Lucia woke with a start, having dreamed of Orion. He’d kissed her. She could almost taste his breath on her tongue. The strange man with the deadly gaze had brushed his lips over hers.

The world was still dark outside the broad windows on the other side of the room. The shades were drawn back, showing the blackness of the night sky and the mountain landscape. The only light in the room was a lamp on a desk on the opposite wall. She pulled the blankets back, alarm ringing in her brain. She went to the window and looked outside at the bright courtyard and the dark sky above.

She’d slept, but fitfully. Now she’d awoken to a world still in darkness because of the actions of evil men. She feared the world would never be set right again. Yet Orion assured her it would be. Felix rubbed her ankle, and she bent down to pet his soft fur.

“I’m glad you’re here, Felix,” she murmured.

After she washed and dressed, there was a knock at the door. She answered it and found Orion on the other side, dressed in dark jeans and a black shirt.

“Good morning,” he said.

“Is it?”

“It is both good and morning.”

“I’ll take your word for it.”

“There is much I want to share with you, Lucia. It is imperative that you understand what is happening. You play a critical role in this.”

“I want to understand,” she said.

“Come. All will be revealed now that you’ve rested.”

Lucia followed Orion out of her room and down the hall to the elevator. They stepped inside and she felt the electric energy that pulsed between them. His presence did something to her that she couldn’t quite explain. Sure, he was gorgeous and masculine and would make any woman swoon. But there was something more than that. Under all her fear and disbelief, she felt a subtle sense of connection to him. Not to mention the visions that would not leave her alone.

The elevator door opened, and Orion led her into an enormous computer workroom. The equipment was more advanced than anything she’d ever seen. There were half-assembled robots, three dimensional holograms, and a 3D printer creating a mini drone aircraft in the corner.

Orion strode to a glass computer terminal and waved his hand over the desk. A holographic desktop woke over the terminal. Orion flicked through the tabs and came to a navigation screen.

“You can access ancient Earth histories here. There are even images from that time. Here. I’ll show you. This is our binding day.”

Orion flicked over the screen and brought up a file that quickly spilled images across the desktop. She leaned in closer, not quite believing what she saw.

There she was in a flowing blue robe, standing beside Orion before the statue of a goddess. Their hands were bound together with a golden thread; their eyes were fixed on each other.

“This was the day I claimed you,” he said, leaning closer.

He was so close she could feel the heat of his body.

The images showed them at a party with a lot of strange-looking people in ancient attire. It was all too much to comprehend and she had to sit down.

“How do you have images from two thousand years ago?”

“Three thousand,” he corrected as she collapsed in his computer chair.

“Three thousand?”

“We had much greater technology than what humans have today. It was hidden at the time of the veiling as well, but mostly by conscious design. The immortals stopped sharing their technology with humanity once they were forced into the darkness. Even those who disagreed with Xander and his tactics.”

“Why were we never taught the true history?”

“The immortals went underground and hid themselves from humanity. It was self-preservation. Like the Goudy, most immortals feared Gama’s spell.”

“Please explain to me what happened.”

“Your great-great-grandmother, Gama, was the mother goddess of Earth. Many modern people might call her a Fae, which is probably the most accurate description of her race. They come from the center of the Earth. Gama was a queen of great power who presided over the surface of the planet. She created the human race through magic and genetic manipulation. One hundred thousand years ago, two gods came to Earth. Their names were Dahaki and Tartarus. When they arrived, they both fell in love with Gama.”

Orion opened a file and showed Lucia the text of an account about the Gods Dahaki the dragon and Tartarus the vampire first meeting with Gama.

“Gama loved them both and gave birth to two sons. After Gama had her first two immortal sons, she took another lover. A human lover. With this man, she had a daughter. A daughter she blessed with her own magic. Unlike the sons of her vampire and dragon lovers, the daughter of the human man was like her, a magic wielder; a creator. The women of this line became known as witches. Gama’s daughter grew and had many more daughters with the sons of man and the sons of the gods. The mating of the witches with the sons of Dahaki and Tartarus created the immortal races. All was peaceful between the immortals and humanity until Xander Valdis rose to power eight thousand years ago.

