Page 33 of Daemonium

“Isn’t that the same person?” Dion asked.

“Unfortunately,” Ciaran answered.

“So that thing with her mom marrying your dad?”

“That’s true,” my brother confirmed. “But we don’t claim that piece of shit as our father. We were raised by a much better man.”

“You don’t seem to claim her either. I for sure thought you had forgotten her or something.”

“We could say the same for you about your girlfriend,” Ciaran countered casually.

Dion’s brows rose. “Why would I care about her?”

“Damn. That’s cold, D,” my brother quipped.

It wasn’t him either. Dion was like the male version of Sunshine—too fucking good for a place like this.

“She was a plant,” he said slowly, looking at each of us. “I realized that at the warehouse. I thought you knew already.”

We hadn’t.

As that information settled, I wondered what else we weren’t aware of. It wasn’t a pleasant feeling.

“What was it like when you remembered?” Brody asked curiously.

Dion shrugged. “Hard to explain. All those feelings I thought were mine went away. I’m not even sure if that was her real name.”

It was, but that mattered even less now. “It was better for Jess not to know too many details about what we’re doing. She can’t be trusted. It wasn’t earned,” I answered his question as my sole way to make amends for degloving his not girlfriend, just in case.

“But she’s not necessarily bad though right?”

“Even if she is, we aren’t exactly the good guys, D,” Ciaran responded with a laugh, adopting my brother’s nickname for him.

Dion’s eyes darted around the room. “We aren’t?”

“Bro, I almost feel bad for you,” Brody replied, running a hand through his curls.

“Oh, well.” Dion rubbed the back of his neck. “How did Mel feel about her? I didn’t want to ask because she’s never mentioned her once. Is it the same kinda scenario as Lana and her siblings or did they forget about one another?”

We shared a look amongst us. How did he come to that conclusion?

“How is that related?” I questioned.

“Because Lana’s brother is part of the show and so was her sister?”

“Explain it to me like I’m five,” Maverick prodded.

He straightened, his eyes darting around behind his glasses and looking at each of us. Ah. He knew something else we didn’t. I took a quiet breath and counted back, rolling my shoulders. I could not crack open his skull.

His death would be one Sunshine wouldn’t forgive. I was fine with her hating me. I could still keep her, but I refused to let her do anything but need and love me. I would hate myself if I broke any more of her heart by killing our first dog. That’s what he was—a Golden Retriever with high intelligence. I never needed to worry about her giving him affection.

Maverick and Charon looked at me questioningly. I shook my head and crossed my arms, staring Dion down. “We’re waiting.”

“I wasn’t sure I should say it out loud,” he replied defensively. “There’s more than one set of sisters getting fucked over,” he stated as cryptically as he could.

It was enough for us—and probably anyone watching to decode. We hadn’t known. Melantha having a sister? No one knew that.

“You know,” Maverick began, “that explains why her mom doesn’t give a shit about her.”

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