Pure Destiny (PureDark Ones #12) - Aja James Page 0,27

with Papa, when they smiled too brightly or came too close to Papa. Mama didn’t like it. She wanted Papa all to herself.

Titi could tell.

Whereas, Titi felt like Papa’s Gift of light and joy should be shared with as many people as possible. His presence made everything better. He made people want to be the best of themselves. Titi wanted to grow up to be just like him.

Mama and Papa chatted softly, while Titi ate her stew and watched them with contentment. Mama was even more beautiful when she was with Papa. She smiled more, talked more. Sometimes, her cheeks would tint with pink when Papa looked at her a certain way.

Titi loved this version of Mama.

“She is growing to look more like you everyday,” Papa said, bringing Titi’s attention to him.

He winked at her and smiled, making Titi grin helplessly back at him.

“That dark hair, those beautiful eyes. My girls. My loves.”

“I wish she looked more like you,” Mama said, turning her gaze briefly to Titi before looking back at her Mate.

“I wonder if she will have your Gift.”

“Hmm,” Papa murmured, “I don’t sense the Animal Spirit within her. Our Titi is simply and perfectly a little girl.”

Titi wished she could be a leopard like Papa. She prayed an Animal Spirit would see fit to merge with her soul, that she would grow into such a Gift. But, alas, she was indeed just a girl. A Pure One, certainly, with Mama and Papa both being Immortals, but nothing special beyond that, not like Papa.

“I don’t mean that,” Mama said. “Though that would have been nice. I mean your Gift of Light. She does not make me feel the way you make me feel…”

“I should hope not,” Papa rumbled low, looking at Mama in that way.

Immediately, she blushed prettily, to Titi’s delight. She loved seeing this soft side of Mama.

“You know what I mean,” Mama murmured, casting a look at Papa beneath her long, black lashes.

He smiled and wrapped his large hand over Mama’s much smaller one on top of the table.

“I do know. And she does have the Gift. One day, I have no doubt that our daughter’s Gift will be more powerful than mine ever was. It is her namesake, after all.”

Mama looked at Titi again, and this time, her gaze stayed and held. Dark and glittering.

“Yes. Her name. Do you think she will live up to it?”

Papa looked at Titi as well, his eyes warm and lit with joy.

“She already embodies it, my love,” Papa said.

“Ninti—Lady of Life and Light.”

*** *** *** ***

Sophia came awake with a gasp.

Those memories…they’d never come to her so clearly before.

Since her Awakening, she’d known that she was once the Pure Queen Ninti. She’d fought alongside the General, Tal-Telal. Together, their rebels overthrew the most powerful Dark Queen that ever ruled, Ashlu Da-ni-gal.

But she hadn’t recalled Before.

Before she joined the rebellion.

Before she met Tal-Telal.

In fact, she was the one who recruited him. She’d seen his strength, his innate and unassailable goodness. It was much more than physical, though he’d been—was—a mighty warrior, even more so now that he’d grown into his new Gift, despite his blindness. It had been Tal’s determination, conviction and purity of heart and soul that sealed his fate.

No other could have done what he had. Made the sacrifices he’d made.

Sophia knew now, as she’d known then, that despite her heart’s torment for having doomed him to his path by choosing him to lead the Pure rebels, she would not have chosen differently.

There was a hardness at her core. She loved. She hated. She could sacrifice herself for the greater good, but she also didn’t hesitate to sacrifice others.

The Sophia before her Awakening would have regretted. She would have wondered if she could have spared Tal the millennia of untold suffering. Scars and wounds he still bore, both on the outside and deep within.

She could see the colors of his soul, after all. Even though it burned beautifully bright, there would always be darkness now, within the flames.

Yes, Sophia knew her own ruthlessness. She was equal parts darkness and light.

As Ninti, she’d been her best self, just as her papa would have wished.

As Kira…

Somehow, these memories mattered. She hadn’t pieced all of the puzzle together, but she knew they mattered.

Careful not to disturb Dalair, she disentangled herself from his body. Efficiently, she covered his nakedness with a light sheet and dressed, keeping her eyes on him the entire time.

He’d regained his natural color, his skin back to golden bronze,