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He squirmed. “I don’t know. Maybe never. She’s leaving at the end of the month. I’m sorry you had to find out this way, honey.”
“Don’t you honey me,” I whispered, wondering if Mother had ever gone through this with Father. We girls had always assumed he’d been faithful, and Mother had never given us reason to doubt him. But I’d just learned a painful lesson about assumptions, and it made me question a lot of things I’d believed.
Father was full-blooded Fae, and the Fae were seldom monogamous. Had our parents had their bouts of jealousy and temptation? Father was a handsome man, it was hard to believe no woman had ever tried to entice him away.
Chase gulped. “Erika came into town a few weeks ago. She called me. I haven’t seen her in years, and I thought we’d just have dinner and let it go at that. But she said she was sorry she’d let me go. She missed me. I told her I was involved with you, but she didn’t care. She came here for lunch the next day . . . and . . . things . . . just escalated.”
I tried to control my voice, to remain calm. “Do you love her?”
He jerked his head up. “Love her? No . . . no. Whatever love I felt for Erika vanished a long time ago. She’s just . . . I was so horny, and you were . . .”
“And I was what? Conveniently not around? Did it ever occur to you that you could call me to come over here for a quickie at lunch? You know I would have.” Now I was mad. He couldn’t even come up with a good excuse.
When he didn’t answer, I slammed my hand into the wall, taking care not to leave a dent. “So you’re telling me you’ve been fucking her because it’s too much trouble to call me? That you’re just too horny to wait for me to drive over? Spare me!” I shook my head as the tears threatened to well up. Angry at myself for caring, I dashed them away. “At least I had the guts to tell you about Zachary right after it happened. And I didn’t keep on fucking him.”
Chase jumped up, eyes blazing. “You never promised it wouldn’t happen again—”
“I told you that if it ever happened again, I’d tell you first. I’d give you the chance to decide whether you could handle it or not. I’ve never gone behind your back on anything—”
“Bullshit!”
“What?” I strode over to the desk until we were inches apart. “What the hell are you saying? Are you calling me a liar?”
“Get real, Delilah. You and your sisters are always hiding information from me. Or you just conveniently forget to tell me things I should know. How do you think I feel around you and your little band of superheroes? Camille and her hot studs, Menolly and her blood-crazed friends. All of you make your own rules, and every time I protest, all I hear is ‘Maybe we should go home and leave the demons to you, Chase’ or ‘Oh, grow up and deal with it, Chase.’ Do you ever really consult me? Do you even give a fuck about this world? Or are you just hiding out here because of the death threat your psycho queen slapped on your heads?”
I couldn’t believe my ears. Did he really believe what he was saying? How could I have spent the past six months with the man and never tripped over the resentment he was spouting? Because that’s what was coming to the surface. His words were tainted with it, full of anger and envy. Unable to respond, I simply stared at him. For a moment, I thought I was going to shift, and I almost welcomed the transformation, but as I stood there, I realized that nothing was going to happen.
He closed his eyes and leaned against his desk, deflating slowly. “I’m sorry. I went too far. I know you care, I know you girls have a rough time . . . I’m just . . .” Letting out a long sigh, he said, “I don’t have an excuse, Delilah. I was frustrated about the way things have been going. Everything’s crazy, and it all seems linked to you girls. I guess Erika . . . she reminded me of a simpler time. She was here, willing, and I wanted her. So . . . I fucked her.”
Numb, unable to feel anything but a searing shame that I couldn’t even understand, I sought for words, but they were scattered and would not come. Finally, I turned away.
“I’ve got to get out of here,” I said. “Menolly will call you if something comes up. You can always call Iris or Camille. I’ve got to . . . I just . . . I’m going to leave, and I don’t want to talk to you for a while.”
“Delilah, you can’t go. We have to talk about this.” He ran to my side and reached out to grab my hand, but I jerked away, standing frozen. I didn’t want him to touch me, didn’t want to feel his hands on my skin. “Don’t go. Please stay. I’m sorry. I’m sorry I didn’t tell you.”
I shook my head. Maybe he was, or maybe he was just sorry I’d caught him. Either way, I didn’t want to know. Not now. Maybe not ever. “I’m going to walk out this door and down the hall. Please don’t follow me.”
“Delilah—no!”
As I stepped through the door, I paused, avoiding his gaze. “By the way, you should know that Camille’s in the infirmary. She almost died today fighting a hellhound. And just FYI, if we didn’t love our mother’s world and the people in it, we would have left it long ago. We’ve all paid the price in pain and injuries. We face death every time we go out there.”
“Delilah . . .”
His whisper broke through my anger. I whirled around, glaring at him.
“If we didn’t love it here, we would have left it to the hellhounds and the demons and the wackos that walk the streets. The perverts Menolly takes out so they never hurt anybody again. The same ones you and your men can’t catch or can’t put away. So fuck you, Chase Johnson. Fuck you and your insecurities and your lies. You want an open relationship? Fine! You knew I wouldn’t object. But I want it aboveboard and honest. At least my father’s people have enough honor to tell their lovers when they take someone new. Can you say the same?”
He held out his hand. “Delilah, please . . . can’t we just talk?”
I’d had enough. I wasn’t sure whether it was Erika herself or the lies that bothered me more. And I knew it would take a while before I could sort everything out in my mind. If we were to have a chance, Chase and I needed a break. I shook my head.
“Maybe in a week or two. But for now, let’s just call a truce. A break. As I said, phone Iris or one of the others if you need to talk to us about official business, but don’t contact me. I need to think. And so do you.” With that, I shut the door behind me. I cried all the way down the hall.
CHAPTER 8
Camille was sitting in the waiting room with Smoky and Morio by the time I’d washed my face and composed myself. Chase hadn’t come after me, and while I didn’t expect him to, I halfway wished he would have.
“You guys ready? We need to get out of here.” Other than my voice sounding throaty—like I’d been around too much smoke or had spent all night yowling with the neighbor cats—I didn’t look any different, and I wanted it that way. I’d tell Camille everything when she felt better, but I didn’t feel like exposing the situation with Chase to Smoky or Morio.
