‘Is it because of one of my parents that Tista was born ill? Is it because of them that my baby almost died?’ Rena instinctively touched her womb, afraid of what could come out of it the next time she got pregnant.
Senton, instead, was quaking in his boots. He wasn’t afraid of Lith so much of being the only human in the room, afraid that one of the monsters hidden among them could harm his wife.
‘I knew that there was something wrong in a runt six years younger than me who could scare the shit out of me with a simple glare. That thing must have replaced the real Lith years ago. It would explain everything.’ Senton thought.
“Do you have any idea how this could have happened?” Elina’s words derailed everyone’s thoughts.
Just like Rena, all of her instincts were telling Elina that was her son. She wasn’t afraid of who he was nor she believed even for one second that he would harm her. What terrified her were the consequences Lith’s condition might have on his future.
“None. According to Faluel, either I am an anomaly or something inside my blood, our blood, Awakened.” Lith looked Tista in the eyes while he spoke.
His older sister understood from his choice of words that Lith was warning her.
‘I can’t believe he’s planned so far ahead.’ She thought. ‘Lith didn’t warn me in advance to make me have a natural reaction to the news and allow me to play dumb in the case things go wrong.
‘If becoming an Awakened makes the members of our family turn into hybrids, then I’m next. He has yet to mention being an Awakened so that if our parents disown him, I’d be safe as long as I keep my mouth shut.’
Her surprise quickly turned into outrage.
‘I don’t know whether to be more insulted by the fact that he thought I could stoop so low as to abandon him or that he told Kamila first!’
Tista had yet to make a move or say a word because she was worried about Lith, but she didn’t miss how the Lieutenant was unfazed by the revelation.
“Why did you wait for so long before telling us? Was I such a bad mother that you thought I would chase you away just for this?” Elina’s eyes became veiled with tears.
She had no idea what she had done wrong to lose the love of her eldest sons, but her ignorance didn’t make her wounds hurt any less. Elina knew that Orpal’s unbound selfishness had forced her to disown him and that it had been Trion’s envy to drive him away.
Yet, as a mother, she could only blame herself for being unable to protect her children from those toxic emotions.
“I didn’t tell you because I already gave you plenty of reasons to worry all the time.” Lith’s voice sounded like the wind howling inside an abyss. “Now, however, after what Faluel did for Rena and considering what she is going to do for me, I couldn’t lie anymore.
“I will spend a lot of time with her and I wanted to let you know why. I know that you’re not stupid, Mom. The moment you asked Jirni about her, you would have discovered that there is no Faluel among the known mages.”
Elina had actually already talked with Jirni about the Hydra during Lith’s birthday party and was waiting for her reply.
“He’s telling you the truth, Elina.” Kamila stood by her side, holding her hand. “Lith always trusted you. He simply didn’t want to burden you with a secret that would only make your life harder.”
“Wait, you knew?” Elina sniffed. A small part of her was hurt because he had told Kamila first, but a bigger part was happy that his son could rely on such a wonderful person.
“Yes. Lith told me for our anniversary, before things between us got too serious. He wanted to give me the possibility to decide whether to continue our relationship or not since it’s likely that our children will be born hybrids as well.” Kamila said while blushing.
They had never talked about having babies together, but she assumed it was heavily implied by Lith introducing her to his friends and their hybrid children. Also, after everything that had happened to Rena and her talk with Selia, Kamila couldn’t stop thinking about motherhood.
“Well, yes. If you need some time to think we could leave and…” Lith’s panic started to show. He didn’t want to raise the stakes by involving his hypothetical offspring.
“I don’t need time, silly.” Elina embraced both of them, expecting to meet a stone-cold wall of scales and finding warmth instead.
“Eighteen years ago, I brought you into this world and into this very house. I don’t care how do you look like or what race your friends belong to. All I ever wanted for you was to be happy.
“That night I almost lost you and it was the worst moment of my life. I can’t bear the thought of you spending even one second thinking that your mother doesn’t love you. This is your home and it will always be as long as I draw breath.”
Elina had taken a liking to Kamila only after knowing her and her sister better. During the last few months, Kamila had been her only link with her son and the two women had talked for hours at a time.
It had made Elina grow fond of her and set aside all the doubts she had about the age gap between Kamila and Lith being an obstacle to their relationship. Hearing her say those words about children had scared Lith but had made his mother’s heart flutter.
The fact that Kamila knew everything and had chosen to stay by his side despite all the possible implications was more than she could dream to ask for anyone.
Hearing Elina’s words made Raaz relive what he remembered as the most terrible day of his life, when he had almost lost both his son and his wife. He remembered the pain his wife had endured during the long labor, the blood she had lost, and most of all, the moment when both she and the baby had gone limp.
‘Gods, I guess it’s true what Orion says. Peace really makes people become stupid. There’s no way that Elina was unfaithful to me. Back before Lith started to hunt, my family was all I had.
‘Elina and I spent together every single moment of every single day trying to put food on the table and buy clothes for those little pests to destroy. We had so little, yet we were happy anyway because we had each other.
‘I still remember how joyful she was when she told me of being pregnant with Lith. Even though Tista was already showing the first signs of her illness, even though we didn’t have much to eat, she was happy because it was born out of our love.
‘I can’t believe I doubted her, even if for a split-second. How could I let my paranoia make me forget all the hardships we went through together? That’s not a thing, that’s my son. The same who healed Tista and took care of this family, sharing with us every single dime he made.’
Raaz started to cry in self-loathing and joined the three in their embrace.
