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“Must run in the family,” I murmur.
“I remember she stabbed me in the arm and then ran away with a backpack full of supplies she stole from my home.” He absently scratches at a spot on his bicep, and I wonder if that’s where she injured him. “We met a few more times after that, but it was only during the fifth meeting that we actually talked for more than a minute. I knew immediately she was my mate, but she remained oblivious. Humans, apparently, don’t sense mate bonds the way monsters do.
“She didn’t care that I was different from most monsters and humans, that I didn’t feel emotions the same way she did. I believe I loved her.” His eyes glaze, as if he’s trapped in a memory invisible to the naked eye. “And she loved me too.
“When she became pregnant with you, she was worried. The resistance camp she was a part of didn’t know about her relationship with me.
“She gave birth to you and immediately fell in love. However, shortly after you came into the world, she fell sick with a disease the humans call cancer.” Another emotion flashes across his face, quick as lightning.
Grief.
My stomach turns painfully at the thought of this mother who loved me…one I never got to know. What would my life have been like if Illy raised me? Would I have had a relationship with Tennious? Would I have met my mates? I don’t dare ponder the “what ifs.” I’ll go insane if I do.
“We discussed you at length before she passed, but we both agreed that I wasn’t fit to take care of a child. Illy decided she would give you to her sister to raise.” Tennious absently scratches at the nape of his neck.
It’s such a human gesture that I almost forget he’s a monster. Almost. I think it’d be impossible to forget completely.
“After Illy died, I kept an eye on you for a while, but your resistance camp constantly moved around. It didn’t take long before I lost track of you.” A muscle in his throat bobs as he swallows. “When Barnabas talked about a white-haired girl mated to four monsters, I knew in my soul that he was talking about you. I couldn’t allow him to kill you.”
He shakes his head slowly from side to side. “I may not feel things the way others do, but I know you’re my daughter, and I don’t want you dead.
“I’m not sure if Barnabas trusted me or simply feared me. Either way, he kept me at his side, so I was able to hear all of his plans. When I heard he wanted to kill you, I knew I needed to stop him. I’d actually planned on killing him that day.” A cold smile curls up his lips. “But you and your mates beat me to it.”
I don’t know how to respond to the bombshell he just tossed at me. In a span of minutes, I learned the people who raised me were actually my aunt and uncle, my mother died of cancer, and I have a sociopathic monster as a father.
Clearing my throat, I glance at Tennious sheepishly through my fringe of lashes. “Can you…?” I break off and have to start again. “Can you tell me about her? Illy, I mean?”
“Of course.”
And he does.
We stand on the balcony for over three hours talking. I’m not sure that Tennious will ever be the father to teach me how toride a bike or braid my hair or throw a baseball…but he seems to care for me in his own monstrous way.
What more could I ask for?
When Tennious retreatsto his own hotel room later that night, I’m exhausted.
Through it all, my mates have remained nearby, granting me privacy but also prepared to fight at a moment’s notice if Tennious decides to hurt me.
But I know that he won’t. He’s a lot of things, most of them horrible, but he seems to care for me in his own twisted way.
Talking to him has reaffirmed one thing for me, though—life is too short to push away the people you love. Death is everywhere, and there’s no escaping it. No running away.
Which means you need to live life to the fullest and have no regrets.
At some point during my conversation with Tennious, Chase moved to sit on the patio chair. His eyes remain fixed on the horizon, where the sun has disappeared behind mutilated skyscrapers. He doesn’t look in my direction as I step closer, but I know he can sense me. His shoulder muscles tighten beneath his sea-blue shirt.
“You’ve been avoiding me.” There’s no point in beating around the bush.
“We believe the Bell Witch is dead,” Chase says, and there’s a slight hitch to his voice I’ve never heard before. “It’ll be impossible for Em to leave my body now.”
My brows furrow. “Chase, I’m sorry?—”
“Don’t.” He turns his head away as if it pains him to stare directly at me. “Just…don’t. I should be the one apologizing to you.”
Out of everything I expected him to say, it wasn’tthat.
“What do you mean?” I take a single step closer until I’m between his spread legs.
