Page 12 of Offering Herself to Darkness

She looked down at her daughter, feeling her cheeks get red with embarrassment. After all, Commander Xarex was standing right there, sipping a glass of the light blue Woo liquor that was being served by the circulating waiters.

“Honey, he’s not a giant—he’s a Kindred warrior,” she explained in a low voice. The plan was to attend the reception for about an hour before they slipped away to the Med Center where Anna was going to be seen by a Kindred doctor.

“He’s a giant!” Anna insisted loudly. “And I saw him in my dreams! A beautiful lady who was all sparkly like a fairy showed him to me and said he was going to be my new daddy!”

Nora went from embarrassed to humiliated in a heartbeat. She could feel her cheeks getting hot with a blush. What in the world must Xarex be thinking?

“Anna—” she began, but then, to her surprise, Xarex crouched down to Anna’s level.

“Hello, young one—you must be Anna,” he rumbled.

Bashfully, Anna nodded.

“Yes, that’s me. Did you see me being a flower girl?”

“Yes, I did. You were the best flower girl I ever saw,” Xarex told her.

Anna’s pale cheeks flushed with pleasure.

“Thank you! You’re kind of scary looking but you’re nice,” she told him. “I’m glad my Mommy married you. Now you can be my Daddy and I’ll be your little girl.”

“All right.” Xarex nodded gravely. “It’s a deal. Do you want to shake hands on it? I know that humans do that to seal bargains.”

He held out his huge hand and Anna shyly held out her own. But then she seemed to change her mind and threw her arms around his neck instead.

“Thank you for being my Daddy,” she said, squeezing him tight with her little arms. “I’ve never had one before.”

Nora was dumbstruck by all this. She looked down at Xarex and found that he was looking up at her, as though asking permission. She nodded slightly and he put one arm around Anna and hugged her back very carefully.

“I’ll do my best to be a good father to you,” he rumbled.

“I know you will.” And Anna gave him a smacking kiss on the cheek before pulling away and looking up at Nora. “Can I go play now? There are some other kids over there who look like they want a new friend.”

She motioned to a few children playing a little way over.

“All right, but not for long—we’re about to go to the special new doctor I told you about,” Nora cautioned her. “And be careful not to get out of breath.”

“I’ll be okay,” Anna assured her. She turned away towards the kids and Nora could hear her calling, “Hey—do you want to play?”

That left only Nora and Xarex at the standing table, still sipping their Woo. Nora’s mom, who was old and frail, had gotten tired after the excitement of the wedding. Kat had generously volunteered to take her back to the guest suite where she and Anna were staying while Nora stayed with Xarex for their honeymoon.

As soon as Anna was out of earshot, Nora started apologizing.

“I’m sorry—I don’t know what got into her with all that ‘Daddy’ talk,” she told him. “She’s got such a big imagination. She?—”

“I didn’t mind,” Xarex rumbled, looking down at her. “I have never had a youngling in my life before. And since I was never a youngling myself, it’s a very interesting experience.”

“Wait—you were never a child?” Nora frowned. “That can’t be right.”

“It is correct, I’m afraid,” he told her. “The Dark Kindred are not conceived in the traditional way. Our DNA is mixed by Tolleg scientists and we are grown to adulthood in gestation tanks.”

Nora wasn’t sure what to say to that. No wonder he seemed so robotic at times. It wasn’t just the lack of emotions—though to be honest, she was beginning to wonder about that—it was the fact that he’d never even had a childhood.

“How sad for you,” she said at last. “To never have a childhood, I mean.”

He shrugged, his broad shoulders rolling beneath the fitted tux.

“I cannot miss what I have never experienced but I do find the concept of childhood interesting. And your daughter is both amusing and charming.”

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