31. Chapter Thirty-Three

Don't shut your eyes.

Keep them open.

The heaviness of my eyelids weighed me down and it took all my strength to keep them open. I'd been running from my mind all night. When I tried to sleep, I saw him. When I closed my eyes in the shower, he was there.

Then he began to bang on the inside of my head, spilling words into my mind and demanding I come to him. It was the scariest thing I'd ever encountered. Scarier than seeing him in person, because it meant he could reach me now without being there with me.

The clacking of Zerk stirring something into my drink brought me back to Earth. At that point, I didn't care what he put in it if it worked.

He turned to face me while holding a cup of green liquid up to my nose.

"Here, drink this. It won't taste good, and it won't last. The ingredients aren't good for a human"s stomach, and you can only take it once a day. I'm afraid it won't last through the night."

Dorran walked into the kitchen. "So, he'll be able to get to her while she sleeps tonight?"

Zerk nodded.

Dorran slid his palm down his face. "What good is that going to do us, Zerk? She needs to sleep."

Zerk narrowed his eyes. "I'm not God, Dorran. This is the best I can do for now, and it'll give her time to sleep today."

Reaching over, I placed my palm on Dorran's forearm and shook my head. "After Helena leaves I'll take a nap."

Dorran cupped my jaw. "You need to sleep now, Little Mouse."

I slid from the table. "There is no way I am sleeping through this. I need to know why I was with Helena. I need to know what she knows."

Dorran didn't look happy about it, but I wasn't taking no for an answer.

Taking the drink, I downed it in one disgusting gulp. It tasted like what I imagined chopped-up grass and mud would taste like. Crinkling my nose, I washed it down with a glass of water Zerk gave me.

Seconds later, I felt tingling against my skin and my brain went blank in the best way. There was no tugging or heavy pressure of his presence. It vanished.

Zerk stood beside me with his eyebrows raised when I launched forward to hug him. "Thank you so much."

His heavy hand patted my back. "You're welcome. I can hear Toby nearing with your stepmother. You need to get yourself together."

I glanced over my shoulder at Dorran watching me. I couldn't pinpoint the look lurking there. The feeling in my chest tightened, sending fear that I was too much trouble for my own good through me when Toby barreled into the door carrying my stepmother under his arm.

Helena was fighting, turning, and kicking in his arms.

Toby gave Dorran an annoyed look. "You owe me for this," he hissed. "This woman is one pain in the ass."

Sasha snorted from the living room. "I'll say."

He lifted Helena to her bare feet, and she stumbled away, looking around the room as if we were going to feed her to hellhounds. She pushed her sweaty hair from her eyes and made eye contact with me. "I am here against my will and I demand to be let down from this mountain this instant."

"Don't look at me," I said with a shrug. "You're part of the reason I'm in this situation."

Helena tugged her skintight dress straight and laughed halfheartedly. "Right, because I wanted you with The Dragon Prince."

"No, because you've been hiding me from the sirens in The South Kingdom."

Helena glanced up at me. Her dark eyes were wide and full of fear. "You know?"

I stared blankly at her. "Yeah, no thanks to you, Helena. I've been scared to death. Things have happened to me. This man is after me—,"

"That's because you haven't taken your medication. Does he know where you are?" she asked. Her gaze shifted around the room, in every corner, over Dorran's tightened jaw, and to the empty hallway. "I have to leave. Please, let me go!"

She raced toward the door as if she'd have a way down once she got outside. Toby blocked her and shook his head. "Not happening lady."

Helena hid her face in her palms and roughly slid them down. "What do you want from me? You've ruined my life enough, Amara."

Dorran stepped between us with his finger lifted to her face. "Sit down and tell us what you know."

Reluctantly she walked over to the recliner and sat down. "What do you want to know?"

Dorran watched as I walked into the living room and stood in front of her. "I know what my mother was, and what I am. When she ran from The South Kingdom and had me, did she give me to my father?"

Helena shook her head. "The father that you know, yes. Not your biological father. Your father was a shipman and left her to go back to his country. When she ran, she came here because there wasn't much water." Her gaze shifted toward mine. "They draw their power from the water. She wanted to be far away from it."

