Cole. “I’m sorry.”
“For what?”
Was her face on fire? It took everything she had not to press her hand against it as her cheeks burned. She glanced at her father and Orin, but she couldn’t bring herself to air their sex life in front of them.
“You have no reason to apologize. Things were crazy, you were doing your best to keep me alive and safe, and you barely slept. You also have nothing to worry about,” Cole assured her.
She was aware he took birth control too, but she still should have paid better attention. The last thing they needed was a baby right now.
And now she also knew why Cole could take a monthly dose of birth control while hers was daily. She felt like such an idiot.
“If it’s been that long, then your powers are going to start coming through,” Del said.
“They already are,” Cole said.
“They are?” she asked in confusion.
“Yes,” he said but didn’t explain further.
“You mean the mark from the dragon,” Orin said.
“No,” Cole said.
“I was still taking the potion regularly then,” Lexi said.
“That mark appeared because your ability broke through the binding potion in reaction to touching a dragon,” Cole said. “The night you woke me from my nightmare, you also had a mark on your forehead.”
“I did?”
“Yes. I thought it was because you hit your head on the bedframe when you fell out of bed, but now I think your powers were trying to break through the binding powers of the potion to protect you. The potion is highly effective, but your powers are seeping through.”
“Fascinating,” Orin murmured as he rubbed his chin and studied her raptly.
When Lexi gave him the finger, he smiled. Torn between hitting him again and ignoring him, Lexi opted for the second option. She didn’t want Cole to have to intervene again.
“Okay, so no one knows much about the arachs, but they could control the dragons?” she asked.
“They had a special affinity with the dragons for sure,” Cole said.
“The arach lived among the dragons and withstood all fire, including that of a dragon’s. Some say they possessed sun and moon magic, but it’s all rumors and myth,” her dad said.
“And a lot of it was probably started by the arach. They guarded their magic and abilities closely,” Cole said. “They were also rumored to make things grow as well as kill them.”
“So, there’s no knowing what could happen to me or what I can do once the potion completely wears off?” she asked.
“You can take control of the dragons and take them away from the Lord,” Orin said.
Everyone ignored him.
Lexi rubbed at her temples as she tried to process all of this. She decided talking it out would help her. “Okay, so I’m not half human and half vampire. Instead, I’m half vampire and half arach. So—”