Sofia shot Griffin a look and quickly lowered her lashes without even letting that thought linger. Nope. Penelope had one parent, and that was enough.
“Who are these people, Manman?” Henri asked.
“Do you remember Miss Sofia and Penelope?” Antoinette asked. “It’s been almost a year since you’ve seen them.”
Henri shrugged and Antoinette chuckled. “Well, this is Penelope, and this is Miss Sofia, and that is Mr. Griffin.”
Henri stood by his mother’s side and waved at the newcomers. “What are you?” he asked, eyeing Griffin.
“A gargoyle.”
“Like Mr. Argyle?”
“Yes.”
“Cool. What about you?” Henri asked, canting his head and studying Penelope.
“I’m a god,” she announced, and Henri’s eyes went wide.
Sofia scooped her into her arms. “Okay, first lesson about being a god: you don’t tell people you are a god. Okay?”
“Why?” Penelope asked.
“Is she really a god?” Henri asked.
Sofia glanced at Griffin, unsure of whether to divulge the truth. Except Antoinette and Ketu already knew, and she should be safe here, right? She sucked in a breath. “Technically, she’s a demigod. She’s also part witch.”
“Like Becca,” Henri announced.
Sofia furrowed her brow and glanced at Griffin, who shrugged.
“Becca is also a Daughter of Light,” Antoinette explained.
“There is another one?” Griffin asked, but before anyone could respond, Penelope piped up.
“Cool. Is she four too?”
Antoinette chuckled. “Nope. She’s a grown up. And she’s off in another country beating up warlocks right now.”
Penelope looked at Sofia. “Will I do that someday, Mommy?”
Sofia nodded. As much as she loathed the idea of her daughter being in such danger, she couldn’t very well stop destiny from happening. “Someday, yes. After you’ve had lots and lots of training, so that you are able to protect yourself.”
“Can I train too?” Henri wanted to know. He slashed his arms through the air. “I want to beat up the bad guys.”
Ketu ruffled his course curls. “Don’t get ahead of yourself, little man.”
Antoinette nodded at the house. “Do you want to go inside?”
Sofia stared up at the massive structure. “Your house is beautiful. And unless half the colony lives here, I’d say you definitely have room for Penelope and me.”
“Not half the colony, although some of the inhabitants make it feel that way,” Antoinette said wryly.
“Speaking of,” Ketu muttered, and Sofia dropped her gaze to watch an older dragon with salt-and-pepper hair and a full beard open one of the French doors and step outside. “That’s our previous reeve. Trennon Redd.”
Sofia was about to meet her father, for the first time in her life.
It was something she’d honestly never thought would happen. Partially, she’d always been afraid of what Darius would do to her, but also, her mother had also taught her to stay away from the man.
Her mother had told her that their relationship had been nothing more than a fling, and they’d never intended for it to be long term. She’d lost her own fated mate at a young age, and she’d had no desire to seek out a replacement. Sofia’s mother had been happy living a quiet, unassuming life, and acknowledging that her only child was also a reeve’s offspring was not part of her life plan.
How ironic that Darius had spent most of Sofia’s life trying to intimidate her into staying away from her birth father when, had he not done anything at all, she likely never would have considered reaching out.
And now, here she was, staring at the man whose genes she also carried in her own body.
She felt a little nauseous, a lot nervous, a bit worried. Would he be able to tell who she was? And if he did recognize himself in her features, what would he do?
What did she want him to do?
She couldn’t answer that either.
Heck, if she could, she would probably turn around and walk away without ever introducing herself. This was a Pandora’s box that, for twenty-five years, she’d been trained to keep closed, locked up tight.
“Trennon,” Antoinette said, “I’d like you to meet Sofia and her daughter, Penelope.”
Chapter Nine
Sofia and Darius shared the same father.
It was right there on Sofia’s face as Antoinette introduced them, and a wide-eyed Sofia stumbled while trying to walk forward to shake the man’s hand.
Did they have the same mother as well? Sofia hadn’t clarified whether they were full or half siblings. Although Antoinette had stated that Darius’s mother had found her fated mate and essentially abandoned him when he was a child, so that didn’t seem likely.
Not that it mattered. Even though he did not know the terms of the contract she signed with Darius, he could guess.
Darius very likely did not want to share his inheritance. And according to Antoinette, before she’d taken over as reeve, Darius had assumed he eventually would get the title when his father died. Having a sibling meant potential competition for the honor.
And yet Sofia probably didn’t even care about the position. Sure, she would no doubt like to have more money, but it was obvious—to him, at least—that she didn’t let her income level affect her happiness or Penelope’s wellbeing.
So why was she so frightened of Darius? She’d done as he asked and she’d obviously not broken the terms, so what did she have to worry about?
Trennon shook her hand and offered a jovial smile but gave no indication that he recognized her or knew anything at all about her.
“Sofia and her daughter, Penelope, are going to be staying here for a while,” Antoinette explained.
It was possible it would be for only a few hours. Now that he’d decided to loop in Oliver, Griffin suspected the leader of his new brethren would whisk them off to some safe house or hidden lair or wherever it was that his gargoyles protected their assignments.
Although
