Page 22 of Facet

“What the actual fuck?” he murmured in a voice that carried a gravely undertone.

I gaped in disbelief, staring from one to the other. My hands fisted at my sides. This was him? Was he the man who walked away and left me to be raised without a father? Because I didn’t even know my father’s name.

“I need your help.” My mother gave him a pitiful and pleading look.

“My help? How the hell did you get me here?” His nostrils flared, and he appeared coldly furious. “Did you actually steal some of my blood the night we fucked?” the man snarled as a sneer curled his lip.

His attention snapped to me, and his silver and black eyes flared as he stared. His keen gaze swept over me from head to toe.

“He’s your son,” Mom announced, staring almostadoringlyup at the man she called Séamus. Then again, I watched her look at every man in her life the same way.

He spun on her, and his fury practically came off him in waves. Thunder rumbled in the distance.

“And you kept this from me? You stole more than blood from me. Do you know what I could do to you for that? To top it off, you drag me here against my will? Whereverhereis,” he replied, glancing around in disgust.

“All right, look. I’m right fucking here!” I was tired of being ignored, tired of being lied to, and tired of obviously being some kind of beacon to call in the father I didn’t know was still living.

When Séamus turned his head to stare at me, his eyes shone silver. My mouth fell open.

“Someone better start explaining some shit,” I muttered as I stared in confusion at the man I’d never met and the woman I suddenly felt like I didn’t know at all.

Mom sighed and finally gave me her attention. “When I met your father, I had no idea what he was. Yet I quickly fell in love and then I found out I was pregnant. But Séamus was gone. I was heartbroken and searched for him everywhere. I had no idea of his origins until you were born.”

Séamus made a snort that couldn’t be mistaken for anything other than disgust. He obviously wasn’t buying what my mother was trying to sell.

“What happened when I was born?” I asked, almost afraid to hear the answer.

“You had the demon’s mark on your chest,” my mom whispered, her brow pinched in worry.

My fingers immediately found the top of my shirt and curled around it to tug it down. “No, I don’t. Wait, you mean my birthmark?”

“How did you hide his existence from me?” Séamus coldly demanded, not waiting for my mother to answer me.

My mom swallowed hard. “I had him wear a cloaking amulet.”

“You—”

“You—”

Both of us began. Except whereas I was confused, Séamus seemed furious.

It might’ve been my imagination that was running amok with this new knowledge, but I was pretty sure my mother’s gaze had been calculating for half a heartbeat.

“I gotta sit down,” I muttered as I stumbled back and dropped to my ass in the tall grass. I was losing my fucking mind. That was the only explanation for all of this.

“What were you hoping to gain?” Séamus scoffed.

“Nothing! I only wanted to keep him safe. I was worried if you found out about him, you’d kill him,” my mom explained with a sniffle and a big tear that rolled down her cheek.

Séamus’s jaw clenched. “I would haveneverkilled my own son. I think you were more afraid I would killyou. The succubus who tried to killme.”

My brain was short-circuiting. Lightning flashed in the sky and thunder rumbled.

“Succubus?” I quietly but firmly demanded. Well, that explained my mother’s track record with men and how she looked the way she did. Holy shit.

“TheDeathofPeaceofMind”—BadOmens

“Here you go,” I told the guy as I set the beer he’d requested in front of him. Before I could pull my hand back, his fingers brushed mine. A chill skated down my spine and I pasted a tight smile on my face.

---