Total pages in book: 141
Estimated words: 136009 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 680(@200wpm)___ 544(@250wpm)___ 453(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 136009 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 680(@200wpm)___ 544(@250wpm)___ 453(@300wpm)
“It’ll take a few weeks,” Amond told Kivrin. “Longer if I can’t get my own shit together.”
Kivrin nodded. “Thank you. I never thought…” He shook his head. “I didn’t want to hope.”
“Your work will be compensated,” Fordham told Amond. “We’ll look into the loch situation as well.”
Amond tipped his head at him. “That would be appreciated.” Then his gaze swept to Kerrigan. “Ask me your question.”
“Are you…” She paused because it couldn’t be possible. “Are you Doma?”
He put his head into his hands. “Demi-Doma.”
“You’re half,” she whispered, shock written on her features. Then after a moment, she added, “Like me.”
He cleared his throat. “Like you.”
Chapter Five
The Demi-Doma
Kerrigan rocked back on her heels. Amond wasn’t the first Doma she had met, but if Amond was half like her, then could he teach her? Had her teacher been here all along and she just hadn’t known it? Had she suffered through magic sickness and the struggles of her spirit magic and the bonding with Tieran for nothing?
“You have more questions,” Amond said. “I’ll answer what I can.”
“How long have you known I was a Doma?”
“I realized the first time I saw you fight,” Amond admitted.
Kerrigan sank into a seat. “So long ago.”
“You have the glow to your skin. If you’ve ever seen it before, you don’t forget what it looks like.”
Kivrin winced. “I didn’t think anyone else could see it.”
“Most would assume it’s her magic,” Amond said.
Kerrigan reeled from that new information. Amond was a demi-Doma like her. He’d known all along about her and never said a word. Not a single word.
“Why didn’t you tell me?” she asked.
“Didn’t seem like my place.”
“But…”
“And I was pretty out of it.” He gestured to his trembling hand. “I didn’t want to be known for what I was. You seemed unaware of your heritage, and that seemed for the best. But as you may remember, I did tell you that my healing was more advanced. I hinted at it.”
“How would I have known?” she demanded.
“Well, it was also a test to see if you knew more than you were letting on.”
She sighed heavily. “Scales. Are there more of us?”
“Not that I’ve seen, but there could be.”
She tipped her head back. As much a nonanswer as he could probably give. Would he really out other Doma who lived among them if they didn’t wish it? He hadn’t done that to her.
Her head snapped forward again. Or had he?
“Did you tell Dozan?” she asked on a desperate breath. Had he known all along too? Was that why he had wanted her so badly?
“No,” Amond said immediately. “He doesn’t know what I am either.”
She breathed a sigh of relief. Yes, Dozan had wanted her for her power, but he hadn’t known the extent of it. For some reason, that made her feel better. She didn’t know if she could live with knowing he’d kept this from her too. It was hard enough that her father had.
“Well, are you from Domara? Or were you born here?”
He sighed. “I’m from Domara.”
“How did you end up here then?” Kerrigan asked.
“That is none of your business,” Amond bit off.
Kerrigan straightened at his tone, the hurt and pain in it. As if the very mention of how he’d arrived in Alandria was more painful than the drug withdrawal he was currently undergoing.
“I need more information, Amond. You can’t drop a bomb like this on us and then refuse to tell us what you know.”
Amond turned his back on them. “I’ll answer your questions. After all the years of hiding my identity, I’ll let you know who I am. But I’m not here to discuss my past or how I got here. Is that clear?”
Kerrigan opened her mouth to object, but Fordham put a hand on her shoulder. She had questions. Surely he knew that they needed all the leverage they could get.
“Domara wouldn’t help this dumping pit, if that’s what you were thinking,” Amond said with certainty.
“I never thought that they would,” Fordham said.
“The Doma only care about one thing and that’s themselves.”
“But my mom…”
“Pushed you through the portal,” Fordham reminded her. He crossed his arms, closing himself off from the painful memory of Domara. “She is dealing with enough. She isn’t coming here to help.”
Kerrigan knew that and still it stung. Keres had gone up against Vulsan and He Who Reigns single-handedly. Kerrigan hated to even imagine what she was dealing with right now.
Amond furrowed his brows. “Who is your mother?”
Kerrigan and Fordham exchanged a glance before turning to Kivrin, who blanched. Kivrin ran a hand through his hair before answering, “Keres Andromadix.”
Amond went stock-still. “The daughter of He Who Reigns?” His eyes shot to Kerrigan. His mouth opened as he surveyed her features. “Blessed lords, I see it now. How is this possible? Kivrin…”
“I was stranded in Domara,” Kivrin told him. “Made Daijan by Keres. We fell in love, and then she found out that she was pregnant after she released me.”