Page 19 of Vayn

“But if I was willing to claim her, you’d tell me, right?”

“Yes.”

“Why?”

“Because then, I would ask you to help me hunt down her father for her. Her mother, as you know, was a human. As most humans do, she died in childbirth when giving birth to her Fallen descendant. But her father, if he’s who I believe he is, he cloaked Destiny at the hospital, before leaving her life for good. Which is probably a good thing. Her life would’ve been fucked up having him as a father.”

“Having who as a father?”

Alyk smiled. “Nice try. Not happening. Leave. Go think about whether you want forever with Destiny or just a few more months as her guardian.”

A pang lanced through my chest at the thought of only seeing her for a few more months. I took a step back, preparing to leave the room. I turned to the door, deciding to leave that way instead of teleporting out. Just as I grabbed the knob, Alyk spoke again.

“Humans aren’t the reason we fell,” he said. “We are. We hated them, not the other way around.”

My grip tightened on the handle.

“We wanted to kill them,” he said. “Not the other way around.”

A growl rumbled through my chest.

“We came to their world, that was created for them, and tried to destroy them. Not the other way around.”

The door handle broke, crumbling into pieces in my hand.

“I’ll buy you a new one,” I growled.

“I have a dozen backup knobs. You guardians tend to break my door handles a lot. Listen, Vayn, Destiny hasn’t given you a reason to hate her. Don’t allow your prejudice against humans to cause you to miss out on something that could be great for you.”

I didn’t want to think about how good it could be between me and Destiny. If I did, I’d find myself more drawn to her than I already was. I pulled the door open.

“Don’t miss out on this chance,” Alyk advised me. “A mate is a blessing, whether she’s part human or not.”

“I don’t see you rushing off to find a half-human mate of your own,” I told him.

“Just because you don’t see me looking, doesn’t mean I haven’t been searching for her,” Alyk whispered.

I heard the pain in his voice. There was a story there that I’d love to hear someday. But I was currently living my own story, and I needed to find a way to end this chapter of it without messing up my chance of getting my wings.

“I’m leaving now,” I told Alyk. “I’ll have my answer for you soon.”

“The sooner, the better.”

I didn’t leave right away. I had one more thing to talk to him about.

“Alyk, she traveled to me while she was asleep, but I was fully awake.”

“Ahhh,” Alyk said.

Without looking back at him, I asked, “Is that all you have to say? Ahhh?”

“What do you want me to say?”

“Explain how she was able to do that.”

“I believe she’s a dream walker.”

“Dream walkers travel to other people’s dreams. I was awake when she traveled to me.”