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Chekiss looks up at me from under a new set of bifocals. “Come here, child.”
My chest rises and falls with each step toward his upholstered chair. Anxiety clutching at my throat. I haven’t had a chance alone with Chekiss in a while, and I need this. He’s the closest thing I’ve felt to a father in so long. The need to seek out his comfort has been an endless weight on my shoulders.
I stand in front of his chair, holding myself together.
He looks up at me, closing his book and setting it among the rest. His cheeks are sprinkled with raised freckles, his moss-green eyes look more awake and alive than I have ever seen them, and his brown skin radiates in the orange glow of the fire.
I missed him so much.
“Chekiss?”
He waves his hand for me to kneel at his side. I drop down beside him, reaching my hands out for him to hold.
“Talk to me,” he says, voice as scratchy and rough as ever.
I let out a weak sigh. “I’m having a hard time.”
“With finding out who Aurick is?”
I nod. “And the fact that Dessin and Kane have been lying to me about it.”
“Ah,” he says quietly, thinking on it. “Did they tell you why they had to keep it a secret?”
I shake my head.
“Does he normally have good reasoning for what he does?”
“Yes. But I can’t think of any reasonable explanation for that. Aurick assaulted me when I lived with him. He hit me and Dessin knew.” I look into Chekiss’s surprised eyes, and my voice breaks. “He knew.”
I drop my face to rest on Chekiss’s lap, holding in my need to scream or throw something. And it’s a feeling I might never be able to replace. He just runs a hand through my hair, shushing me, telling me it’ll be okay, it’ll always be okay.
How could a man that was brutally tortured for so many years of his life be this kind? This understanding? This compassionate?
“I don’t know what to do,” I tell him.
“Why don’t you talk to him?”
“Dessin will never tell me the truth until it’s the right time in his grand plan.”
Chekiss sighs. “I wish I had better advice, my child. If only we could be a fly on the wall to learn what Dessin and Aurick know.”
My shoulders tense with a new idea tightening my muscles. If Dessin won’t tell me what I need to know, then I guess he’s not the man I need to talk to.
I close my eyes, not wanting to leave the comfort of Chekiss’s warmth and calming presence. This is exactly what I needed. To be held by someone who unconditionally loves me.
“Maybe I will talk to him.” Only, it’s not Dessin I’ll have another conversation with.
It’s Aurick.
Surprisingly, Aurick’s door isn’t locked. It’s the large oak one at the end of the hall. I suppose he stays here when he isn’t manipulating young women into staying in his lavish estate.
I open it, not caring if I walk in on him while he’s indecent. Not caring if he’ll be angry I’m invading his space. And the worst part is, this act of seeing him in his bedroom is familiar. Normal for me. I hate it.
Aurick is standing in front of his fire, staring blankly. Hands in his pockets. Wearing night pants and no shirt.
I slam the door shut.
He flinches, turning to face me like he’s about to scold a soldier for forgetting to knock, until realization spreads over his sharp features. His mouth closes.
