Page 38 of Dark Rebel's Mystery

"Parents often express love in ways their children don't understand," Max said, leaning over the table so he was closer. "Immortal mothers, in particular, are very clingy. That was another reason for my move here. My mother stayed in Scotland."

Jasmine appreciated his attempt at humor, but all his comment had achieved was to make her miss her mother even more.

"You are lucky that you still have your mother and will have her forever. You should be thankful."

Ell-rom nodded in agreement. "My mother was distant and seemingly unfeeling, even more so than Jasmine's father, and I still miss her and wish she was alive."

Even Brundar seemed to agree.

"Is your mother still around?" Jasmine asked the Guardian.

"Thank the merciful Fates, she is. She attended my wedding and Anandur's."

Max put the menu down. "The thing about your father's memories that struck me most was how desperate he was to find her. He called hospitals and police stations within a hundred-mile radius of your house, and he drove around for days, showing her picture to people in supermarkets, clothing stores, beauty salons—everywhere she used to shop. He wasn't just going through the motions—he was frantic."

"I wish..." Jasmine stopped, collecting herself. "I wish I could tell him that she's alive. That she didn't die like he believes."

"We don't know that for certain," Max cautioned.

"But Syssi's visions say she is."

"They show someone who looks like you leading Kurdish rebels," Max said. "It's compelling evidence but not proof. You shouldn't raise his hopes only to have to shatter them later."

Her father was also married to another woman now, and bringing her mother back from the dead might not be the best idea for him.

Kyra might have remarried as well.

When the waitress appeared, Jasmine was grateful for the interruption.

"There's one thing that doesn't add up," Ell-rom said after the waitress left. "If her family took her to punish her for marrying outside their faith, why bother to send divorce papers? It was an act of kindness toward your father that must have come from her, which means that they didn't kill her. Maybe that was the price they demanded."

Max nodded. "That would explain a lot, including why she never contacted you even after getting free. Perhaps she was protecting you from her family."

Jasmine wondered at the twists of fate that had taken both of her parents away from her.

They each kept their distance to protect her. One physically and the other emotionally.

25

DROVA

Drova stared at the textbook in her lap, the small script blurring as her mind wandered back to the horrors she'd witnessed during the mission. The comfort of her bedroom, with its soft bedding and the ridiculously huge teddy bear that Phinas had gotten her, felt like she'd been transported to a different dimension after what she'd seen.

Becoming a Guardian had seemed like the perfect fit for her, and to be offered a spot in the training program at her young age was a great honor and a vote of confidence she didn't deserve after the stunt she'd pulled. She loved the uniform, the respect, the purpose, but most of all, she loved being close to Pavel and having him look on her as an equal and not the kid he humored because she was their leader's daughter.

Now, though, she wasn't sure it was where she belonged, and that uncertainty felt like betraying everything she was supposed to be as a Kra-ell.

Her mother would be ashamed if she knew her daughter's thoughts. Jade was a true warrior, unflinching in the face of evil. And Pavel…oh, Mother of All Life, Pavel. He would be appalled.

He'd tried to comfort her after the mission, telling her she'd get used to seeing such things, but she didn't want to get used to seeing children suffer. She didn't want to become numb to it.

No one should.

Evil. It was pure evil, and it still clung to her as if she had somehow taken part in that, had a hand in it, when all she had done was save those kids.

That was the cost of doing the right thing, though.

Someone had to save them, and as a compeller, she had abilities that made her invaluable for the rescue operations. Her role in the last mission had been minimal, but there was so much more she could do.

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