"Who you know to be your father found your mother hiding in an alleyway by the restaurant. He was smitten by her. He took her in, and she had you shortly after. The sirens," she whispered. "Found her in another kingdom. She wouldn't tell them where you were. The medicine I gave you was the supplement she used to hide you. When I met your father, he was still madly in love with your mother. I was a widow, and I think he married me out of necessity to help raise you, and not out of love. When he died," she whispered. "He had the will ready. He was under the impression that if you continued to take your medication it would keep you safe. I took care of you because the will stated I had to. I cared enough about your father to put up with your mother's sins. That is why I didn't want you to mate with him. We're going to be killed by them, because of The Dragon Prince."

I stood still while trying to soak in everything. It sounded so true. Why would she lie?

"Do you have anything to say?' she asked, crossing her legs. "Or are you going to stand there with your mouth open? It's over, Amara. The sirens will come for you and kill this kingdom in their path. If they find out I hid you," she said, shaking her head. "They'll kill me because they can. I can't believe this."

After several long minutes of silence, I cleared my throat. "Thank you, Helena. You can go home now."

She stood up and looked down at me with a sneer. "I hope you're happy. That precious restaurant and home that you love. You'll never be able to enjoy it now. You'll be dead."

Dorran chuckled humorlessly. "No one is worried about the restaurant. We're worried about Amara's life, and yours too. Be careful, or I may tell them where you live."

She swallowed heavily with disdain on her face. "I'm ready to go home. Take me home."

Toby pushed the door open. "Be still this time, or I may drop you."

Helena stormed out of the house. Toby walked out after her. Sasha scoffed. "Do you believe her?"

"Yes," I said instantly. "I grew up with the woman. Oddly enough, I believe her. She's scared, and so am I."

Dorran wrapped his arm around my shoulder and brought me close to his chest. "My father will be here soon. I'm going to speak to him about the threat so our army can be prepared. Zerk," he said, looking over his shoulder. "Can you look up anything we can find on them? More importantly, what will kill them?"

Heartache surged through me. I wasn't sure killing off my entire race was the way to go, but knowing how to kill Evian was a step in the right direction.

"I will try, Dorran, but please understand that there isn't much about them. It'll take a little time to go back in records to find it. They want to be hidden, and they've done a great job at it."

I could feel the heavy beating of Dorran's heart. I could sense his unease, and desperation to figure this out.

Sasha cleared her throat. "I need to go get ready for my shift at the museum. Do you mind if I take a quick shower?

Dorran gestured her toward the guest bathroom, which left us alone while Zerk took up camp in Dorran's den to research.

He placed both palms on my shoulders and looked down at me. His dark green eyes searched mine. "You're my mate no matter what. If you're hurting, or scared, let me know. If he comes to you and hurts you somehow, tell me. I will speak with my father alone. You need to rest while you can. I will check on you throughout the day, and probably join you after he leaves." He glanced at the breakfast Zerk cooked. "Eat first so you'll sleep well."

Looking at the food my stomach growled in hunger. Despite the need to sleep, I walked over and pulled a plate from the cabinet. Filling it with bacon and eggs, I sat down at the table and took a bite.

Halfway through my plate, I heard Sasha's shower turn off, and Dorran talking to Toby outside. Zerk's tapping of his pen began to grow louder, and I glanced at him from the crack in the door.

The gentle way he tapped his pen caught my gaze. How was I hearing it that well? Sasha cleared her throat, and I waited for her to round the corner of the hallway. She didn't.

The bathroom door shut seconds later. I was hearing things rooms away.

I took a slow bite and noticed a silhouette form in the kitchen next to the stove. My fork clanked against my plate, and I stared at Evian as he materialized in front of me.

"Hearing better, are you? That's just the beginning, Amara. Since you're off those ungodly pills you'll be able to experience your true nature. Your power."

Dorran's heavy footsteps neared, but I couldn't look away from his steely gaze. "I think you'll realize I can help you far more than your little dragon boyfriend."

Dorran stopped next to the kitchen counter.

Evian chuckled. "Don't get your panties into a twist, Dragon Prince—,"

Before Evian could finish his sentence, Dorran grabbed the knife sitting next to my plate and tossed it straight at his head. The sound of his skin breaking from the knife's blade seared me.

Evian's eyes rounded, shock raced over him before his jaw clenched and he made eye contact with Dorran. "You'll regret that, beast."

He disappeared, leaving a chill in the room that cemented me to my seat. Slowly, I glanced at Dorran heaving next to me, his lip sneered, and then to Toby standing motionless several yards back.

"I think you pissed the Pretty Boy off," Toby said.

Dorran glanced down at me with a look of dominance radiating between us. "Good."