A dark man at Helen’s side lifted his blade and shifted his body so that it shielded Helen’s. “Stay back,” he warned, his mouth tight with anger.
“Forgive my lack of grace,” he begged. “I have no intent to frighten any of you.”
“Let me by, Drake,” said Helen. “He’s not going to hurt me.”
The crowd around them began to grow, and hushed voices repeated for the newcomers what had passed.
Helen reached out her hand and Lucien saw that it trembled. “Where did you come from?” she asked.
“Athanasia.”
Gilda hissed and pulled Helen’s hand back. “Liar. The gate is closed.”
“Not to me. Nor to a few of my brothers who also pass through to this world.”
Gilda didn’t believe him. He could see her mistrust shining on her face. “Why do you come now?” she asked.
“You’re losing the war against the Synestryn. My father’s anger barred the gate shut, but a few of us know the folly in that. We know that if you Sentinels fall, there will be nothing left to stand between us and the Synestryn. We have grown weak in our decadence. They would destroy us.”
Gilda’s voice trembled with rage. “So, you came here to beg us for help? To build our morale so we’d fight harder? Do you really think that we care whether or not your people are wiped from the universe? Do you think we’re willing to sacrifice more for you who shun us?”
Lucien’s heart ached hearing the bitterness spewing from this woman. Only the deepest loss created anger such as hers. A loss Lucien knew all too well. “How many of your children have died?” he asked in a tender voice.
Gilda’s jaw hardened, but he saw the sheen of tears brighten her black eyes for a mere second before anger burned them away. “Go back to where you came from. We have no need of you here.”
“But you do,” said Lucien, looking out to the desperate men gathered around him. “Your men are dying, and my brothers and I have been working for a long time to save them.”
The man bonded to Gilda caught on first. “You’ve come here and bedded human women, haven’t you?”
Lucien nodded. “We’ve sired daughters. It’s hard to know how many since we can’t travel here often, and time passes much more swiftly here on Earth.”
“My mother,” whispered Helen. “You were her one-night stand?”
Lucien frowned at the term, not understanding. “I lay with your mother, if that’s what you mean. And seeing you here, a grown woman. . . . I met her only months ago. Had you been born in my world, you’d yet be a babe.”
Helen looked at her husband, then back at Lucien. “I thought you’d abandoned us.”
“Never. If I’d been able, I would have been with you every day. But it is . . . impossible.”
Helen stepped forward and took Lucien into her arms. He stood there, stiff in her embrace, unsure of what to do. He didn’t know her, hadn’t seen her grow, and yet he loved her still. How could that be? How could so much love pour out of him and he still remain intact?
Lucien didn’t know, but now, in this moment, he didn’t care. Helen was here and safe. She’d found her place among these people.
She pulled away, sniffing back tears. “You said there were others. I have sisters?”
Lucien nodded. “Two. Jackie and Alexandra. Are they here?”
Gilda shook her head. “No. But we must find them. Assuming they are still alive.”
“Wait,” said Helen’s husband. “Alexandra might be Lexi.”
Helen’s eyes widened and she scrambled for something in her pocket. She toyed with it a moment. “Lexi. What’s your real name?”
Lucien’s daughter smiled and it was the most beautiful thing he’d ever seen in his long, long life.
“You should come outside,” she said. “We’ve got a surprise for you.”
C
hapter 27
Lexi and Zach rushed outside toward the commotion in the training yard. Lexi’s body was still a little weak and Zach was right at her side, his strong arm at her elbow, supporting her.
A throng of people had gathered around the engraved boulder on the training field, and at the center of that commotion was a man Lexi had never seen before.
He had odd liquid gold eyes and rich, dark hair. He was beautiful in the same perfect way the Sanguinar were—as if he’d been sculpted to sit on a shelf and be admired—but he didn’t have their pale, gaunt features. He looked healthy. Robust, like the Theronai.
Helen stood at the edge of the crowd, anxiously shifting her weight from foot to foot as she waited for Lexi to come near. She looked younger, and was glowing with a childlike glee.
Just seeing her friend look so happy made Lexi’s heart warm.
“What is it?” she asked.
“You’re never going to believe it,” said Helen. She clamped her lips shut like she was holding in a secret, then blurted out, “Our father is here. He came from this other world where the Sentinels all came from. He wants to meet us.”
Meet us? Us?
The import of Helen’s words finally sank in and Lexi had to grab Zach’s arm to keep from sinking to the ground. “We’re sisters?”
Helen nodded, making her braids sway; then she hugged Lexi tight around the neck. “No wonder I spilled my guts to you when I barely knew you. I guess we had a connection even then.”
Lexi was too stunned to speak. It was too much to believe. Her father was some kind of alien from another world. And he was here.
“Easy,” whispered Zach. His grip on her arm tightened and he slid his arm around her body to steady her. She hadn’t realized until then that she’d nearly fallen on her ass.
“I want to see him,” said Lexi.