“I knocked on his door, and he invited me in but seemed nervous. He kept glancing up the stairs. I was hoping to speak to him privately, but Rex came running to see who was at the door. I told Camden I had something to tell him that wasn’t appropriate for Rex to hear, and he was about to take me outside when J’koby came bounding down the stairs, without his shirt on.” She giggled.
“He hadn’t heard the doorbell and didn’t know I was there. Camden panicked. It was too late, though, we’d seen each other. J’koby, who should have fled, was glued to the spot, staring at me.”
Alina leaned forward, smiling, and put her hands under her chin. “What did he say?”
“Camden tried to make excuses for him, but they were pointless. I could tell right away he was different. He was handsome but obviously wasn’t immortal.”
“How could you tell?”
“Well, he was half naked, and while his chest wasn’t unsightly, he wasn’t sculpted like an immortal. He had flaws; I could see them. And I liked that.”
“What happened next?”
“Camden tried to send me away, but J’koby stopped him. He whispered to Camden that since I’d seen him, they must convince me to stay quiet. Camden was uneasy, but for the most part, he trusted me. He knew I needed to be informed so I didn’t talk to others about the mysterious man living in his home. He introduced us to each other, then made me swear not to tell anyone, which I never did. J’koby insisted I come visit them often. He claimed he needed to keep tabs on me, but of course we both knew the real reason.
“After several weeks of visits, and when I’d come to know not only J’koby but Camden and Rex very well, they felt they could fully trust me. So, they told me their secret.”
“What was that?”
“J’koby was a mortal from Carthem and Camden’s biological son—which was amusing, because J’koby looked older than his father. Camden thought he’d been killed with the others in his family. Sampson intended to kill him, but J’koby escaped and fled for his own safety. When things settled down after the war, and he returned to find Camden, J’koby learned his father had followed his enemy—Sampson—into an immortal world. So J’koby devoted his life to learning everything he could about immortality in hopes of finding his father. He lived in Carthem for over three hundred years before he entered Pria.”
“But you said he was mortal!”
Her eyes twinkled. “He was. In Pria, that is. He’s a brilliant man. He knows more about immortality than Sampson and can switch between the two.”
Alina furrowed her brow. “But if he was mortal in Pria, why did they need me?”
“I asked him that question, too, when he was planning your birth. He said a mortal must be born in Pria to have the power to collapse it. He discouraged my questions for my safety. I didn’t push it.”
“I see,” Alina said. “So, you two fell in love?”
She smiled. “Yes. Perhaps I was foolish because I loved him partly because he was mortal. I didn’t trust immortals, and because he wasn’t one, I believed he was safe to love.”
“Did he ever prove you wrong?” Alina whispered.
Jade paused, tears forming in her eyes. “No. He lived up to all the good things I saw in him. But as you know, our story did not end happily. We spent two wonderful years together before he was caught and sent back to Carthem.” She looked down at her hands. “And now I will see him again. I hope he likes bald women.” She brushed a tear from her cheek and smiled.
“Oh, your hair will grow fast. Or you can do a short, barbed hairdo.”
“Yeah, I never liked those!” she laughed. Alina had more questions, but Jade looked so exhausted, Alina encouraged her to go to bed.
Now she sat with the unopened book in her lap and thought of J’koby and Rex. Alina was fond of Rex and hoped one day, Jade would love him back. But the more she learned of J’koby, the more she cared for him. It was exciting to have a father, and if he and Jade loved each other, the three of them could be like a real family.
But Rex was like a father to her, too, in his own way, and his devotion to Jade was solid and unwavering. She wisely mistrusted immortals but must be convinced of his loyalty by now.
Jade slept soundly; the small rise and fall of her chest the only indication she was alive. Dark blood pooled into the veins of her hands and black fuzz covered her head, but despite her flaws, she was the most beautiful woman Alina had known. Maybe she, like Rex, was learning to look inside to find real beauty.
Alina glanced at her own smooth hands and fingernails and ran them over her lean, shapely legs. She knew the power of her beauty by the hard gazes that followed her, but was she beautiful where it counted most? If mortality found her again, would she—and others—still find her remarkable?
Earlier, she asked Jade how she dealt with the stares as an immortal. Jade’s clear answer surprised her.
“They never stared at me in Pria. Unless someone is exceptionally unique, no one notices.”
“But no one stared at me in Pria, though I was obviously different,” Alina answered. “They avoided me—except for Eris and some of the kids at school.”
“That’s because
