“You’re wrong, Ilyan. You have to be. I mean, I have grandparents, and uncles, and cousins!”
“The Despains lost a son, Jeffrey, in a car accident. Thom put your Father in his place, replacing their grief with a surrogate son.” My mouth dropped open in horror. So much of my life was a mystery, a lie. I felt so empty.
“But why…” I broke off, not sure what I wanted to know.
“I will not tell you everything, Joclyn. All of it is not to come from me. But I will tell you this. By blending the blood of your Father with the magic of your mate, Edmund has found a way to torture you, to infiltrate you from a distance. To try to stop you from what destiny has planned for you.” Ilyan’s strong voice ricocheted around the space, the power behind it seeping into me uncomfortably.
“But, my Father?” I asked, still waiting for clarity. Everything was still jumbled in my head.
“His name is not Jeffery. His name is Sain. He was bred from the mud to be one of the first of the carriers of magic. He was the first of the Drak.”
I gasped, the quick intake of breath trapped inside of me as I froze in place. The Drak. The beings who possessed the gift of sight. The magical creatures who were massacred at the hands of Edmund LaRue. Well, not completely, my father was still alive. The last one.
My head reeled like I was inside an old cartoon, my eyes bugging out of my head unnaturally. I knew this was huge, and scary, but I didn’t quite understand how it had happened or even what it all meant.
“So, if my father was the first of the Drak, does that mean I am a Drak too?”
“No, you bear the kiss of a Vil?. You are one of The Chosen, nothing more.” Ilyan placed his hand softly on my neck, his whole hand covering my mark. I looked up to him, my wide eyes reflected back at me through his own.
“Then why does Edmund want him so much? What was so important that he had to have his memories erased?”
“He is not just any Drak, Joclyn. Not only is he the first of his kind, he is the one who saw a child come forth to defeat an opposing power. He was also tortured at the hands of my Father, so that he could convince his own daughter to work for him.”
“You’re not saying…” I stopped as his meaning caught up with me. I wasn’t panicked. I wasn’t scared. I was in shock.
Ilyan nodded as I pieced the last of it together. I remembered this story. Edmund had tortured Ovailia’s mate to get her to work for him. Sain, my Father. My Father had been Ovailia’s mate. He was the one she had double crossed in her rise to a supposed power. No wonder he wanted his memories erased.
“But I thought he was dead.”
“Edmund weakened their Z?lství to convince her of that. Ovailia, believing him to be dead, broke their bond. And for hundreds of years my Father kept Sain hidden as he forced information of the future out of him. Until the day he escaped with his memory mostly gone and his powers greatly weakened. I stopped Edmund’s Vym?zat and put him into hiding. Too hurt, too ashamed, to ever see my sister again. Ovailia still believes him dead and I will do everything in my power to keep the truth from her.”
“So, Ovailia doesn’t know?” My stress lessened a bit, but not a lot. I knew I should be reacting more – crying, yelling, screaming – but nothing came. What Ilyan had said had not sunk in yet.
“No. She doesn’t know he is alive. It is best kept that way.”
“So, what my Father saw… about the child… It’s about me isn’t it?” My pulse thumped in my ears at the fear of the answer I knew was coming.
“Joclyn, it is not my place to say…”
“Then don’t tell me everything, Ilyan. Don’t tell me what he saw. Don’t tell me how, or why. Just say yes or no!” I moved to stand in front of him, making it clear I wasn’t going to let him off the hook. He hesitated for a moment before answering, his eyes large and softer than usual.
“Yes.”
I hung my head, my jaw tightening.
“I cannot tell you all, Joclyn, not yet. But soon. We are going to see Thom and Dramin in two days and then you will know everything. And when they tell you… Joclyn, when they do, please do not hate me.”
“Ilyan?”
“Know I am here to protect you – as I was born to do, as I have promised you.” He reached up and softly traced my skin from my jaw to the mark and back again, his eyes never leaving mine. I couldn’t move. I didn’t register the shiver that moved through me at his touch. I stood still waiting for everything I had been told to settle into an understanding.
“I will do whatever I must to keep you safe.” He smiled and my breath caught, which only seemed to increase his happiness. I stepped away, suddenly feeling uncomfortable.
Ilyan moved toward the window, the pane opening before he even reached it.
“Ilyan?” I wasn’t sure what was happening.
“I am going to go get some food. I won’t be long. Promise me you will stay inside these walls.”