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I leaned back in my chair. “If he returns as ya say, there’s no chance of Rasmus and I ever producing offspring. After Fiona was born, I had complications that resulted in me not being able to have more children. My body is beyond conception.”

“Yes, but...” Sighing, Orlin stood, turned his chair, and sat down facing me. He held his hands out. I hesitated, but eventually, I put my hands in his. “Rasmus is not your only guardian connection. Neither was your father. I dread telling you this, Aran, but it must be said. You have the right to know.”

I studied Orlin’s fearful expression in the dark. “One lover I had was a werewolf and another had elven blood. I’m pretty sure the others, including my husband, were non-magickal human males. Are ya trying to tell me that one of the men I took as a lover was a guardian in human disguise?”

“He was not in disguise. The guardian you knew was a hybrid and a first-generation child like your father, which means he has more guardian DNA than even you. His actual mother gave him up for adoption and never knew that the baby’s father was not human. She died before we learned of this.”

My mind had always been sharp, especially when I felt the stakes were high. Or when I felt threatened, which is how I felt now. Figuring out what Orlin hinted at was like being hit in the forehead with a sledgehammer.

Only one man I’d bedded had been adopted.

I tried to pull free of Orlin’s grip, but he wouldn’t let me. “No, Orlin. That’s not possible and I refuse to believe it.”

“It’s a biological fact, Aran. Jack Derringer’s father was a guardian.”

“No,” I said more firmly, yanking my hands free. “Jack is not one of ya. He’s a non-magickal.”

“Jack is a guardian’s child. Our hybrid human children gravitate to each other in various ways, which is why you felt so sure about him when Jack showed up in your life. First-generation children don’t seem to manifest guardian powers, but second-generation ones do. That’s why you possess some guardian powers. Did you seriously think all your powers came from The Dagda?”

“Yes, I did. What about third-generation children like my daughter?”

“Some show powers. Some don’t. She is both second generation on Jack’s side and third on yours. DNA gets deluded in every subsequent generation until it manifests only in sharper senses and intuitive abilities. But we’ve only traced six or seven generations so far. The biggest positive of our research is that it taught us how to create truly sterile human forms. That was necessary because we vowed not to produce even hybrid children again.”

“Good Goddess, I’ve been a fool. Rasmusknewabout Jack being part guardian,” I exclaimed, feeling betrayed all over again.

“Yes. He knew,” Orlin admitted.

My mouth fell open. “That’swhy he tried to talk me out of putting the demon compulsion on him.”

Orlin nodded. “Yes, we believe our children can become enlightened given the right guidance. Rasmus believed it as well. Each child’s guardian father swore to lead them down the path to their highest self.”

“Is Rasmus Jack’s father? I have to know even if saying it creeps me out.”

Orlin laughed as he blew out a breath. “No, Rasmus is not Jack’s father. It was another guardian and one not in the bonded set of three Rasmus and I have shared for centuries. Jack’s guardian father asked for our help, and we gave it by intervening. As you already know, we had to pull back on our strategy when we discovered Rasmus could not free himself from your kind.”

“Then I got involved. I bet ya didn’t know what to think about me.”

“You were my grandchild. All I thought was how proud I was that you turned out to be such an extraordinary being.”

“How could ya let me marry Jack, Orlin? Why didn’t ya come tell me all this back then?”

“Because I didn’t know what Jack was when you married him. And later after I learned the truth, I didn’t want to repeat the mistakes I made with your father. I hesitated out of fear you’d not listen to me.”

Well, we could agree on me not listening. But I was shaking my head over everything else. At any point in the time since I’d freed Rasmus, Orlin could have told me this. But he hadn’t. Why?

“Rasmus knew about Jack all along. He became human to help Jack. He let himself be captured by mad scientists because of Jack. Everything was about Jack.”

“Yes. Except for the time when he forgot his true self, Rasmus knew about Jack being the son of a guardian. But if it eases your mind any, Rasmus has no hybrid human children. He never cared for a human before you. He told me he finds humans too limited in their views.”

Was Rasmus making an exception for me supposed to be good news? I couldn’t tell from Orlin’s tone.

After the news about Jack being a guardian’s child, it was hard to take in anything else.

I put my face in my hands. “No, no, no... this is not happening. None of this can be true. Maybe this is just some horrible nightmare I’ve having. Maybe I fell asleep tonight and ya being here is only a dream.”

“You are not asleep and this is not a dream. I am here. Why does the news that you attract guardians grieve you so? My brethren even understand why you felt it necessary to put the demon compulsion on Jack. We understand that everything you did was to fix him.”

I glared through the darkness. “Then ya understand nothing about it, Orlin. Being under compulsion is not a fix. It’s a punishment. I’m literallyforcingJack to be a good person. The compulsion is taking away his free will even if it is for excellent reasons.”