Page 19 of Dark Rebel's Reckoning

"Didn't your seer see that?"

"Not as far as I know. She saw you with the Kurdish rebels, but she didn't tell us that you were commanding them, so I assume she didn't know."

Kyra swiped her tongue over her lips. "You speak fondly about your seer, so I guess she's not the scary conceited type."

"Not at all. Syssi is a sweetheart. She's mated to the head of the clan on the American continent, and she's the perfect counterbalance to him."

Kyra frowned. "Is he the scary type?"

"A little, but only to those who don't know him. Those who do also know that his bark is much worse than his bite."

Kyra laughed. "Does he know that you talk about him with such impudence?"

Instead of answering, Max looked at her in wonder as if he was trying to figure something out.

"Why are you looking at me like that?" she asked.

"Like what?"

"Like you are trying to solve a puzzle. Other than the immortality stuff, which you know more about than I do, I'm a very simple woman."

"I doubt that. I just wonder if you are always so quick to laugh."

The truth was that she rarely did that. There was just something about Max's easygoing attitude that made her feel lighthearted when she should feel anything but.

"Not at all," she admitted. "You just have a gift for presenting things in a funny way. A cheeky way."

A bright smile bloomed on his face as if she'd given him a great compliment. "I've been accused of worse. And as for Kian, he knows what we think of him, and he doesn't mind. He's not big on protocol, and we all call him by his given name, and we don't use titles when addressing him. His mother, on the other hand, is always referred to as the Clan Mother. She's the head of our clan, and although we all love her dearly, only a few are brave enough to call her by her first name."

"The goddess," Kyra said.

"Indeed."

"Does she punish those who dare to use her name?"

Max snorted. "The Clan Mother never punishes any of us unless we transgress greatly, and even then she's always merciful. It's just that the awe she inspires makes it nearly impossible to call her by her given name." He leaned closer to her. "Ell-rom is her half-brother, so Jasmine is one of the few with that privilege."

Kyra's head whipped over to Ell-rom, who didn't seem to have heard Max because he was watching a movie and didn't turn to look at them.

"My daughter is mated to the goddess's brother?" Kyra whispered.

"That's right. You are related to royalty, so to speak."

13

MAX

Max hadn't expected Kyra to react so strongly to the newsflash that her daughter was mated to Annani's brother. It wasn't Ell-rom being a half god that had impressed her so much. It was that he was related to the clan's royalty.

When she realized that he couldn't hear them, she turned to Max and whispered, "How is he as a partner, though? Does he treat Jasmine right?"

"He adores her, and he's a very gentle and mellow fellow until you threaten someone he loves."

She frowned. "What happens then?"

He couldn't tell her, and even if he could, it was better that she didn't know. "He turns into a beast." He chuckled. "Not literally. Just, you know, he becomes the protector. It's a good thing to have in a son-in-law, right?"

Kyra nodded and then sighed. "I haven't lived a normal life, so I don't have personal knowledge, but I've watched movies and heard people talk, so I'm not entirely clueless."

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