Dark Princess: Shadows (The Children Of The Gods Paranormal Romance #89)

35. Ell-rom

35

ELL-ROM

W hen Brandon emerged from Morelle's room, Ell-rom rose to his feet. "Is she awake?"

Brandon nodded. "She's asking for you."

Ell-rom's heart skipped a beat. "She spoke?"

"Not much. She said my name, which was nice to hear, your name, and here, which I understood to mean that she wants you there. She then said my name again and added thank you. I'd say that's absolutely spectacular progress in one hour since waking up after thousands of years in stasis."

The words had Ell-rom's chest expanding by a few inches.

"My sister is a fighter." He turned to Annani, who was practically vibrating with anticipation beside him. "Both my sisters are fighters. Would you like to come meet her?"

"Are you sure?" Annani asked. "I do not want to rob you of your time with her."

"I have already told her about you in the few moments she was awake. I think she will want to see who I was talking about."

"Wait," Kian said as Annani stood up. "I don't want you going in there without me." He pulled a teardrop from his pocket and hung it around his neck.

Ell-rom barely managed to suppress an eye roll. It seemed ridiculous to be concerned about Morelle harming anyone in her current state, let alone someone as powerful as Annani.

Then again, maybe Kian was just curious and wanted to meet Morelle.

Seeing Ell-rom's hesitation, Kian softened his tone. "I'll just introduce myself and welcome her to the clan. Then I'll leave you three to talk."

"I cannot wait to meet my sister." Annani reached up and activated her translator.

Ell-rom couldn't contain his excitement either. He was eager to introduce Morelle to the half-sister they hadn't known they had on Earth.

As he opened the door and let Annani go in first, Morelle's eyes widened when she saw their sister. His twin's lips parted, probably to ask who she was, but before she could form the words, Annani had crossed to her bedside and enveloped her in a gentle embrace.

"Welcome to my clan, sister of mine," Annani said in her melodic voice. "My name is Annani, and we share a father. I hope we will become the best of friends."

Morelle looked stunned even though Ell-rom had already told her about Annani being their half-sister, the daughter of their father, and a goddess who had been born on Earth. Perhaps it wasn't the information itself that had shocked her, but rather Annani's affection.

Should he feel hurt that Annani hadn't made such an explicit offer of friendship to him?

But then, she hadn't needed to, had she? She'd shown her love and acceptance through her actions, supporting him through his recovery, taking him into her home, and helping him control his ability. Words paled in comparison to everything she'd done for him.

Kian cleared his throat, reminding them that he was still waiting to be introduced to Morelle.

Annani turned and smiled, waving her hand and inviting him over. "This is my son, Kian. He leads the local community, which is comprised mostly of my descendants. My daughter Sari leads another segment of my clan, which resides on another continent. I have two more daughters who are here in the village and would love to meet you. Amanda, my youngest, and Alena, my oldest."

As Morelle's expressive eyes showed her confusion, Kian chuckled. "After seven thousand years in stasis, we should probably drip the information to you instead of dumping everything at once." He kept his voice much softer than usual, and the teardrop provided a pretty accurate rendition of it. "All you need to know right now is that you're with your family who cares about you and your brother and welcomes you into our community. You're safe, and you can take as long as you need to recuperate and learn about your new world."

"Thank you." Morelle's voice was barely above a whisper as she reached out her hand toward Kian.

Ell-rom watched as his nephew—and wasn't that a strange concept?—clasped Morelle's hand and leaned down to kiss her cheek.

"Welcome home, Aunt Morelle," he said.

The words hit Ell-rom like a physical force. Home. They had a home now, a real one, not just a hiding place in a temple. They had family, not just each other, but a sister who loved them, a nephew and nieces who welcomed them, and an entire community that accepted them into its fold.

It was incredible.

"That's all I wanted to say." Kian let go of Morelle's hand. "I'll let you three talk in private." He turned to his mother. "Try not to overload your sister with seven thousand years of history all at once."

Annani laughed, the sound so beautiful that it brought tears to Ell-rom's eyes.

He was too emotional right now, and he had to get a hold of himself. Morelle needed him to lend her his strength.

When Kian left the room, Ell-rom moved to Morelle's other side and took her hand. She responded by shifting her luminous eyes to him and squeezing his fingers weakly.

Annani sighed dramatically and sat down on the single chair in the room. "I thought about where I would like to start my story, and I think I should begin by telling you about our father. Would you like that?"

Morelle nodded.

Ell-rom sat on the edge of the bed with Morelle's hand clasped in his. He would have liked to start with what he had learned about Annani, the clan, and the world around them, but perhaps Annani was right, and they should start at the beginning and how the three of them came to be.