Tears gathered in her eyes, but she refused to cry on the street. "I don't want your money," she said between clenched teeth, angered he would be so callous about his life and her future.
He didn't move. "Fine. Let the banks have it then. I really couldn't care less."
Turning around, he continued down the street. Kiara cursed him, wanting to tear his heart out, provided he had one. She was beginning to doubt he could care about much of anything.
"Kyrian?"
Kiara almost walked into Nykyrian he stopped so suddenly. His body went rigid. Kiara frowned wondering what had him so upset. Scanning the street, she saw a beautiful Andarion lady rushing out of a shop, toward them .
The Andarion woman stopped just before them , her face a cross between disbelief, agony, and joy. She was almost as tall as Nykyrian. Her red and white eyes scanned Nykyrian's body in a possessive manner Kiara didn't like. The woman's long, black hair was partially concealed by a golden diadem that framed the fragile, pale features of her face.
"Kyrian?" she said again and reached a graceful hand out to Nykyrian, but she jerked it back before she touched him.
He stood ram rod stiff, not acknowledging the wom an in the least.
Another Andarion lady appeared out of the shop, followed by her guards. "Cairistiona!"
she said sternly, relief underlining the severe tone. "Don't ever leave like that again!"
She placed her arms around the woman's shoulders and tried to walk her away from them.
"No!" Cairistiona said, wrenching her arms from her. "It's my Kyrian, can't you see?"
The woman looked up at Kiara and Nykyrian. "I'm sorry," she said in a soft voice. "She's not been right since her son died as a child." She put her arms back on Cairistiona and patted her gently. "Come along Carie, he's not Nykyrian, you know that."
Kiara's blood left her cheeks. She placed her hand on Nykyrian's arm and felt the degree of tenseness in his body.
Cairistiona looked up at him, her red and white eyes pleading. "Tell her who you are!"
she said, gesturing to the woman beside her.
Nykyrian started to move away, but Kiara grabbed him. "You know her, don't you?" she asked, wishing she could see his eyes.
"Let go of me," he snapped.
Kiara glanced at the wom an holding Cairistiona. "Is she your mother?"
The woman gasped.
"Nykyrian, answer m e!" Kiara demanded, wishing she had the strength to shake him.
Nykyrian stared at Kiara, his stomach knotted. This couldn't be happening. He remembered all too well his mother putting him on the shuttle that took him to the work home. Her happy smile as she told him to be a good boy and do as he was told. He hated her. He wanted to kill her.
"Kyrian?"
He cringed at his mother's voice, the voice he had yearned to hear for so many years.
What did she want from him? Absolution? Forget it, he wasn't in a forgiving mood!
"I don 't have a mother," he sneered. "I never had one."
Oblivious to the staring passers-by, Cairistiona burst into tears.
Nykyrian tried to move past Kiara, but she held fast. At the moment, he wanted to kill her, too. "Let go of me," he said in a low tone that never failed to intimidate people. For once, it didn't work. She just stared at him with those damned beautiful amber eyes, demanding with them that he do something he knew would only hurt him more.
Kiara looked at Cairistiona. "Was your son named Nykyrian Caesare?"
Nykyrian's arms flexed threateningly underneath her hands, but Kiara ignored the warning.
The woman holding Cairistiona paled.
"Yes!" Cairistiona said, her eyes never leaving Nykyrian's rigid back.
"He's half hum an, half Andarion, with gorgeous, clear, light green eyes?"
"Kiara!" Nykyrian growled low in his throat.
Kiara ignored him.
Cairistiona's tears dripped from her chin. "Yes," she said, her voice trembling.
Nykyrian pulled away from her.
In one last move to defy him for his own good, Kiara stood on her tiptoes and pulled his glasses off his face. The look he gave her made her take a step back.
"Oh God," the woman gasped as she saw his face. Her hands fell away from Cairistiona.
Cairistiona let out a happy laugh, covering her mouth with a shaking hand. "I knew you were alive!" she said, as giddy as a child during a festival.
Nykyrian just continued to glare at Kiara as if he could kill her.
The other woman moved forward, staring at him with disbelief etched into her beautiful face. "You're supposed to be dead!" She looked at Kiara with her red and white eyes. "I saw the body." Her gaze shifted back to Nykyrian. "I was there when they buried you."
Cairistiona stepped forward and touched Nykyrian's cheek, her hand trembling. "I told you then that boy wasn't my Kyrian! But you wouldn't listen. All of you thought I was crazy." She bit her quivering lip. "They wouldn't even allow me to search for you."