“He kidnapped and raped as many witches as he could. His line grew strong and fast. His lust for dominance of the immortal world grew at pace with his destruction of the human world. That’s when Gama asked the witches to give their magic, their lives, and their immortality to veil magic from the world. All this was done to save the humans from Xander.”

As he spoke, he showed her evidence. Stories, quotes, photographic images, paintings, even some videos. By the time he was done, she was fairly convinced it was true.

“I gave my life to save humanity?” she asked, the weight of it sinking in. “This goddess, Gama, she is the mother of all immortals?”

“All immortals on the surface of the Earth, yes.”

“And the other gods came from…space? Like ETs?”

“Precisely.”

“So Dahaki and Tartarus aren’t really ‘Gods’,” she said, using air quotes. “So much as they are extra-terrestrials.”

“That would be accurate.”

“It must have been hard on you to have your wife…just die in front of you like that. I can’t imagine.”

“You carried my son in your womb when you left me,” he said as he stood above her, staring into the hologram of an ancient text.

Her heart ached. Lucia didn’t fully remember the woman she once was, or the love she had shared with Orion. Even as confused as she felt, she wanted to reach out to him.

“I’m sorry that happened to you,” she said.

The heat of his body radiated through her. Some long forgotten strength she’d once depended on filled her soul, and a vision of the past opened up on the screen of her mind.

A memory flicked on inside her as clear as day. She was in the temple before the statue of the goddess, holding hands with the dragon who loved her. She would give him many strong sons. How she’d adored him, depended on his strength to cover and guide her. In those times, a strong man was what a woman needed to blossom fully into her own power. Orion had given her all of that and much more.

They’d protected the temple of Gama together. He’d been beside her in every way. His belief in his priestess had been unwavering. Lucia opened her eyes and looked up at Orion. His silver blue eyes gazed down on her, ablaze with his supernatural power and his undying love for his bride.

“I remember you protected me and the women of the temple. You stood beside me until the end.”

“I could have done more,” he said. “I vowed to protect you all with my life and I failed.”

“We chose it, Orion. We chose to make the final sacrifice. Gama needed our power to bring balance back to the world.”

“Do you think she succeeded?”

“Succeeded? In balance?”

“You know this world, Lucia. You know the corruption. The lies. The desperation of humanity.”

She frowned. Just one day ago this had not been her fight. She was a recent grad student working in the public library. She spent her life cataloging books and talking to her cat. Now she was embroiled in multi-millennia immortal politics she couldn’t comprehend.

“Are you still angry?” she asked, choosing to respond instead to the tone in his voice.

“In a word, yes. I wish I’d stopped you. Your sacrifice has done little for the fate of the human race.”

“I have to believe that it served a higher purpose. Or how can I go on?”

“I don’t wish to make you doubt your Goddess,” he said, turning to her and gripping her arms as he looked down at her with those burning silver-blue eyes.

“I don’t even know who the Goddess is,” she said. “These things are so far removed from my life. I have no context. Nothing I’ve learned from history books was true.”

“You can’t depend on human histories. Their short lives and limited perception lead to confusion and disinformation.”

“You’re talking about my own kind.”

“You were born of the Goddess, Lucia. You are not human. Gama herself imbued your ancestor with the power of the Fae. Even in this new body, your magic remains.”

“I blew up a gang of vampires in the street in San Francisco. The ability was ingrained in me somehow. Isn’t that strange?”

“You were fifteen hundred years old when you died. You had ages of experience with your magic.”

“Fifteen hundred years?”

“You and I were married for a thousand of those years. And we had many sons. One still lives today.”

“I have a son?” she asked.

“Yes. His name is Ajax Silverdrake. He is one of the youngest immortals on Earth. One of the last generation before the veil. Our other sons died in the battles before the veil. But Ajax and I remain. The Silverdrake clan has worked tirelessly to maintain the spell. For two thousand years, we prevented Xander from reversing the veil, even to our own detriment. Until he finally outplayed us. All that matters now is that you have come back to me,” he said, his gaze burning into her soul.