chapter Thirteen
Cami frowned at Colm as he walked out of the room and left her with the chatar. He could have left her with almost anyone else and she wouldn’t have had a problem with it, but that man made her nervous. As soon as the door closed behind Colm, she turned to face the man and the table stacked with books. She did not look forward to digging through those books for mention of glowing eyes or glowing anything, for that matter.
“Your secrets are slowly escaping your grasp, I see.” The chatar’s voice sounded much too smug.
Cami held back a growl. That was precisely the reason that she didn’t like to be near him. The chatar knew too much and he seemed to enjoy it when Colm and Linc learned something she’d rather remain hidden. She didn’t know why he didn’t come right out and tell them if he was so determined they know her secrets.
“And? I thought it was your job to guide them? If you wanted to do it, you could have guided them to my secrets long ago.” She folded her arms across her chest and glared at him. “Did you need me to help you search through those books or not?”
“What do you know of your ancestors?” The chatar sat down in a chair and seemed prepared to ignore her question.
“I know a bit about the people on my mother’s side. They were human. As for my father’s ancestors, I wasn’t told much. My mother never talked about them. If she knew anything about them, and I suspect she and my brothers did know something, she never said anything. At least they knew something about why we had to leave so suddenly, but that’s also something that they never told me.” She shrugged.
“The reason you had to leave would be because of who your ancestors were and the power they held. The same power runs in your brothers and you. The magic from the crystal is still in you, but I’m not so sure that it simply didn’t tap into your latent talent.” The chatar gestured to the chair across from him.
She took a seat. Although she wasn’t really in the mood for any more of his remarks, she stayed. The lure of finding out what drove her family so far away from everything they knew kept her in the room. He might say something that would make her furious, but she’d wanted answers to these questions for years.
“What do you mean the power runs through my brothers and me? As far as I know, they weren’t extraordinarily powerful.” She frowned and folded her arms on the table.
“They hid their power level. It’s probably also the reason you weren’t trained when you finally settled. They had no one they could trust to do it. If anyone noticed the level of power, it could lead their enemies straight to you.” He lifted some of the books and put them into stacks on the table.
It was weird to be hearing about this from a man who didn’t know any of her family. He seemed very confident, and somehow, she didn’t doubt he was right. It explained why she hadn’t learned magic and why her mother had never talked about her father when she was young. It didn’t explain why her mother hadn’t said anything when she was older. There had to come a point where her mother knew she wouldn’t simply blurt out the truth and risk the safety of everyone involved.
“Why were we hunted? I didn’t see it that way when I was younger, but I realize that that’s why we moved twice before finally settling at Scali Thent. There was someone after us and they had to be sure that no one was following. What was so bad about my ancestors and the power they held? Did they misuse it?” She shook her head and rubbed at her temples.
“They didn’t misuse it. They were merely powerful. Some were Ardin and some very talented chatar. I suspect your family was hunted because of the prophecy. It has nothing to do with you specifically. It was your brothers that they most wanted out of the way, but I’m sure they didn’t want you living either, since your children would be just as powerful.” He leaned forward and his palms flattened to the table.
“But why? So they would be powerful. There are many powerful lines among us. Usually they don’t get hunted down.” She narrowed her eyes on him. They also wouldn’t be the first Santir to be part of some prophecy.
“No, normally high power doesn’t lead to someone being hunted down. I can’t tell you the why. That’s something that your brothers will discover. I pieced a lot of what I know together from the texts,” he said and gave her a regretful look.
“Then how do you know my family is even linked to this line of people?” She sighed and looked up at the ceiling.
“Because when I found the reference to that family line and the glowing eyes, I did get a flash of you. I know it’s hard to believe, but they’re your ancestors. I’m certain of it.” He leaned forward, his hands braced on the table.
She sighed and ran her fingers through her hair. “How many other references to glowing eyes did you find?”
“It’s a rare ability,” he said, but didn’t explain any further.
She waited for him to continue, but he simply looked at her. “How rare?”
“There are only two other families that have been mentioned having the ability. One line is presumed lost and the other is well established and well known. I’m pretty sure you’re not from the last one, and as I said, when I read about that family I got an image of you.” His raised eyebrow dared her to challenge him on that.
She’d love to try, but she had her own strange visions of the future and past. “So I’m related to a powerful family line whose eyes glow freakishly.”
The chatar smiled and shook his head. “The eyes glow because of the power within you. In your line, the only thing strange about that is that you’re female. There’s no record of a female possessing the ability, but that doesn’t mean it’s unheard of. That kind of thing wouldn’t have been discussed among outsiders and might even have been kept completely secret.”
“Is this going to be dangerous to other people? Will it be safe to be around others?” She had to know how much danger she’d be putting the other people in by being near them. Aside from the danger posed by Laed and Kynar, that is. No matter what, she wouldn’t stay if she posed a serious threat. She’d find some other way of stopping those two men.
