Page 169 of Lover Forbidden
“She helped me,” Lyric said. “She protected us and told me what to do to save you.”
Dev moved Lyric so that his body shielded her from the demon. “Why would you do that.”
“It’s very simple, really.” Devina wiped her eyes and had to clear her throat. “There is nothing a parent won’t do for their child. You needed me… and I came, and I made sure that in the end, you were free of your father and me, and everything we gave to you. You are mortal now, and you have her vampire nature within you. There is no more left of your father and me.”
Glancing down at himself, he realized he did feel a void. He did feel very, very different than he always had.
“No more magic, no more immortality,” she confirmed. “You’re released from your legacy and can live as you choose, with whomever you desire.”
The only thing he could do was stare up in speechless wonder. Sure, the demon might have shown him a glimpse of who she really was at that conference, but of all the acts he had ever thought her capable of, something selfless like this? Not even at the bottom of the list.
“Thank you, Mother,” he choked out.
“She is the one who saved you.” Devina smiled tenderly at Lyric. Then the expression was lost. “You have to be careful now, though. There is no going back from this.”
Dev found himself exhaling in relief. Whatever came next, at least it was going to be on his own terms.
The demon took a deep breath, that beautiful face cast in deep sorrow. “And yes, I’ll leave you alone going forward. But you two must leave here now—I’ll keep your father busy for long enough so you can get off the property. And then provided you don’t cross his path, he won’t be able to find you anymore. Of course, the same is true of me. I will not be able to locate you, either.”
She lifted up her manicured hand in goodbye. Then turned on her stiletto.
“Mother.”
At the sound of his voice, she glanced over her shoulder.
“Thank you,” he said hoarsely.
“Goodbye, son,” she whispered.
And then she was gone.
Dev looked at Lyric, raising a trembling hand to her face. “I’m not special anymore.”
“Oh, you’re more than that.” She smiled at him through her tears. “You’reeverything. And… I believe what you said, that you are not your parents.”
“I’m really not your enemy.”
“I know that now. And I’m sorry for jumping to conclusions when I was so panicked.”
With that, they shared a kiss that seemed to go on forever. Then again, when things were deeply felt, time had little meaning—and wasn’t that a kind of eternity for the mortal?
When they finally parted, he looked at all the broken glass. “We need to go.”
Lyric helped him to his feet, then frowned as she glanced down at her own in confusion. “Um… I wasn’t wearing these when I got here.”
The Louboutins were beautiful, tall and black and sleek.
Dev had to chuckle. “My mother always did like her shoes. Guess they were a present.”
As they started to pick their way around the shards, she said, “She also fixed all my cuts.”
One more reason to… love?… the one who’d borne him. Yes, that was the word.Love.And as the conviction came over him, a big part of him was healed, the anger that had always roiled inside of him disappearing.
Then again, not only had he made peace with one of his parents, he was with the female he loved. That set so much to right.
Now all he had were daddy issues. But hey, nobody got everything in life.
“You know what,” he conceded. “Maybe my mom wasn’t that bad after all.”
