Origin of Magic (Dragon's Gift: The Protector #3)(16)

Horror opened a cavern in my chest. “That’s terrible.”

“It’s not.” My mother smiled. “It was fated to be this way. You were fated to be. Elesius was created to birth Life. To create you, who would in turn use the magic to defeat a great evil.”

Holy fates, this was what the prophecy meant when it said that I represented Life in the Triumvirate. “Is this why this place feels so strange? And why I feared it as a child?”

“Yes.” My mother nodded. “You knew it was dying, but didn’t understand why. It scared you.”

I scrubbed a hand over my face, my thoughts whirring. “Why me?”

I wasn’t strong enough for this. Wasn’t worthy of the sacrifice made by Elesius.

My mother smiled. “Because you’re the one with the will to do what must be done. Elesuis knew this was our fate—a seer decried it long ago. Life would come from my line, which is why I am queen.”

Oh, man. I hoped that didn’t mean I’d be made queen. I did not need that on my plate.

“But it wasn’t me, nor any of my ancestors,” my mother said. “When you were born, it was like Elesius knew the time had come. And it began to die.”

“Giving me its power.” Holy fates, this was awful. My stomach churned.

“You are the Warrior of Elesius,” my father said. “The princess of our kingdom. Fated to defeat the evil that rises.”

“This has been in the works for thousands of years.” My mother gripped my hand. “But I didn’t want you to have to face this.”

It was suddenly hard to breathe. “When you say that I’m supposed to fight—”

A flash of movement in the window caught my eye. A figure crashed through, glass exploding into the room. He moved as fast as lightning, streaking toward me and grabbing me, dragging me toward the wall.

It was a blur as he positioned himself in front of me and held out a dark blade toward my parents.

Recognition slammed into me.

“Ares!” I shoved him, but he wouldn’t budge.

“Step back,” Ares commanded of my parents. “Don’t come near her.”

Oh shit, he was rescuing me. Of course he was rescuing me.

My mother drew her daggers, looking like a serious bad-ass Amazon, while my father drew his sword.

“Step away from her,” my mother demanded.

I wiggled out from behind Ares. “It’s okay, everyone. It’s okay.”

“It’s not,” my father said. “He’s entered our kingdom. That should be impossible.”

He clearly didn’t know Ares. Though I had no idea how Ares had found me or gotten here, that wasn’t top of my list right now. Brokering a ceasefire took precedence.

I reached for Ares’s arm, noting the tensed muscles and warrior’s gleam in his eyes. “Ares. Meet my parents.”

His shock was so brief I almost didn’t see it. But the flickering of his eyelids gave it away.

I turned to my parents. “Mother and Father, meet my…” What was he to me? I had no idea yet. “Ares. Meet Ares.”

Who had my back.

No question now.

“I’m certain everyone can lower their blades,” I said.

“You don’t remember your parents,” Ares said.

“I do now.”

His gaze traveled from my parents to me, and then back again. “They aren’t affiliated with Drakon?”

“That was my thought, but no.” I pushed on his arm.

He lowered his sword. My parents followed suit.

Ares looked at me, face intense. “Are you all right?”

“I’m fine. Shaken up, but fine.” I was about to ask him about the burn on his cheekbone when my father spoke.

“How did you get in here?” he demanded.

“I can cross realms.” He turned to me. “Your deirfiúr tried to come but they could not cross over.”

“What are deirfiúr?” my mother asked.

I opened my mouth to tell her about the family I’d created after I’d been stolen from them, but Moira rushed into the room, panic on her face.

“There’s been a breach.” Moira’s eyes were stark. “In the lower city.”

My parent’s eyes darted to Ares. “Is that where you came from?”

He shook his head. “I came from the higher end of the city. In the mountains.”

“We must go.” My mother looked at me. “Stay here.”

“No way in hell.”

Frustration twisted her face. “Then be careful.”

This was all in a day’s work for me, but I doubted any loving mother wanted to hear that her kid fought demons on the daily. So I just said, “Okay.”

She and my father raced out of the room. I grabbed the box from the coffee table and followed, Ares at my side. At the door, he grabbed my arm, pulling me to a halt.

“What?”

He dug into his coat pocket, dragging out the package he’d been holding while standing beneath my window. He tore into the brown paper, revealing a cuff bracelet that flamed purple and red. He shoved it toward me. “Put it on.”

“What is it?”

“Protection. Put it on.”

I shoved it onto my wrist. It was large enough that I had to push it up onto my bicep to keep it from coming off. Magic sparked through me, like a shield had drifted around me.