April's Fools - Ophelia Bell Page 0,71

say two generations of Meri’s meat suits. April’s grandmother was Adele’s predecessor. She led the Ultiori in that body until around twenty years ago, which would have coincided with Adele’s time here with you. My guess is that Meri groomed Adele to be her host so she’d have one ready to go when your grandmother’s body wore out. What do you know about your grandmother, April?”

“Oh, wow.” April sat back and scrubbed her hands over her face. Her cheeks were flushed and her eyes glossy, though I guessed it was more from the vodka than the overwhelming emotions at this point. “Grandma was someone important. I mean, look at this place—she had money. She was the director of some fancy research institute. Alcatraz something?”

Putting the pieces together, I let out a curse. “The Alexandria Institute. Meryl St. George was the director for several decades. I remember now. When I was a guardian at the Windchaser portal, we’d receive files on the most wanted Ultiori every month. Meryl was at the top of the list for years. Then it was Adele. And this woman…” I pointed at the third woman, who had short, curly brown hair and an athlete’s physique.

“My mother. Cassandra,” April said.

“She was in the files too, but nobody knew her name, just her face. She was pretty high up the list, right there with Marcus, Naaz, and Sterlyn, the deadliest of all the Ultiori soldiers.”

“The Elites,” Chayton muttered. “I’m fucking glad they’re on our side now.”

April didn’t look comforted. “Was my mother one of these Elites?”

“We only ever knew of three. The Elites were soldiers with particularly strong concentrations of power thanks to their origins. They were all dragon-blessed as babies in their mothers’ wombs.”

“It’s a nice way of saying their moms all banged a dragon while they were pregnant,” Murdoc chimed in, then let out a sharp oof when Stuart whacked him in the center of his stomach.

April’s eyebrows shot up. “No shit?”

“It’s rare, but true,” I said. “And we know that the only way to create an Elite is to infuse a Dragon Blessed child with pure higher races blood. We didn’t know whether your mother was one, but we definitely suspected.”

I didn’t want to speculate out loud on whether this meant Cassandra St. George was still alive. She hadn’t been present during the war we’d fought. Every member of the Ultiori army present that day had been slaughtered, along with hundreds of members of the higher races. But there had been Ultiori cells all over the world, so if there were any that sat out the war, she could have remained hidden away in one. There was also a possibility that she defected when the other Elites did, but remained in hiding for April’s sake.

She could very well be alive, particularly since Elites were almost impossible to kill. They were infused with immortal dragon blood so could only be killed by dragon fire from the owner of the blood that gave them their power.

“It definitely explains the strength of your dragon magic,” Gray said. “As for the ursa side…maybe Tate can offer a theory on that.”

“Let me see the photo again,” I said, reaching for it. I studied April’s dad, who appeared every bit the perfectly nurturing father holding his young daughter on his lap in the photo. He had a mess of curly blond hair and a thick beard that the young April tangled her fingers into. The sight made me smile and brush a hand over my own beard, imagining how it would feel to have such a precious creature as a cub to hold.

The picture had been taken in the summer, and sunlight gleamed in April’s pale curls. Her other hand rested on her dad’s forearm, where it curved protectively around her. Partially obscured beneath her tiny hand was a swath of dark ink.

“Do you remember what this mark looks like?” I asked, pointing to the tattoo.

April leaned over and furrowed her brow. “Yeah, it’s a tribal bear paw. Is that significant? The ursa are bear shifters, right?”

“It could be. There have been human villages and tribes that were magically tied to the ursa for centuries. Families that acted as waypoints for young ursa on their pilgrimages. If your dad belonged to one, it would explain your concentration of ursa power. They’re all heavily charmed to compel loyalty. When the Bloodline was activated, that ursa magic must have been magnified with the divine blood. How are you feeling now, by the way?”

She