“Okay.” Dusti cleared her throat. “Can we go back to the fire now? I’m cold.”
“You don’t know what I’m talking about, do you?”
“Not a word.”
“Do you know who Marvilella was?”
“No.”
He shook his head and his hand returned to cup her cheek. The pad of his thumb stroked her skin lightly. “She was your grandmother.”
“My mom said her mother died when she was a teenager but it was too painful to talk about. They were really close. That was her name?” Dusti wasn’t sure if she could believe a word out of his mouth. His mind obviously wasn’t all there but he did seem to know more about her grandfather than she did. It was possible he knew about his wife. “What kind of weird name is that? It sounds European.”
“She came from my clan and married your grandfather to bring peace between us.”
Dusti let that statement settle into her brain. Nope, he’s totally unreasonable and gone, she concluded. Nothing he said made sense and it sounded as though he’d watched way too many movies. “Just stop. Let me go.”
“You need to understand what you’ve been brought into. Decker Filmore is dangerous to you and your sister. You said yourself your mother warned you, that she disliked him. Bat said she died. Is that true?”
“Yes.” She pushed at his chest again but he didn’t budge. “Nobody would lie about a horrible thing like losing both of their parents.”
“Decker didn’t molest your mother. He killed your grandmother so she wouldn’t stand in his way anymore. That’s when your mother fled. We assumed she figured out it was no accidental death. He wanted to use his daughter to bargain with Aveoth. To Antina, death would have been preferable. Trust me. Now I understand why he’d want your sister to come to him. It’s the only way he could force Aveoth to break our alliance. Bat is his bargaining chip to start a war.”
“I’m glad one of us understands what you’re saying. Did you know my mother? You seem to have.”
“I know more about your family than you seem to. Aveoth’s lover died a week ago. He’ll be looking for another to replace her…and he wouldn’t be able to resist your sister if she were offered to him.”
“Offered to him? Who the hell is Aveoth? Some alien warlord in your head?”
“Stop with the aliens. I’m not insane. Aveoth is a powerful clan leader. He will be looking for a new lover and Decker will give your sister to him.”
“Whatever.” She was getting a headache trying to make sense of his ranting. “You’re making my grandfather sound like some pimp, as if my sister is a hooker. She’s not.”
“I’m telling you the truth.”
“Oh hell,” Dusti sighed. “I’m not even going to try to follow what you’re saying. There’s medication out there that will help you. You really need to see your doctor. I believe Decker Filmore is a rich ol’ perv, but you’re saying he wants to turn Bat into some kind of hooker? No way.”
“Your mother should have told you the truth.”
“About what? That there are crazy people who live in their own made-up worlds? She covered that when I started noticing boys and she taught me about stranger danger.”
He hesitated. “Now isn’t the time to go into all of this. We’re going to talk later, when we’re somewhere more private.”
She wasn’t about to point out that he’d dragged her out of the clearing so no one could see them. She just wanted to get away from him. “Great. Let me go.”
He took a deep breath. “Your mother wasn’t human.”
“Really?” Dusti relaxed, the bark of the tree lightly digging into her back when she leaned away from the man pinning her to it. “She was an alien?”
He smirked and his eyes seemed to crinkle at the corners. “We’re from the same planet, just different worlds.”
“Ah. That makes total sense.” Dusti rolled her eyes, not caring if he saw her reaction. “So we’re talking different dimensions? Okay. Why don’t you let me go and return to yours then? Have a safe trip. Do you click your boot heels together to get there?”
The amusement left his strangely intriguing gaze. “There’s the world that humans live in and the part of it that they never see.”
“Ghosts then?” She couldn’t resist. Her hands brushed the front of his shirt, feeling the warmth that seemed to radiate from him even through the thin cotton material. “You feel solid enough to me.”
A soft growl came from deep within his throat. It disturbed Dusti, frightened her. She pressed tighter against the tree and jerked her hands away from his chest. Something in his dark gaze flashed, seeming to glow for a split second, before he leaned in closer until their noses touched.
“We’ll discuss this later.” He backed off, released her, and took a few steps away. “Return to camp.”
Drantos watched Dusti stumble away, nearly running back to the blanket. The taste of her blood remained on his tongue. He’d only taken a few drops, but it was enough.
She didn’t know what she was. It stunned and pissed him off at the same time. He thought she might have been lying at first but her responses were proof enough. She thought he was crazy and didn’t believe anything he’d said.
Uranus. He snorted and turned, quickly moving into the woods. The sister was easy to find. She softly cursed, almost walking into a tree. Her night vision seemed nonexistent.