“Amber, stop.” Kane slid an arm around her shoulder. “Really, take a deep breath.”
She breathed deep, her body shuddering. “Did you feel anything?”
“No. But we’ll try again later.” He pressed a hand against her forehead. “You’re burning up. Let’s get you inside, sweetheart.”
She tried to stand, but Kane was faster. Lifting her and striding for the rocks, he tucked her face into his neck. The scent of male and musk settled her, and she sighed right down to her toes. Why couldn’t fate exist?
After being poked and prodded by both Kane and Emma for nearly an hour, Amber was rethinking her stance on passivity. They’d taken blood, tissue samples, her blood pressure . . . as well as measured her brain waves. When she’d been ready to explode, Emma had finally led her to a plush sofa in a quiet room with a big-screen television. The door shut quietly behind the queen. Settling back in the cushions, Amber waited.
Grandma Hilde soon took up the entire screen. “Amber, sweetheart. Are you all right?”
Amber studied the woman who’d raised her. Hilde sat in a bed, her color strong, her pretty black eyes sparking. “Yes. How are you?”
“Good as new.” Hilde clapped her small hands together. “So, how angry are you?”
“Very. As well as feeling very betrayed.” She tried to keep her voice calm, but a low tenor of hurt cut through the words.
Hilde nodded, truly not looking very sorry. “I don’t blame you. But when your mother died, I decided to give you a good life, one without the craziness of demons, vampires, or the rest. You deserved a decent childhood, baby girl.”
Awareness sprang to life down the skin on Amber’s back. “How did my mother die?” she whispered.
Hilde shifted on the bed. “Well, now. Um . . .”
Hurt exploded fast and hard in Amber’s chest. “She didn’t have cancer.”
“No. She was, er, dating a vampire, and apparently he was also involved with a demon, and things got nasty.” Hilde’s eyes filled with tears. “Your mama and the demoness fought, and my baby’s brain was destroyed, and she died. So easily.” Hilde plucked a string from a pretty quilt. “I took you and ran, using the chants handed down from my great-grandmother’s grandmother to keep us safe. The demons knew we existed at that point. I promised myself someday I’d tell you everything, but our lives have been so full, I didn’t want to lose that. After losing your mama, I couldn’t lose you, too.”
Amber blinked twice. “Was my father a vampire?”
“God, no. Vampires only make male babies. Your mama, well, she had lots of boyfriends. Well, until she met the vampire. But she was already pregnant with you at that time.”
Great. Her mama got around. “So I’m all human.”
“Of course.” Hilde squinted her tiny nose. “Your gifts are passed down on your maternal side. I’m not sure if everyone knows this, but demon destroyers are enhanced human females only.” Pride lifted her chin.
“If I mated a vampire, he’d inherit my gifts, right?”
Horror widened Hilde’s eyes. “You are not mating a vampire, Amber. For goodness’ sake. Vampires are . . . well . . . the soldiers of the immortal world. You are not mating someone who’ll leave you and head off to war every other century or so.”
Kane might be a soldier, but he was also an intellectual. Though she was not mating a guy who didn’t believe in love. Why did Kane pop into her head, anyway? Amber gave Hilde her strongest glare. “I’ll mate who I want. Or marry. I’ll marry and mate whoever I want.”
Hilde rolled her eyes. “You always have been headstrong. Mate who you want. Make the same mistakes I did—” She gasped. “I mean, make new ones.”
Amber sat up. “What did you just say?”
“Nothing.” Hilde’s beautiful skin flushed a bright red. “I didn’t say anything.”
“Good God. You mated a vampire.” The room started spinning. Reality had just been shot to hell.
“Did not.”
“Did, too.” Amber shot to her feet. “Of course. This is why you never age. You still look freakin’ fifty.”
“Forty-five,” Hilde countered, throwing off the quilt. “Fine. Your mama’s daddy died in Afghanistan, and I was alone for so long. I shielded us well, but one night I was out, and I met, well, someone.”
“A vampire.” How in the world could this have happened?
Hilde rolled her eyes and blew out a strong breath. “Okay, yes. The women in our family have always been suckers for a handsome man—even worse, for handsome soldiers. We started dating, one thing led to another, and we mated.”
“Where’s your brand?” There was no marking on her grandmother.
Hilde tugged down her shirt to show twin puncture marks above her heart.
Heat filled Amber’s head. “You said that was from a car accident.”
“I lied.” Hilde smoothed her shirt back into place. “Most vampires mate with a good bite during sex. Only the Kayrs ruling family gets that funky mark that brands their women.”
“The marking isn’t funky.” Frankly, the mark was an intricate, beautiful design.
Hilde’s eyes widened until the pupils were nonexistent. “Oh God. You slept with a vampire—with a Kayrs brother.” Hilde shook her head. “End it, now. Trust me. End that affair now.”
Amber slammed her hands on her hips, embarrassment and anger flushing through her. While her grandmother had always been open and rather liberal when it came to sex, they still didn’t need to have this discussion. “I am not taking dating advice from a woman who has lied to me for twenty-five years.”
Hilde’s bottom lip trembled, and she pressed a hand to her chest. “That hurts. Oh, my heart.”
Fire almost exploded from Amber’s head. “Stop that. You’re immortal. You can’t have a heart attack.”
Hilde frowned. “Well, damn it. I guess that’s true.” She chortled, her eyes lighting and her mouth curving in a familiar smile. “I’m not sorry I gave you a secure childhood, sweetie. I’d do the same thing in a heartbeat.”
“Who did you mate, Grandma?”
Hilde sighed. “His name was Elliot Metrov, and he was a soldier. Not for the Realm, but his people aligned with the Realm.”
“Was?” Amber asked softly.
Hilde exhaled, sadness twisting her smile. “Yes. When your mama was killed, Elliot went after the demons by himself... he wasn’t thinking. He didn’t make it.”
Anger and hurt roared through Amber. “So the demons killed both my mother and your mate?”
“Yes.”
Amber shook her head. She needed to learn to fight, and now. “What about my gifts? What about yours?”
Hilde glanced down. “Well, now, that’s, ah, the other thing.”
Dread had Amber dropping back to the sofa. “What other thing?”
Twisting her lip and obviously biting her cheek, Hilde hunched her shoulders. “We’re not all that powerful. I mean, my older sister had the gift, not me. And she died years ago . . . long before your mama was born. I just have a little of the power.” She sighed, suddenly looking almost her age.
“Maybe I have more.”
“You do.” Hilde smiled, pride in her eyes. “You’re like a beacon, Amber. I have no doubt your power is exceptional, much more so than mine or your mother’s. But I’d always hoped you wouldn’t have to use the gift.”
“I promised,” Amber whispered. “I gave my word if they saved you, I’d help them.” Even if she hadn’t promised Kane, she’d want to help get his brother back safely. And now, after knowing how much the demons had taken from her, she wanted to be able to defend anybody she loved.
Hilde nodded. “I understand. But keep in mind, I don’t really know how to use the gift. My mother worked with my sister only, and I went on my own way. In fact, at that time, I never thought I’d pass on the gift, to be honest. My sister didn’t pass it on, either.”