Page 73 of Redeeming the Angel

“I’ve wanted to have children with Kerainne since the day I fell in love with her,” I admitted aloud for the first time.“I always thought it odd that her bond was with children, yet she never willed a conception when we…” I trailed off as my face heated.“And yet when he… well, here you are.”

She blinked at me with amber eyes that thankfully more resembled her aunt’s than her sire’s.“Luminites can will conception?”

“More that they can will against it if the Yearning comes.”My heart lurched in remembrance of learning about Kerainne’s miscarriage and realizing that she’d been doing just that, because she was too afraid of having another.“But even that’s not foolproof, as demonstrated by the bloodlines of your bandmates and all the other hybrids on Earth and here in Aisthanesthai.”

“And by my existence,” Xochitl added what I’d left unspoken.Then her eyes narrowed and shifted fully to that eerie red.“Unless you believe that my mom willed herself to be impregnated by that asshole.”

I lowered my head, the old shame returning.“I did, at one point.I was a fool.But there’s no point in talking about that ugliness.”

The kettle whistled, temporarily sparing me from those unsettling red eyes.

“Please, tell me about the favor you’re requesting,” I said as I poured the water through the diffuser and into the tea pot.

“I couldn’t help but notice Mom doing the walk of shame back to the tower this morning—or afternoon.”

My hands shook as I set up the tea tray and included the remainder of the pumpkin bread.“She was ashamed?”

“No…or, at least I hope not.”She now leaned against the kitchen doorway and regarded me with those red eyes.“So you two are sleeping together again?”

I shook my head as I brought in the tea tray.“Sleeping only.I asked for her to share her side of the story when she was ready.When she was finished, sheaskedto sleep beside me in case she had nightmares.”

“Oh.”For a moment, she looked deflated.Her red eyes faded back to amber.“Well, I’ve come to ask for the same thing, minus the sleeping part.I want your side of the story.How you met my mother, what really made you two break up, and everything else.”

I raised a brow as I poured the tea.“Why do you want to know about all that?”

“Because you’ve sworn yourself as an ally, but I don’t know much about you.”Xochitl studied me over the rim of her cup.

I raised a brow.Kerainne’s daughter had avoided and ignored me whenever she could.Butnowshe wanted to get to know me?Another thought stuck me.“Does your mother know you’re here?”

The little queen blushed.“No.But I’m the monarch and can go where I want.And right now, I’m worried about my mom.I know you hurt her badly, so I want to make sure you won’t do that again.”

I kept my eyes fixed on her.“And you’d actuallybelievewhat I have to say?”

“That remains to be seen.”Xochitl nibbled the pumpkin bread and smiled.“Though, I’d like to.I know you didn’t come here because you suddenly got bored with the utopia that is Luminista.You’ve been spending more and more time with my mom and I can’t help but think that you want her back.”

This time it was my face that heated.“I’m not sure that’s your business.”

“Dude.”She gave me a hard look like I was a dullard.“She’s mymom.If you two get back together, that would make you my stepdad.So it’s absolutely my business.”

I didn’t have an argument for that.Besides, I wanted to get closer to her, and not just to get closer to Kerainne as I’d originally intended.Kerainne’s daughter was a magnificent, talented, and fascinating being.And her mention of the possibility of me being her stepdad kindled a strange, yet pleasant warmth in my chest.

“Very well.”I took a deep drink of tea, thinking I’d probably switch to wine before long.“But I’m not sure we have time for this today.We need to prepare for the negotiations with the Luminista matriarchs.”

“We’ll have time.”Xochitl grinned, undeterred.“The vampires won’t be up until after dark and they’ll need to feed first, so we have a few hours.”

“Is it wise to have the vampires attend?”I couldn’t hide my doubt.“From what I understand, they weren’t well received by Asithanesthai’s Conclave.I don’t see the matriarchs’ reaction being any better.They’re Mephistopheles’s creations, after all.”

“So am I,” Xochitl reminded me.“And they aremyarmy.Mom said it was important for them to understand that.”

She might be right, I realized.Kerainne always was smarter than me.

“Very well.I settled back in my chair and transported myself back to the days of my youth.

“I thought we were true-bonded the moment I saw her, and I’ve realized that I took that for granted,” I told Xochitl after giving her an edited account of meeting her in the welcoming hall and smuggling her to Jagwolfe clan’s at my matriarch’s insistence.“But my mother and great aunt nearly ruined it with their talk of betrothal.”

It was difficult to give a summary of the two-thousand-year on-and-off courtship, but I did my best, making it clear that many of our conflicts were about the expectation that she’d stay in Luminista with me once we were married.I also wasn’t going to go into the lusty details of our first mating, except for the fact that afterward, she’d finally agreed to marry me.I told her how I didn’t know that Nik had become pregnant at the time, and that’s why Kerainne had disappeared for two years to help her.“I was hurt and baffled at how she’d went from agreeing to marry me to disappearing for almost three years.And I was furious when she finally did return, she refused to tell me where she’d been, only that she was helping Nik.”

Somehow, that fight had turned into a bout of angry sex, but I left that part out.“Because I was still upset that she wouldn’t trust me with everything, I put off setting a wedding date.Especially because, a hundred years later, she frustrated me further when she then claimed she swore a blood vow not to tell, when that wasn’t the story originally.I know now that she was telling the truth.That’s when Nik found out what Del had done to become immortal and made Kerainne swear a blood vow to never tell him where she was and that she’d given birth to his child.Though I did start to suspect the blood vow had something to do with Nik when Kerainne and I had our first hibernation together and she’d left strict instructions that she was to be awakened if there was word from her sister.”

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