Wicked Burn (Realm Enforcers #3)(43)

Viv nodded. “The Guard soldier protecting me took several darts. How is he?”

“Coma.” Simone sighed. “He’s getting the best care possible.”

“Are you all right?” Viv’s eyes, although bloodshot, were sharp and probing.

Simone nodded. “Aye. Nick reacted quickly.”

“I heard.” Viv grimaced. “That had to have hurt.”

Simone nodded. “Yeah. Remind me never to mess with a pissed-off demon. This was one trying to help me.” Sometimes she forgot how dangerous Nick’s people were and how deadly their powers.

Viv tried to shove herself into a sitting position, and Simone leaned over to place pillows behind her mother’s back. “Thank you,” Viv said. “While I appreciate Nicholai’s assistance, as I have on other occasions, he is not right for you. Break it off, Simone.”

An ache pulsed through Simone’s chest. “Why?”

“You know why.”

“Mother, we have more immediate issues to deal with, right?”

Viv’s head rolled back on the pillow. “You just don’t understand, and you need to trust me. Someday, you want to lead the Council. You can’t have any blights in your past for that.”

“Am I a blight?” Simone voiced the one question she’d never had the courage to ask. But with the possibility of being kicked off the Council with a death sentence on her head, it was time.

“Of course not.” Viv reached out and held Simone’s hand, her own skin as smooth as it had been centuries ago. “You’re the best thing that ever happened to me.” She sighed, and her gaze turned to the silver brocade. “I know I’m not the softest of people, or the most nurturing, but I’ve always been so proud of you.”

“I know, and I’ve also understood why you never told me about my father.” It had taken several decades, but she’d reached peace with the secret. “Although I still don’t know why you won’t talk about him now.” No matter how many times Simone had asked, Viv had kept tight-lipped.

Viv blinked. “I didn’t know him well, Simone.” She coughed, and slight color filled her cheeks. “Those were different times, even for witches, and one didn’t just get knocked up in a one-night stand.”

Simone snorted. “I guess that’s true. You knew he was a bear shifter?”

Viv looked away again. “I suspected, but it was just a single crazy night at a Solstice party, one with witches, shifters, and fairies, and I got carried away. It was and still is so rare to become pregnant without a mating that I didn’t even consider the consequences.”

“Once you were pregnant, why didn’t you tell him?”

Vivienne, even weakened and sick, arched one dark eyebrow. “Well, the second he learned of your existence, he tried to kidnap you and keep you away from me. So I believe my decision was a wise one.”

“True.” Simone leaned toward her mother. “You’ve never said what led you to that decision. Why did you decide he was a threat?”

Vivienne’s eyes closed, and she settled into the pillows.

“Mother?” Simone tucked the bedclothes up.

Viv opened her eyes. “I knew you kept in touch with your brother. Through the years, I knew.”

“I wanted to know him,” Simone said gently. “He’s the only sibling I have.” All those years, growing up with the Dunne kids and all of their siblings, she’d known exactly what she was missing. Sure, they included her, but no matter how hard they tried, it just wasn’t the same. “I didn’t mean to betray you.”

“Oh, you didn’t,” Viv said weakly, waving her hand. “But you have to understand, with the blood in your veins, you can’t mate a demon. You’re part shifter, and Nick’s a demon . . . it’s a dangerous match for the children. Insanity runs in Bear’s people, your father’s people, and with a demon like Nick, one so powerful with the mind, the offspring would be too deadly to exist.”

Viv rested again, the color leaving her skin. Dots of perspiration marred her smooth forehead.

Simone felt her face. “Your fever is back. The doctor said it would come and go. Just sleep now.” She kept her voice calm and not full of the fear now coursing through her.

“Danger,” Viv whispered, her focus no longer seeming to be in the room.

Simone stood and finished tucking in her mother. “I still don’t understand why you knew, with such certainty, that my father would try to harm me.” Maybe if she’d known him as a child, he wouldn’t have shot her on sight. Or perhaps if she’d known him before he’d succumbed to insanity, she would’ve been able to help. “It doesn’t make sense.” She muttered the question to herself as her mother dropped into the fever.

Viv sighed and breathed deep, her voice going groggy and into a whisper. “Ah, Simone. I saw him shift.”

Simone blinked. Was her mother trying to talk or just giving away secrets? Finally? She leaned down again to hear better. “So? Many bears shift. What was wrong?”

“Wasn’t . . . just . . . a . . . bear.” Viv coughed. “Evil there. So much evil. Must protect my baby.”

Simone leaned back, awareness crashing through her along with curiosity. “Mother?”