don’t have your mental powers. They’re clever and innovative, but they rely on their technology. It’s considered uncouth to be too primal. Unless they’re fighting—and they don’t like to do that—they hide their fangs. Not all of them, of course. They have a military, and many companies hire private armies and security teams. Those males and females tend to be a bit more primal.”
“I think I would find that society fascinating,” he admitted. “But in mine we are classified by our powers. I’m what’s known as an academic. My powers are mostly mental. I’m excellent at persuasion and getting inside minds.”
“Yes, I know.”
“Don’t blame me. You’re wide open. When you wanted me out, you shoved me away. You need to have shields up at all times. And the boy is quite strong, but again, he does not know how to protect himself or even how to keep his thoughts from slipping out. He needs training. But I digress. I was explaining how I came to believe you are the woman the prophet spoke of. An academic bonds so closely to his lover that he can sense when she is in danger, knows her moods, taste the food she eats.”
That was a powerful bond. What would it be like to have someone so attuned to me? I often felt alone in the world, like a freak who would never truly be able to touch anyone or anything. “So what you’re saying is you’re picky, and that’s why you didn’t want the woman you were tasked to protect.”
“No. She was lovely, though you should understand that I stayed away from her. I watched over her for years and ensured no vampire crossed her path. When she had a son, I was relieved. On our plane only females carry the companion genes. I checked in on the family over the years. The son married and he as well had only a son. I decided I’d been tricked. I was able to go back to my normal life while Harry Wharton grew to manhood.”
I should have seen that twist coming. “My grandfather? You protected my great-great-grandmother?”
“I did, and I was promised a woman of her line would be my fated mate.”
My heart ached for him because he was going to be so disappointed. “Marcus, you have to understand that I’m not truly of her line. I wasn’t born the way humans are born. I know you look at me and I have a glow, but it was given to me by my father. Think of it as an echo of his dreams. Honestly, from what I remember my mother didn’t have much to do with my conception. I was born of high faery magic from the deepest wishes of a male who loved a female he thought he couldn’t have. I was a projection of the life he wanted. I’m not real.”
“You look real to me, bella.” He came to stand in front of me and took my hand in his. “Tell me this flesh is not real. Tell me it’s not warm and alive.”
It felt really warm and alive the minute he touched me. His skin was slightly cool to the touch, but in a pleasant way. Like my own blood ran far too hot and he could balance me, like he was peace and serenity. “Are you pushing that sense of peace at me?”
“Only because you need it,” he admitted. “I can stop. Or I could teach you how to force me out entirely. But you need to understand that you are real. You might not have come to being in a normal fashion, but you are real. You have a soul.”
I sometimes wondered. I wasn’t sure and I didn’t think I wanted the ultimate answer to that question. But I found it interesting that Marcus seemed to believe it so vehemently. “How can you know that?”
“Because you were born from Daniel Donovan’s greatest wish. I assure you, you have a beautiful soul.”
I had to blink to clear my vision because I did remember that. I remember looking into my father’s soul and him questioning if he’d even had one. He’d touched me carefully, as though he’d worried about sullying me. I’d wanted him to hold me so badly, to wrap me up in his strong arms and be my father, but he’d held back because he’d hated his own nature. He’d feared what he could do if he ever unleashed his true nature.