Lexi studied Varo. Despite his haggard appearance, she saw the resemblance to his brothers. She also saw the depth of caring and honesty that shimmered in his striking eyes.
He went against his father and some of his brothers in the war, but his love for his siblings, especially Cole, was evident. So was his obvious desire to do right by his brothers.
“I believe you,” she said.
When she went to pull back the hood, Cole clasped it and helped pull it back. Her body felt as if someone was jolting it with electricity and she resisted the impulse to run from the room.
Instead, she stood her ground as she undid the tie around her neck and took off the cloak. Her dad took it from her and draped it over his chair. She glanced down at her hands, but they remained normal.
Del rested one of his hands over hers and held it until she looked at him. “What happened?”
“Her arach powers are starting to show themselves,” Cole said.
Varo sucked in a breath. “Arach?”
“Yes.”
“But how?” Varo whispered.
“We’ll fill you in on everything later.”
“How are they showing themselves?” Sahira asked as she sank into one of the chairs. She set her untouched plate of cheese on the ground but sipped her tea.
“I haven’t displayed any powers, just an ability to glow and… and… to look like a dragon,” Lexi said.
When no one spoke, she listened to the grandfather clock in the other room as it ticked away the seconds.
“You looked like a dragon?” her dad finally asked.
“Yes. I mean, I didn’t turn into one or anything like that. I just… changed.”
“You look fine to me,” Orin said.
“She was in the sunlight when it happened,” Cole said.
“Did anyone else see this?” her dad asked with a sharp edge to his voice.
“No,” Lexi said.
“How did you look like a dragon?” Orin asked.
Lexi glanced at Cole, who was studying the windows. “Do you want to show them?” he asked her.
“Might as well because I’m not sure how to explain it,” she replied.
“Someone go and make sure no one is outside,” Cole commanded.
Brokk walked over to the window and pulled the curtain back to peer outside before settling it back across the glass. “I’ll be back,” he said.
Before anyone could reply, he left the room. A couple of seconds later, the front door opened and closed. While he was gone, Cole filled Varo in on some of the details of her history. By the time Brokk returned, Varo knew most of it.
“There’s no one out there,” Brokk said.
Cole stayed by Lexi’s side as she walked over to stand next to the window.
“Stay mostly out of the sun,” Cole said. “They’ll see enough to understand without you having to expose yourself too much. We can’t take the chance of someone arriving and seeing something they shouldn’t. We’ll do this fast.”
Lexi waited while he pulled back a small section of the curtain. When the sun’s rays filtered into the room, they illuminated the dust particles dancing in the air.
For far too many heartbeats, she could only stand there and watch those particles as she worked up the courage to do this again. She wasn’t frightened about seeing the glow again, but once she did, she would have to part from the sun once more.
She’d always relished being outside; it was where she was happiest. As a child, she spent hours playing under the willow tree in the yard, floating in a canoe on the lake, fishing, sitting on the shore reading a book, or riding horses.
As an adult, she didn’t have as much time for all those lazy moments, but she still snuck away to enjoy them when she could.
But now, that light stirred a bone-deep excitement inside her; she almost lunged toward the rays spilling across the floor. Somehow, she managed to keep herself restrained, but she gulped before stretching her fingers toward the sun.
And then, they came into contact with the light.
Chapter Fifty-Six
Like a sponge absorbing water, she felt those rays penetrate her skin and creep into her muscles before slipping into her veins. As they coiled deeper into her, a rush of power filled her.
She had no idea what to do with that power or what she was capable of doing with it, but she relished it. The radiant glow started emanating from her fingers again as the silver scale-like marks broke out across the back of her hand.
That was all she exposed to the sun, but it was enough, as the others inhaled sharply. When she lifted her head to look at them, Sahira gasped, and her father’s eyes widened.
“Holy shit,” Orin breathed.
Lexi pulled her hand away from the rays, and Cole let the curtain fall back into place. The minute her connection with the sun broke, a sense of loss descended over her.
However, she still felt that light pulsing through her body. With every beat of her heart, it awakened something she’d never known was there. Something she didn’t know how to control, but something that felt as right as it did unnerving.
“Your eyes,” her dad said.
Cole stepped closer; his chest brushed her shoulder, and his hand settled on the small of her back. He surveyed the others with a look that clearly warned them to tread lightly.
She trusted everyone in this room with what she’d revealed. Orin was an asshole of the highest order, but he would keep her alive. And not just to bring down the Lord, but also because of Cole. The two of them were like oil and water, but if something happened to her, it would destroy Cole, and Orin wouldn’t allow that.
She didn’t know Varo, but if Cole believed in him, then so did she.
“Were my mother’s eyes like this when you met her?” she asked her dad.
“No,” he said. “She had beautiful brown eyes and hair the same shade as yours.”
“Oh,” Lexi whispered as sorrow for the woman she’d never met stabbed her heart. Her hand instinctively went to her hair.
“You look so much like her,” her dad whispered.
Lexi blinked away the tears pricking her eyes. Now was not the time to let her emotions get the better of her. She still had so much to learn, and her father was the one who knew the most.
“Maybe she didn’t look like this because you found her at night,” Lexi suggested.
“I found her during the day. She was fully exposed to the sun when I carried her out from under the willow.”
“So that means I should be able to control it eventually. I mean, if this is happening to me, it had to have happened to all the arach, right?”
She couldn’t keep the hope or desperation from her voice. She couldn’t imagine anything worse than being locked away from the sun for days, weeks, or months it took her to control herself better.
Okay, death was worse, but if she had to spend the next fifty years locked in the tunnels, she far preferred death.
“I would guess so,” her dad said and looked to Sahira.
“I would assume so too, but I don’t know for sure,” Sahira said. “If your mother wasn’t glowing like this in the sun, and those other changes weren’t visible, then there is no reason to believe you won’t gain better control of it over time.”