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serious?
    “I’ll take care of it,” he assured her with a blinding smile. “Go on now. Take your time.”
    My entire body got hot in an instant, my blood boiling at his insinuation that Mom should watch her weight. She had a great figure, especially for a woman her age. Any man should be thrilled to be with her, exactly as she was.
    When she was out of earshot, I said, “So you’re choosing her food now?”
    He blinked and gave me a look that blended surprise and amusement. “Well, you speak your mind, don’t you? Your mother didn’t mention the fiery temper. I quite like it. I know exactly whom you got it from.”
    His implication that I might be anything like him burned me even further. “What do you want ?” I growled.
    He laughed, his smile stretching wider. “Not much for small talk, I see. What do I want? Well… what does everyone want? Love and family. Peace and happiness.” He lifted his water glass to take a drink.
    “Peace, huh? Not world domination? Not Elven rule and human servitude?” It was risky, revealing my knowledge that he wasn’t human. But he needed to understand that someone was onto him—that he didn’t have total carte blanche to do whatever he wanted with my mother.
    The glass paused in mid-air, then continued to his lips. He took a sip and set it down gently. “I see you’ve been listening to my bad press. That’s all you’ll get from the Light Elves like your grandmother, you know.”
    Obviously he assumed that was how I knew about his Elven nature, and I didn’t contradict him.
    His smile returned, more artificial than before. “I’m glad we can speak freely—that’s the good thing about family. As I was saying, the Lightweights never mention the other side of the story.”
    “Which is?”
    “My concern for our entire race—Dark and Light. We’ve become an endangered species. There is power and safety in numbers. But with our reproductive limitations we have to seek another form of power.”
    “Lording it over the humans, you mean.”
    “Royal families are always a small group, but they enjoy safety and security because they maintain control over the masses. And humans are born with a built-in desire to be ruled. They have always worshipped gods in some form or another. My plan will give them gods they can see and touch. They’ll be happier for it, and our people will be protected and free. We won’t be forced to hide any longer. I don’t want to hurt anyone. I only want what’s best for all of us.”
    “So… I’m partially human—why tell me all of this?”
    “You’re my child. The human part of you is miniscule, inconsequential. I want there to be honesty and trust between us. That’s the only way we’ll ever have a real relationship. I’ve already missed your childhood. I don’t want to waste any more time. I want you to know me. And I want to know you.”
    I stared at my plate and pulled the pre-dinner bread into tiny bits. He had all the right words. But they didn’t match up to what I knew of his actions. “You really didn’t know about me all these years? Even with all your... special powers or whatever?”
    “I have my talents, but I’m not omniscient, Ryann. Your mother left me. She never told me there was a baby.”
    My chin lifted as I skewered him with my eyes. “If you loved her so much, why didn’t you go after her and get her back?”
    Davis sighed and shook his head. “I was ambitious. My mind was focused on rising in the human political realm as well as in the Dark Court. A girlfriend barely out of her teens wouldn’t have helped me in the former, and a half-breed lover would definitely not have helped me in the latter. Sadly, at the time I cared more about my position than about love. At your age, you can’t possibly understand this, but it’s a long life for us, Ryann. There is time for everything, but not always all at once. I always intended to go back to your mother. I always knew where she was—I even visited her a