And yet . . . Elizabeth mattered.
He had to make her understand without terrifying her. Zachary was a target. They both were. Removing the boy to
Sanctuary would protect him and divert any danger to Elizabeth.
Or leave her alone and defenseless.
Doubt slid into Morgan, cold and sharp as a blade. The island was warded, he reminded himself. Elizabeth would be safe as
long as she remained on the island.
But his uneasiness lingered like the stain of blood in the water.
“I do not threaten. But until Zachary receives the proper training, he is a danger to himself and others.”
Water lapped against the boat, filling the silence.
“You said you could choose,” Elizabeth said at last. “What if he chooses to be human?”
“He is not human.”
“He‟s not an animal either.”
“An elemental. Immortal. One of the First Creation.”
“Immortal?”
He hesitated. “The children of the sea can be killed. Or lost beneath the wave. But as long as we live in the sea or on
Sanctuary, we do not age and die as humans do.”
“You don‟t age.” She considered him, her head tilted to one side. “Exactly how old are you?”
He had stretched her credibility enough for one day. But he would not lie to her or hide the truth any longer. If she rejected
him, it was no more than he deserved.
But his palms were sweating.
“I was born on the isle of Bressay,” he said carefully, “in the year of your Lord seven hundred and fifty-eight.”
She looked down at her hands, clasped tightly in her lap, then up at him. The reflection of sunlight on the water danced
across her face. He drank in the sight of her, the deep brown, intelligent eyes, the lines of laughter and loss, the firm, slightly
squared chin. He wanted to cup her face in his hands, to comfort her, claim her. But his kind did not touch, only to fight or to
mate. And he was no longer certain she would welcome his embrace.
“Zack is only fifteen,” she said. “He‟s not even ready to choose a college yet. How can he make a decision about
something like this?”
“There is no decision. He has no choice.” His voice was harsh. No choice for any of them. “He is what he is.”
Her hands rose and fell in a gesture of frustration. “Then why are we even having this discussion?”
“Because of you,” Morgan said with brutal honesty.
“Because of my feelings for you. As soon as I knew the boy was finfolk, I would have taken him and gone. For no other
woman—for no other force on earth—would I have stayed.”
His declaration shook them both.
Wild color stormed her cheeks. Her eyes were dark and confused. “I don‟t know what to say.”
Morgan‟s jaw clenched. He was no mortal man to beg for her love, no sidhe lover to seduce her with promises. “What do
your instincts tell you?”
Her gaze met his. “My instincts apparently are not very reliable.”
“Fight?” he offered softly. “Or flight?”
She shook her head. “I don‟t want to fight you. And I‟m not going to run away from my responsibilities as Zack‟s mother.
I‟m not like you. I believe we always have a choice. My heart hopes Zack will choose to stay, will let himself be human, will
let himself be a boy a little longer. He‟ll leave eventually, whatever I say. To college, to an apartment, to a girl or a job in
another state. I have to be prepared to let him go. But not now. Not yet.”
The look in her eyes tore at his heart.
“Then why,” he quoted back at her, “are we having this discussion?”
“Because of you. Because you were honest with me. You are Zack‟s father. I need to think about what that means before I
decide what‟s best for Zack.”
She could not fail to see that what was best for Zachary was to return with Morgan to Sanctuary.
He had won.
Elizabeth would let him win, would sacrifice her own happiness for the sake of their son.