Page 74 of Heir

I texted Fellwin to make sure my father was now home and available. I placed the call

when I knew he would be on the porch, with his sudoku puzzle, tea, and scone.

As always, his answer was a grunt.

“Dad,” I said.

“Zandren.”

“I was struck by lightning.”

Silence echoed back at me. I glanced at Maxar’s phone since Omaera and Gemma were still asleep in Gemma’s room and I didn’t want to bother her to ask for her phone.

Then a sob came through.

I glanced at the screen again.

“Oh, son. I’m so happy. Grandcubs. I can’t wait.”

Who the fuck was this bear?

Ryden Thorne was one of the grumpiest, hard-headed bears I’d ever met. I knew he’d been different before my mother and sister died, but it’d been over a century, so I forgot what a softer side of him was like.

“Yeah . . . it’s uh . . . it’s a bit complicated.” I paced back and forth on the balcony, the sliding door closed. “We haven’t mated yet.”

“No? What’s the matter?”

“Well, she’s um . . . she’s not a shifter.” Among a long list of other things.

“No?” I could feel his terror through the phone. “Don’t tell me she’s a vampire. Gods no.”

“No. No, she’s not a vampire.”

“Mage? We can deal with that.”

“No. Not a mage.”

“Ugh. A demon? Well, it’s better than a vampire. Is that why you haven’t mated yet? She’s playing head games?”

“Dad . . . you know King Donovar was killed, right?”

“Yes, and he had an illegitimate heir that we’re trying hard to meet with, but she’s being a stubborn little demo—No!” The sound of chair legs scraping across the wood porch made me pull the phone from my ear. “Your mate is the new queen?”

“It would appear so.”

“But . . . I heard her mate was a vampire.”

“That’s true . . . And a mage. And me.”

“Three mates? But that’s . . . that’s impossible. That’s never happened before.”

“Yeah . . . that’s what we all said. But it’s the truth. We all got struck by lightning. We all feel the connection. The other thing is that she was being shielded by a spellcaster mage who hid her from the Realm until Donovar died. When he died, the spellcaster’s magic ended because the Fates’ magic is stronger. But we found out last night that her mother wasn’t a mage or demon, not a shifter, or even a vampire. She was human, Dad.”

“A hybrid?” His disbelief mimicked my own. I was still coming to terms with the idea of half human, half . . . other beings out there. Surely Omaera wasn’t the first of her kind?

“Yeah. King Howar dispatched a demon advisor to help Omaera with her powers, and the woman was a true terror. She smelled human on Omaera immediately and treated her like scum. Then she came back last night to try to kill Omaera’s human roommate and torture Omaera.”

“Son, this is . . . how many people know about her being hybrid?” Caution colored my father’s raspy voice. “Does Howar know? What about Anysa?”

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