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“I always know. He is my son and in some ways my creation.” He sat down cross-legged on the floor and settled his massive shoulders against the wall. “You probably know I wish him ill, but not why.”

“Um, you don’t have to tell me anything. Families are hell sometimes, aren’t they? You should meet mine.” Ella gabbled away, with a horrible feeling that whatever came next wouldn’t be good.

“Nevertheless, I feel you should understand the male you are bonded to for all eternity. Themonstermy wife’s mother mated you with simply to fulfill her own selfish desires.”

He half smiled. “Once upon a time, a male child was born from my loins. As is traditional amongst my kind, my kin were invited to celebrate his birth and bestow their various magical gifts on him, if they so chose.”

She pretended to yawn. “I think I’ve heard this one before.”

“As I said, amusing andverybrave. After the guests arrived for the feast, a storm gathered overhead and disgorged another presence.” His luscious mouth hardened. “A Fae of a different kind from the Dark Lord’s court appeared. He insisted the child was marked in his master’s name and that he was ‘special.’ When we examined the babe we discovered the mark on him and knew the Dark Lord’s ambassador spoke the truth.”

“So?”

Hell, she’d seen that weird mark just below his hip—kissed and licked it, actually. Was that the one?

“For every gift our Fae bestowed on the child, the Dark Court offered him another. For every positive, there was a negative.”

“The gifts balanced each other out.”

The Fae sighed. “If he had been left alone, then yes, he would probably have been the most magical being ever created.”

“Then what happened?”

“We couldn’t allow him to be that powerful.” He met her gaze fully for the first time, and it was like looking into a furnace. “I decided to train him as a weapon against the Dark Court.”

“When he was akid?”

“Of course. His instruction had to start immediately to instill the correct discipline in him.”

“With what end in view?”

He shrugged. “As I said, as a defense against the darker elements of the Fae.”

“You mean the ones who didn’t agree with you, right?”

“I trained him to seek out evil and destroy it.”

“At your command?”

“At first, but as he grew older, because of his gifts, he could sense discord and evil within any Fae and became the terror of Otherworld, the truth seeker, the bringer of death.”

“The ultimate weapon.” She shook her head. “Poor kid.”

“Not at all. His power was immense.”

“So what went wrong?”

“He began to defy my orders.”

“And think for himself? Jeez, how ungrateful.”

“It was certainly not acceptable.”

“Because he was so powerful.”

“Aye.”

“What did you do to destroy his loyalty to you?”