Warrior (Princesses of Myth #2)

“No, no, no,” Goldie snapped. “You said you were ending it.”


Dad grunted. “It’s not possible, Goldie. Hope holds the skill of mind-merge as her sister does. I had forewarning days ago which I couldn’t speak of, and as we’ve now discovered, Faith can’t survive more than three days without merging her mind with Loveria’s. The same goes for Hope. Death follows, and damn it, both my daughters now hold this rare skill.”

Goldie paced. “Argh, so that’s why you allowed her to meet the protector.”

Well, wasn’t this a lovely family reunion. “Ah, perhaps I should point out there is some good news in all of this.”

“And that would be?” Goldie kicked at the pebbles lining the river’s edge.

“I have a skill, which means there might be more to come. I will also document all I’m learning on mind-merge. Which is now firsthand. It can’t all be doom and gloom. I won’t allow it.”

Dad tilted his blond head. “I do feel you hold the key. That emotion came through strongly during my first forewarning. Obviously, we can do nothing about the protector. I would never stand in your way as Donaldo stood between your mother and me. We’ll have to hide your relationship with Carver, as we do for Faith.”

Goldie gritted her teeth. “This is such a mess, Alexo.”

“I know.” He shoved his hands in his pockets. “But we are keeping the news contained to just a few. Maslin, Lieska and Guy Moyer. Faith searches for Guy’s father and our other captured warriors as she can, provided Guy keeps quiet. Which he will. I too have spoken to him since Lieska did.”

Goldie nodded. “They are all loyal.”

“Although, the less who know, the better.” Dad regarded me. “I would dearly love to know where you disappear to soon, but my forewarning only shows I lose sight of you, along with the strong feeling that it must happen.” He pulled me into his arms. “Take the utmost care.”

“I will,” I said, my words muffled by his shirt.

He eased back, taking my arms. “I see Carver searching for you now, but before I go, you should know your mother still adapts to our world and I can’t be far from her side.”

“Why do you wait to tell her of me?” There must be more, and it frustrated me that I didn’t know.

He exhaled, ever so slowly. “She has gone through so much since her arrival in Dralion. She’s been spellbound and can never return to Earth. Then there’s all that’s happened to Faith, with your sister’s mated bond to Loveria and near death because we were unaware her skill could kill. Kate now knows her mother, Katerin Sol, took her to Earth, abandoning her so far away from her Magioling people. The news shook her.” He paused, rubbing his jaw. “When I first found Kate on Earth she’d just spent eighteen years in an orphanage. All she wanted was a family of her own to love, and I longed to give her that, no matter the length of time we had together.”

“Did you always know it wouldn’t be long?”

He squeezed his eyes shut then opened them again. “I cannot have visions of myself, and I made the mistake of telling Donaldo about Kate. From that moment, the risks to her became obvious. Donaldo would never allow me to have an Earthling for a wife and weaken our skilled line. He’d never harm a child of mine, although your mother’s death was a certainty in order to see me married to another. He wanted full-blooded heirs, which is why I hid my comings and goings to Earth. Except, your grandfather caught on.”

“Oh.” I understood.

“I couldn’t expose Kate’s whereabouts to Donaldo. As my soul-bound mate, her protection came first. I also had to take care not to activate the blood-bond between you girls and me. That link is as strong as the mated relationship except your bound one holds your soul. I held off, deciding to leave the moment you were born, and I watched your birth with my forethought from close by.

He pushed a hand deep into his hair. “Only, I did not see your death until it was too late. You were so tiny, so cold, and I had to take you with me. I chose that moment to bring you home and to bury you somewhere close to me.”

Arms shaking, I hugged him. “You saved my life by doing so. I’ve always known that.”

“I should have returned you to your mother when you took your first breath. Except your heart was so weak, and I wasn’t sure what another teleport jump would do.”

“I know, and my mother had Faith. She did not need us both.” The depth of our blood-bond drove my need to ease his pain now. Dad had loved and raised me by his own hand.

“Faith was born with a minor form of the blockage you had. The doctors operated on your sister after your death. They did not want to see Kate lose both her babies.”