Part 39 (1/2)
”You can't imagine how many years I've longed for this moment,” she murmured.
He flinched. Her words touched a raw nerve. Well, maybe 'touched' wasn't the right word.
More like yanked off a scab and poured salt into the wound.
”You're right,” he said, his voice harsh. ”I can't imagine how you've longed to see me, considering that you've never made the slightest effort to acknowledge me as your son.”
She gasped, as if he'd physically struck her. Then a dark flush stained her cheeks.
”d.a.m.n that dragon,” she growled.
CHAPTER TWENTY.
Torque blinked, catching the unmistakable scent of lava as tiny sparks danced in the air.
Clearly he wasn't the only one with raw nerves.
He studied her angry expression with a small frown.
”Excuse me?”
She sucked in a deep breath, visibly attempting to control her burst of temper. ”Would you sit down?”
”Why?”
”It's difficult to see your face,” she explained. ”You're quite large for a fire imp.”
He lifted his shoulder. He still hadn't really processed the fact that he now knew his heritage. h.e.l.l, he didn't even know what it meant to be a fire imp.
”That's because I'm a dragon,” he stubbornly muttered.
”Not entirely.” She sent him a pleading glance. ”Please, my son. I can explain everything.”
He released his breath with a low hiss. Rya would tell him that he was being ridiculous.
And he was.
Slowly he moved forward, perching on the edge of the mattress. ”Is this better?”
”Much better.” She reached out, as if she wanted to touch him. Then with a grimace she hastily pulled her hand back. He felt a stab of regret that he was making her feel wary, but he couldn't lower his barriers until he knew why she'd abandoned him. ”Thank you.”
”You said you would explain,” he reminded her.
She nodded, resting back against the pillows. ”First I should tell you a bit of our history.”
”Keep it short,” Torque commanded, grimacing as he watched her eyes darken with pain. Dammit. He was a warrior. He was good at killing things. But the emotional c.r.a.p? Not so good. ”I'm worried about Rya,” he forced himself to explain.
”Ah.” Her expression instantly brightened. ”The s.h.i.+nto who was with you.”
”My betrothed,” he revealed with pride.
”Then I understand your impatience,” she murmured. ”In short, the fire imps have always depended on volcanoes to provide us protection, warmth, and magic.” She grimaced, glancing around the room. ”Unfortunately, that means we're unable to travel from our lairs for more than few weeks. At least not without severe anguish.”
Torque studied her, recalling Dasi's warning that his mother had been forced to sacrifice for her people.
”Like you suffered?” he demanded.
”Yes.”
He felt a surprising pang of distress at the thought of this woman being in pain.
”Then why leave your lair?”
”I had no choice,” she said. ”Over the past few centuries our tribe has found it increasingly difficult to produce offspring. And the few that were born have all been females.”
”Why?”
”We're not entirely sure, although it could be a product of centuries of inbreeding.”
Torque nodded. It was a problem with those fey who demanded 'purity' in their bloodlines, as well as those tribes who were too isolated to encourage mating with outsiders.
”We desperately needed a male, so it was decided we must seek help to revive our fading magic,” his mother continued.
Torque wrinkled his nose. He didn't have to ask his mother to explain. By 'help' she meant 'sperm donor.'
”Why dragons?” he instead demanded.
”They're known to produce more male children than female.”
”True,” he said. That was one of the reasons Synge had to have been so overjoyed to have Blayze returned. She was quite likely his only pureblooded daughter.
”Plus we hoped the dragon-magic would give our future children the advantage of not being so dependent on the magic of the volcanoes,” she continued.
His lips twisted. His father had used him to pay a debt. Synge had used him to reclaim his lost treasure. And now it seemed the fire imps hoped to use him as a breeding machine.
”I suppose that makes sense,” he muttered.
”It did, but I foolishly didn't take into account the treachery of dragons.” The blue eyes widened as his mother belatedly remembered he was half dragon. ”Oh. Sorry.”
”Don't apologize. It's a fair a.s.sessment of most dragons,” he said wryly. ”How did you end up with my father?”
”I sent out my offer to several dragons, but only Pyre responded.”
Hmm. If his father responded, it was because he'd already figured out a way to take advantage of the fire imps.
”What was the offer?”