“I tried to tell you earlier that it was probably benign. You’re not suddenly going to start shooting flashes of magic out of your eyes. It’s merely an outward sign that your magic is getting higher, maybe even a little out of control. Nothing else. Eventually, you’ll be able to control even that.” He stressed each word as if he knew how much doubt she had about staying here.
“Sparks shooting out of my eyes wouldn’t surprise me. Nothing has gone as I’d planned since I picked up that crystal.” She sighed and propped her chin on her hand.
“Are you going to stop fighting what you know is between the three of you now?” he asked.
Cami blinked and slowly looked up at him. That question had come out of nowhere, but considering his penchant for uncomfortable announcements and questions when it came to her, she should have expected something such as that.
“I have doubts about what would be best in this situation. Mainly because of the magic, but also because I’m not sure that staying with them would be a good decision.” She shook her head. “You know Colm. In spite of what he might know, it’s not going to be that easy for him.”
Colm might feel possessive now because of what he’d learned. She still wasn’t sure exactly what that was. He couldn’t smell that she was their mate, but he’d done more than smell. The way his eyes focused on her and that possessive look had the intensity she’d heard about in a mate recognition.
She’d never thought about the sense of taste and she’d been satisfied after kissing Linc that she was safe. Obviously, he’d tasted something, but she’d never thought of taste as a way that someone could recognize a mate. Why didn’t Linc taste something? Linc had kissed her.
What had happened with Colm? He hadn’t declared that he was her mate or bitten her. The possessiveness in his eyes left her in little doubt that he’d tasted something that gave him more than a clue. She really didn’t think talking was going to change his mind about what he’d discovered, but she’d give it a try.
“I know him,” the chatar agreed with a nod. “His doubts aren’t going to pose as big a problem as you think. He won’t let you leave them. Of course, that wasn’t going to happen anyway. He might always be on the overprotective side, but they planned to make sure you had a place in a secure Thent from the start.”
She rolled her eyes. They obviously hadn’t taken into account that she hadn’t planned on staying. She might not be a male with muscles, but she knew she could slip away if she needed to do it. Although she still didn’t know what Colm’s issues with mating were, she had to be realistic. They wouldn’t simply fade away as the chatar was implying. He hadn’t simply avoided finding a mate. He’d gone so far as to look for women to bond with so that he wouldn’t chance finding her.
“I think you’re wrong about how he’ll handle it, but arguing about it won’t get us anywhere. We’ll have to wait and see.” She shifted restlessly in her seat. She didn’t want to be trapped here in a room. All right, so it didn’t help that the chatar had an annoying habit of asking questions she didn’t want to answer. She still wanted to be moving, preferably outside, but that wasn’t an option.
“We’ll see. I’m not saying that he won’t have a few problems. You will fight, but it’s not going to be a huge stumbling block as you expect. Colm isn’t going to let it stand in his way long. He’s not the type of man who’ll allow it to hold him back from what he really wants.” The chatar took a book from the top of one of the piles near him and pushed it across to her. “If you want to read about your ancestors and the glowing in your eyes, it’s all in here. I have a thin piece of string marking where it begins.”
She bit her lip. Her fingers almost itched to pick up that book and open it. She wanted to know everything, especially since she’d known nothing up until this point, but she didn’t want to sit and read now.
“Could you keep that separate for me? I’ll be back for it. I want to explore a little.” She stood and smoothed her hands down her pants. Taking a deep breath, she looked at the chatar. “If they come here looking for me, tell them I’m just walking around their home. I’m not going outside. I know that they don’t want me to go out alone, but I do want to see more of this place, even if it is simply the inside.”
“They’ll look for you.” He smiled and put the book to the side. “This will be waiting for you when you’re ready to read it.”
She nodded. “Thank you, chatar.”
“You can call me Vin.” He laughed. “I don’t stand on formality.”
“You’re a real chatar. I think that should merit some respect.” She shook her head. She didn’t know if he realized just how many people faked the abilities he used so easily.
“Respect doesn’t mean you can’t relax around me and call me by my name.” His smile widened. “I’ll convince you eventually.”
She didn’t know why it was important to him. Surely most people called him by his title. “Maybe. I’ll be back for the book.”
“It will be waiting here for you.”
She nodded and left the room. At first, she simply walked down the hall. She had a lot on her mind. It wasn’t so much what she’d learned from the chatar. Even learning that she was probably descended from a powerful line of Santir magic didn’t hold her attention long. No, what had happened with Colm was still at the forefront of her thoughts. She didn’t know what she was going to do.
The sex had been great. She couldn’t deny that. Going back to the way things were before was impossible. He wouldn’t forget what had happened or what he’d felt. She had to decide how she was going to handle their pursuit.
It would happen. They’d circled around her, trying to find a way to get her to reveal any of her secrets since they’d met her. Now she had. The predators in both men would take that slip and grab for more. They weren’t about to let her step back and act as if nothing had happened. She didn’t know if she could simply shut her eyes and pretend, even if Colm would keep what had happened secret. Things had changed.