They’ve decided he’s the traitor and needs to be eliminated.”
Chapter 16
The tears cut off instantly. Remnants of Psycho Alexis, whom I hadn’t felt since before Tristan returned months ago, emerged. The anger didn’t bubble under the surface now. The entire volcano exploded. I stood and electricity charged through my veins and crackled around me. I almost expected lightning to shoot out of my eyes as I glared at Mom and Charlotte.
My words came out slow and deliberate. “If they dare, they lose all chances of another daughter. If he goes, I go.”
“Alexis.” Mom reached out for me. Electricity charged between us, and she flinched.
I stormed out the back door and ran down the empty beach, covering more ground than humanly possible. Tristan grabbed my shoulder from behind and spun me around, ignoring the electricity zapping between us. I fell into his arms.
“They can’t separate us, Tristan. They just can’t.”
He held me tightly and pressed his cheek against the top of my head, but he didn’t reply.
“We’re supposed to be made for each other. They said it themselves. They wanted us together. Why are they doing this?”
“Not everyone believed it then,” he said quietly. “Fewer may believe it now, especially after what the Daemoni did to me . . . after what happened in the Keys. Maybe they’re right.”
I jerked back. “What are you saying? You don’t think we belong together?”
My heart hammered in my chest, filling the silence when he didn’t answer. Finally, he pulled me back against him. “What I think is irrelevant. I love you, and that’s what matters.”
I leaned my head against his chest. “I knew some of them wanted this, but I didn’t seriously think it would happen. I didn’t think Rina would let it.”
“Lexi, this isn’t about what Rina or you or I want. We have an obligation to the Amadis as a whole. An obligation to all of mankind. Without the Amadis, humanity ends.”
“But not in the next two months. Not in the next two or twenty years. They still have Rina, then Mom, and then me. Lots of time.” I inhaled deeply, the air rattling in my heaving chest, and exhaled slowly, calming myself. “Why are they being so demanding? How can they put a deadline on something that might be impossible? How can they destroy us for it?”
“Lexi, do you love me? Truly love me?” A ridiculous question, but his voice sounded as though he really needed to hear my answer. As if he weren’t sure.
I looked up at him. “Of course.”
He blew out a breath, and I couldn’t understand why he’d been holding it. “Then they won’t destroy us, my love. If we have to leave them for a while until time can prove my loyalty, then that’s what we’ll do.”
“And if Mom is right . . . if this girl . . . this daughter doesn’t exist, and I don’t get pregnant in two months?” I couldn’t say the rest . . . what they expected. So I whispered, “Owen?”
Tristan chuckled, though the sound was void of any joy. “In vitro fertilization, remember?”
Right. That had been my own idea in the past. The reminder calmed me further.
“You’d be okay with raising someone else’s kid?”
“I’d prefer to be the father of your daughter—” He inhaled a deep breath and let it out. When he finished, his voice came out very quietly. “—but we do what we have to.”
I pressed my forehead against his chest, twisting the hem of his shirt around my fingers.
“But if that doesn’t work? What if they make us . . .?” The thought of being with Owen was nauseating. Not only because he was like a brother, but because he wasn’t Tristan.
He lifted my chin with one hand and looked deeply into my eyes, penetrating my heart. “I pray it’ll never come to that, and I’ll do everything in my power to prevent it, but if it does . . . well, the pain would be worse than anything I’ve suffered in my entire long life. It would break my heart. But I would still love you, ma lykita. Nothing can change that.”
My chest squeezed, and my heart swelled at the same time, feeling both the pain and love he expressed. I threw my arms around his neck and pulled myself up against him. “I love you, my sweet Tristan. Always.”
He leaned his forehead against mine. “And I love you.”
“Some anniversary, huh?”
“At least we’re together.”
“Forever?”
“If it’s up to me, yes.”
I sighed. Unfortunately, not everything was up to