“To see my mother and sister,” I answer honestly, and he darts across the room, reaching for my fingertips, and I allow my answer to drift into him.
Hot.
“Why?”
“Because I miss them,” I answer truthfully, ensuring the heat that travels between us is just as hot, but it's not enough for him.
Pain infiltrates my mind, and I drop to my knees once again.
“Bullshit,” he snarls, his anger barely audible over the pain contorting me. “Did you think I wouldn't know?” he snaps, lowering his hand once again to ease the tension in my mind.
“I didn't think it would be an issue,” I rasp.
“I’ve made more powerful men fall for much less,” he snarls, grabbing the scruff of my neck and yanking me to my feet with ease.
The threat is loud and clear.
I sink my teeth into my tongue, tasting their familiar essence of copper as I keep my mouth shut. He storms across the room, dragging me along with him, and I go with the movement as he shoves me into the chair he had occupied moments ago.
Pain continues to throb through me at his command as he glares down at me, his eyes set on mine.
“Who is Theodore Lupus?” he commands, and I scoff.
“Is that a trick question?”
My father slams his hand down on the desk with rage as he leans in closer.
“Why is he sniffing around my business?” he bites.
“I wasn't aware he was,” I push back, and he growls.
“Another strike. Maybe you need to see what's at risk,” he grunts, and I frown in confusion, watching as he marches for the door. The pain that consumes my head makes it impossible for me to stand as I hear a grunt and athud, and I immediately know it's Dorian.
My pulse rings wildly among the stabbing sensation that continues to consume my mind as the sound of a knock vibrates in the distance, followed momentarily by the sweet sound of Ivy's voice.
Fear consumes me, right to the bone.
I can't hear what they say, but my worst fears are confirmed a few seconds later when my father returns, Ivy a step behind him.
Her scent envelops me as she steps into the room. My father ensures the door is closed behind them, but one thing is clear: whatever he said to get her here isn't what she's walking into, because instant fear clouds her vision as she stares at me.
The sight imprints in my mind in the same way it did when I watched her die.
All of my guilt will forever revolve around this woman and the devastation I seem to continue to cause.
Feeling her tension exposes my vulnerabilities further, and my heart aches.
My father hasn't even begun to speak, and emotion dances in our eyes, but my vision blurs as my father uses even more of his magic to scramble my mind.
“Fuck,” I curse, curling my fingers into my hair as my body leans forward.
“Archer?” Ivy cries out, taking a step toward me, but my father stops her in her tracks.
“Son, why was Theodore Lupus sniffing around in my business?” I offer him silence. Not by choice, but because the pain that continues to vibrate through my bones at his hand is impossible to think through. “Would you like her to feel what you're feeling right now?” he muses gently, and I try to shake my head, peering at the blonde vision before me.
Her eyebrows pinch as her lips twist. “It's okay, Archer,” she whispers, her voice barely audible over the tremble, but I don't miss my father's grin as he claps his hands.
“As you wish it.”
