Chapter 25

CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE

Ryker

"That's easy to answer. For hundreds of thousands of years, no female lightning bearers existed… until her . When they discovered what she could do, her family probably feared someone would try to gain her power by forcing her to use her ability to their advantage or have their children. They had every right to worry that would happen."

I rubbed my chin as I pondered this. He was right; if Ivan learned what she could do, he would do anything to control her and make her do his bidding. If my father got his hands on her, he'd destroy her to get what he sought from her.

Despite hating her, the idea of that happening didn't sit well with me, and I shifted on the rock again. My father was a fate I wouldn't wish on my worst enemy.

"If female lightning bearers had existed since the beginning as the males have, things wouldn't have been the same for those original women. While they still would have been a rarity, like the men, they wouldn't have had any reason to hide what they could do.

"But since nothing like her has existed before, she's a threat, and her family knew it. If Ivan and the aristocrats get their hands on her, they'll destroy her. Oh, they'll keep her alive, but no one should have to endure what she would at their hands. We know what it would be like for her, as we were once at the mercy of the ophidians."

I rubbed my temples as my hatred for Ellery warred with Tucker's words. The more I pondered it, the more I could understand why she didn't reveal everything to me, but I couldn't forgive her deceit.

"What would your father do if he learned the truth about her?" Tucker asked.

I knew exactly what he would do to her. If she wasn't willing, he'd rape her until he got a child from her. Then he'd either kill her, lock her way, or keep going until he made more children.

He'd wait to see if those children had the lightning-bearer ability like he had with my mother. If they did, he'd tear Ellery away from them to raise them himself.

It's what he did to me and my mother, but he'd also believed he could beat and torture me into submission. He'd been wrong.

Would he have kept my mother alive if he'd known how impossible I'd be to break? Would he have gotten more children out of her?

I suspected the answer to that was yes. And if I'd been a daughter, he would have kept trying until he had a son.

I don't know what he would have done with a daughter. He probably would have used her to his advantage by passing her around to other aristocratic men with the hope she might also produce a lightning bearer.

Is that what he did with my mother? Did he choose her because she had no family to defend her and because her brother was a lightning bearer, which meant she might possess the genetic predisposition to have a child with the ability?

I'd never considered it before, but I now believed that's exactly what happened. I'd always considered them such an odd pairing. He was a cruel, heartless bastard, and she was a kind woman who'd loved and cherished me.

Maybe initially, he'd been sweet and kind while manipulating her into believing she would be happy with him. By the end of their time together, she'd known the truth and tried to protect me from it. He'd killed her for it.

And if he got his hands on Ellery, he'd destroy her too.

I only wanted to feel hatred for her. Still, the idea of my father hurting her not only had me envisioning bashing his head into the ground until nothing but mush remained, it also caused a tug at my heart that I hadn't believed I could experience after what she'd done.

I shoved that unexpected tenderness aside. I wouldn't feel sympathy or anything else for her.

Rising, I wiped the dirt and ash from my pants. "In all that history you studied, was there anything you can think of to explain the reason for her existence? Or is there something you might have forgotten?"

"I'm sure I've forgotten many things, but not something like this, and not something that could help figure out how or why she exists."

I stared into the trees as the setting sun created deeper shadows throughout the woods and turned the sky into fire. My mind spun as I tried to process everything I'd discovered today.

"It was all a lie," I murmured.

"Not all of it."

When I looked at Tucker, he held up his hand while he continued. "She does care for you. That wasn't a lie; I saw it for myself. You'll do what you will, but that is a fact, and no one will ever convince me otherwise."

"What would you do?"

"I don't know, but I think the better question is… do you still want her help, or are you prepared to move on without her against Ivan and the others?"

That was a question I couldn't answer.