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“You’re scaring me here, Ma. What the hell?” As I was saying that, Pax came out of the bathroom, drying his hair with a towel, his sweats hanging low on his waist. He raised a brow at me, and I frantically gestured for him to join me. When he tossed the towel on the back of a chair and did just that, I put the phone on speaker, set it between us on the bed, and took his hand, looking into his eyes and shaking my head.
“Um . . .” my mom started.
“You know we love you, right, Sky?” my dad said.
“Of course, I freaking know you love me, Dad. What the hell is this about?”
I heard my mom take a deep breath on the other end of the line. “When your father and I were young, we wanted nothing more than to have children. Alas, we weren’t granted that gift.”
“But then you had me,” I said.
“Then we got you,” my dad replied, and I noticed his word choice. Before I could ask about it, my mom continued.
“One late night, thirty-four years ago, your father and I were taking a walk in the Garden District. It was a beautiful night.Piáoliang. The moon was full, and the October air was brisk but not cold. As we approached a park, we noticed a figure running towards us, a bundle in their arms. At first, we were a little scared, afraid we’d unknowingly stumbled upon a crime.” I noticed her accent thickening a bit as it did when she was riding high on some emotion. That in and of itself concerned me.
Mom stopped, and my dad took over. “It was a man. Maybe in his sixties or early seventies but hard to tell. He was disheveled, bruised and bloody, smelled of smoke. And in his arms, a wiggling bundle of cloth. He thrust it at your mother and in the most urgent and sincere voice imaginable said that we had to keep you safe. That we must not tell anyone where you came from or what had happened—even though we had no idea whathadhappened. He didn’t even give us his name. Just said, ‘Bless you. This is a child of light. The darkness may not have her.’ And then he put his hand on your forehead, whispered something, and continued running, looking back only a few times before disappearing around the corner. I’ll never forget it.”
I looked at Pax and saw that his eyes were wide, likely matching my expression. He grasped my hand more firmly and pulled me into him. I soaked in his warmth. His strength. I was too shocked to even form words. I didn’t even know what to ask first. Where to start. But before I could even take a breath to try, my mom jumped back in.
“You were so very perfect. Ten fingers. Ten toes. Big, brown eyes that looked upon the world with such wonder. I knew the moment I laid eyes on you that you would do great things. I never put too much stock in love at first sight until I saw you. We did some digging. Tried to figure out where you came from. Your dad used his connections, but nothing ever really came of it. DNA testing was only in its infancy and not something we could have used to try and track down your family. And all the while, we loved you and raised you as ours. We told our friends that you were a relative from China we were helping to escape a bad situation, and that we had decided to adopt you. And we did. Adopt you, that is.”
I finally found my voice. “Hold up. So not only am I not your biological child, but some weirdo thrust me on you in the middle of the night outta nowhere? And you, as a lawyer, never thought to question the possible legal ramifications?”
“Well, I wouldn’t exactly say that or put it that way,” my dad said. “You were a gift. A precious gift. One we were only too happy to accept—and break some rules for.”
“I think I need a minute.”
“We understand you’re confused, baby,” my mom said. “And I wish I could give you more. I wish I could tell you more about where you came from and what happened. But all we were ever able to discern was that the night this all happened was the same night the massacre occurred at the Lamour Mansion. We have no way of knowing if they were connected, though. Not for sure. Or if any of what we heard and read is true. But given all the rumors about the black magic witches who lived there . . . if there was even a possibility they were connected somehow, we only wanted to protect you and keep you safe—as the man asked us to do.”
“To this day . . .” My dad picked up the story. “We don’t know why he had you.” His voice quavered. “We don’t know why he was so insistent that we take you, keep you safe, and tell no one. Or why we never saw or heard from him again. All we knew then—and now—is that we loved you and that you were ours the minute you landed in your mother’s arms.”
“I—” I started, not sure what to say. What to feel. “Okay, I really need to unpack this a bit. That was—is—a lot.”
“I know, honey. And I’m so sorry,” my dad said, sorrow in his tone. “We love you so much. When your mother told me that you were working the Lamour Mansion, I took it as a sign that it was time to tell you. We know you’re strong enough to handle it. But I hope you know that we never kept it from you to hurt you. We just—both then and now—had no idea what we were supposed to keep you safe from, and when my contacts didn’t uncover anything, and we had fallen so utterly in love with you, accepting that you were ours, it didn’t seem as important anymore.”
“I know you love me, Dad,” I said with a sigh. “But I need time to process. Some things happened at work, and I discovered the other day that our blood types don’t match so I had a feeling that something like this was coming.”
“Oh, Sky, are you okay? Why did you have blood drawn?” my mom asked.
“I’m fine. Honest. Just precautionary. But while that means this wasn’t as big of a surprise as it might have been at any other time, it’s still a lot. Not to mention, there is some weird-ass shit going down at Lamour. Now that I know the truth of this, it’s layers upon layers of already fucked-up stuff. I just need a beat, okay? I love you both. We’ll talk soon.”
Without giving them a chance to say more, I disconnected and melted into Pax’s hold. “What the actual fuck, Pax?”
He kissed my head and bundled me close. “I don’t know. But we’re going to figure it out. I’ll call Hanlen in a little bit and do some digging of my own in the parish. For now, let’s just settle awhile. If you want to talk, I’m here. If you just want to rest, I’m still here.” He shifted and tipped my chin up with a finger, looking deeply into my eyes before taking my lips in a soft, sweet kiss full of strength and acceptance. It was exactly what I needed. And as we lay down, his bigger body wrapped around mine, I couldn’t help but think that this may have been the most unexpected day in the history of the universe.
CHAPTER16
~Paxton~
Sky had drifted off to sleep again, albeit fitfully. I figured she was likely feeling a bit hurt and stressed, and it was probably taking its toll on her already taxed body. Not to mention everything she’d gone through during the investigation the last couple of days. She’d handled the news that her parents had unloaded on her well, but as she’d said, it was still a lot, on top of a lot. And I had a sick feeling that it would only get worse.
I put in a call to Hanlen and asked her to check on a few things for me as a favor, beseeching her to keep it to herself until we got some answers—if we got any. She agreed but asked if she could at least tell Dev. I conceded, knowing I couldn’t ask her to keep anything from the one she loved.
Checking on Sky once more and feeling confident that she’d be okay now that her emotions had calmed and she was inside all my protections, I left her a note and walked to the one place I knew I could find some clarity—and maybe some answers. Old St. Patrick’s was a landmark in the area. A throwback to the arts of another time. A nineteenth-century Gothic wonder with a tower soaring over one hundred and eighty-five feet into the air, and massive, breathtaking murals behind the altar done in 1841. The church was one of the only buildings in the area that retained most of its original glory.
I entered the doors into the vestibule, greeted by the scents of incense and candles, the vaulted ceilings echoing each breath and making it feel as if it filled your entire being and not just your lungs. Dipping my fingers into the fountain of holy water in the narthex, I made the sign of the cross, genuflected, and slid into one of the beautifully restored cypress benches, bowing my head. While I had my issues with those who headed the Church—capital C—I had no issues with the establishments themselves. Quite the opposite, in fact. And while I was of the mind that people should be allowed to worship anywhere they chose, be it in a cathedral or the middle of the woods—and that there was nothing wrong with any of those places—something about a timeless structure full of faith and history; love, laughter, and tears, got me every time.
As I sat and prayed, I felt a presence slide onto the bench beside me.
