Page 143 of Burn for Her
His mate actually blushed over him talking about beheading someone together. Holy Hell, where had this woman come from?
Lucian nodded. “How about the part where his head rolled off his shoulders?”
Dorian’s brow pinched as he tried to summon the memory.
“Damn, Reaper, you’re gonna have smoke coming out of your ears again if you keep thinking that hard.” Lucian pushed out of his chair and swaggered closer. “Short version or long?”
“Short,” Dorian and Lena said at the same time.
Dorian’s smile widened. “He talks too much, doesn’t he?”
“Yes! And exaggerates.”
“Whoa! Hey! I do not exaggerate, I just give a little flare when needed.” Lucian flipped Dorian the bird. “Okay.” He clapped his hands and rubbed them together. “Here it goes.”
Dorian kept his gaze locked on Lena and held her hand while Lucian prattled.
“Your father survived the fire you set when you were a kid, clearly. No idea where he went to, but he bided his time to come after you, according to Stryx.”
“Stryx?”
“I’m telling the story, please save all questions for the end.” Lucian inhaled dramatically, “Where was I? Oh yeah, so anyway, your father isn’t your sire.”
Lena’s hand tightened on Dorian’s.
He stiffened. “Repeat that?”
“He was never your real father,” Lucian said more seriously. “I was hoping to skate over that with a little more finesse. Missed the mark, huh?”
“Are you being serious?” Because if so, then what Dorian’s mind was filled with could be—
Nope, not going there. Miracles never came in threes.
“He kidnapped you, Dorian. Killed your father and kept your mother for a little while before killing her too. He erased your memories leading up to that point. Replaced them with lies. Kept you drained and used your blood against you, to enslave you.” Lucian’s tone darkened with vengeance and fangs extended while he continued. “You’re royalty,” he said. “You’re Malachi’s great nephew.”
Dorian shook his head. “That can’t be right.”
“It is,” Lucian pushed. “You’ve had the power to flash, compel, and who knows how many other things. You just never thought to use those powers because you didn’t have a clue… the memories were either repressed or taken. And you’ve been holding yourself back for fear of what you might be capable of because of that asshole.”
“Then how has that all changed now?”
“Lena.” Lucian tipped his head towards her. “She was the one thing you’d do anything for. The impossible made possible. She was what you thought was worth living for. Because let’s face it, man, you haven’t lived. And you definitely haven’t thrived. You’ve just been a weapon doing the King’s bidding on behalf of the House of Death. You harbor more guilt than a pack of convicts at the pearly gates.”
Dorian’s throat tightened.
Then the visions he just had were memories.
Dorian closed his eyes and recalled them with perfect clarity: Running down a hallway lined with the finest cobalt blue rugs, dipping his finger in a bowl of cake batter, music playing, his mother and father laughing while they danced in a kitchen three times the size of the house Dorian now lived in.
He’d been tucked into bed once. Fed homecooked meals. Played hide and seek in the lavish hedge garden out back of their estate.
“The hedge garden,” he murmured.
“That’s where you were kidnapped,” Lucian confirmed. “And you weren’t the first, but certainly the one who lasted the longest according to Malachi.”
“He knew?”
Lucian sobered. “Yeah. But you not remembering anything about your kidnapping or much about your real mother made him hesitate to reveal it until now. He didn’t tell me until last week. No one else knows yet. We figured you could tell them yourself or keep it your secret.”