Page 159 of Gift from the Nexus

Power erupts from my palm, locking the two of us together, and air swirls around our bodies, closing in on the two of us until it wraps tightly around our hands, then dissolves beneath our skin.

“What did you do?” he asks with a tinge of accusation. To be fair, I understand, it was at this point the Summum-Master chained him.

“To be honest, I don’t know. Weird and unexpected things happen to me all the time. Unfortunately, it’s something you’ll have to get used to.”

“Little warrior,” Tillman says as soon as I lower my block.

“Everything’s fine. He’s on our side.”

Collectively, they all release their breaths, but when they start to take a step toward us, I shake my head at them and lock eyes with Draken. Instantly, mine fill with tears.

Please don’t be upset with me.

“Just Draken for now. Please.”

He’s in front of me in seconds, scooping me up and kissing me, letting his worry, anger, and apprehension from the last few tense minutes bleed out. When we break apart, I tuck my face into his neck and let a tear slip free.

“What’s wrong, little wanderer? What did you do?” He turns his glare on Keeper as he slides me down his body and tucks me protectively behind him.

“Draken, wait…” I say, pushing my way through his arms until I can face him fully.

“Did he hurt you? What did he say?” He growls.

“Naturally protective of his beloved. As he should,” Keeper says low, but his words are colored in pride and Draken narrows his brows, looking over my head at him.

“I have something important to tell you. Life-changing important,” I whisper.

“Life-changing…Is this the conversation you were alluding to in the pool?” he asks knowingly.

“Yeah.”

“Then you already know how I feel, little wanderer. Tell me.”

“Keeper is…Keeper is your father, Draken.”

His eyes bounce to mine, then to Keeper’s, then back, over and over before he staggers back. He tries to hold it together, but a burst of disbelief, sadness, confusion, and so many other emotions trample through my chest. Not only mine, but the guys as well and in seconds, they surround him.

“What did you say, Primary?”

I look at Draken for permission before answering Caspian, and at his nod, I swallow hard.

“Keeper is Draken’s father.”

The profound sense of disbelief rolls off them in turbulent waves. Each of them handles this incredibly differently. Draken is just a mess and my heart cracks open violently for causing him this unease. Tillman’s trying his hardest to understand, but he’smissing pieces of the story, so he’s having a hard time justifying it. Corentin’s analyzing every single feature of Keeper’s. There’s question upon question brewing in his mind and it’s making him crazy. Surprisingly, it’s Caspian who’s not freaking out.

“That makes a lot of sense. Perfect sense, actually,” he says, nodding.

“How does anything that’s happening right now make sense?” Draken asks. The distance in his voice makes a lump form in my throat. I know what he’s doing. I’ve done it so many times. He’s trying his hardest to ignore the true extent of this.

“The first night I was kidnapped, I was brought here. Keeper went feral when he realized he’d have to mark a rune on me. He tried to fight, protect me, but there was only so much he could do. So when he did mark me, it wouldn’t stick. I didn’t know why until now,” Caspian says.

“I recall that night…that was you?” Keeper asks, but Caspian completely ignores him, keeping his undivided attention on Draken.

I gasp, covering my mouth, looking between the three of them as what Caspian’s trying to say clicks for me.

“You’ve never told me that. What does it have to do with this, though?” Draken asks softly.

“It was our dormant bond that was protecting me. Your love is a fierce beast, Draken. Keeper went feral because I was a kid, yes, but I think it was more so because he sensed you in me.”

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