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Chapter 2
Addie
Calax dropped me gently onto the kitchen chair. With a scowl aimed at my parents and a gentle kiss on my forehead, Calax reluctantly left the room.
And then there was the three of us.
Daddy remained standing, as was his usual intimidation technique. He always needed to be the tallest, most imposing, figure in the room. I suddenly wished that the chair was on the table just so I could be taller than the condescending bastard.
I figured that would’ve looked a little weird.
“You wanted to talk, so talk,” Daddy said bluntly. A scowl marred his handsome face.
“I’m going to be eighteen in a couple of weeks,” I began, folding my hands and placing them on my lap.
“And? Do you think that gives you the right to leave the family?”
Well yes, actually, but I figured that wouldn’t go over well with D.O.D.
My birth giver considered me thoughtfully, his hand absently rubbing at the stubble on his chin. I didn’t understand why he felt the need to do that. Did it really help his thinking capabilities?
“You’re right,” he said at last, surprising the shit out of me. I was a lot of things to my father, but right was never one of them. Maybe he had turned into a Rager. Maybe the virus actually flipped your personality. That would make more sense than whatever the hell was currently happening.
I thought I would have to beg, cry, threaten. I thought I would get beaten down before I would be able to rise back up. Life, particularly the one my parents had given me, had taught me as much.
A sly smile touched Dad’s lips.
“We could always ask Nikolai for help.”
Just like that, the smile was wiped from my face. Something icy slithered down my spine. I had been fearful before when facing the Ragers, but this was something entirely different. Deeper.
I had never experienced such an intense fear before than I did at that moment.
“Leave Nik alone,” I whispered, stunned that they were even daring to bring him into this. Tears welled in my eyes, but I stubbornly held them in. “Please.”
When had “please” ever worked? Monsters didn’t listen to pleas; they used that desperation to their advantage.
Still, I was frantic enough to try anything.
“Please don’t.”
My entire life, my parents have owned me. There was no escaping them, no running away. I should’ve realized that the monsters would always come for me.
“If you don’t want to help us...” D.O.D trailed off ominously. I knew exactly how he wanted to finish that sentence.
If you don’t want to help us, Nikolai will.
And, just like that, they owned me again.
* * *
I couldn’t meetany of the boys’ eyes as Fallon helped me out of the kitchen, the door swinging shut behind us. My dad entered after, looking so damn smug that I had to resist the urge to punch him. In the nuts. With a sledgehammer. While throwing monkey shit at his head. While he was tied to a train track with me driving the train.
Now, where to buy a monkey...
“Are you okay?” Calax asked immediately when he caught sight of me. His gaze flickered from my face to my parents’, and his expression darkened. I couldn’t decide if it was because of my stricken expression or my father’s content one. “No. No, damn it, no.”
Before I could respond, Calax kicked at the wall. The plaster crumbled.
