Page 29 of Facet

“Yeah, I know. I was by the door when he snuck in.” I pinched the bridge of my nose. “I grabbed him and had him pushed against the wall. My forearm was cutting off his air, but he was strong and fought me like a motherfucker. I… I pressed my face toward his and I… fuck, why is this so hard?”

“What did you do?” Venom gruffly but calmly asked.

“I stole the life from that guy. Like I breathed his soul in—sucked it straight from his body,” my hand trembled at my admission.

“Then where did his body go?” Hawk asked with his brows drawn down. I hated that he suddenly looked wary.

“I think I absorbed him until he was a husk. Like he literally turned to ash in my hands and blew away. Afterward, I felt this surge of strength… power. But it was so fucking dark. Like I could happily do that again to whoever walked by me next—friend or foe. It terrified me.” My fingers curled in and my hands fisted on the table’s surface.

“Holy shit,” Ghost whispered as he fell back in his seat.

“Like you really are the angel of death,” Angel murmured in fascination. His head tilted as he studied me. It made me feel like I was under a microscope.

“I’m certainly no fucking angel,” I darkly admitted.

“You’ve got that right,” the voice behind me said.

We all scrambled to our feet. The door hadn’t opened and yet my father stood just inside the threshold.

“No one is supposed to be in here that isn’t a brother,” Kicker snarled.

My father arched a single dark brow. “I go where I want,” he murmured with a barely there lift of the corner of his mouth. Then his gaze locked on mine. “We need to talk.”

Hesitantly, my eyes darted to Venom for his approval. He gave me a slight nod.

I motioned toward the exit, and my father went out with me trailing behind. “We can go outside. Out the back door, there are tables and chairs.”

Passing him, I led the way. Once we were outside, I chose one of the chairs by the fire pit. He settled into the one next to me.

“This is… quaint.”

I shot him a glare at the condescension in his tone.

Exasperation replaced his previously disdainful expression. “What would you like from me? I’m sorry that I live in a more… luxurious lifestyle. Something you’d be accustomed to if I’d known about you.”

“Maybe I like where I’m at,” I muttered defiantly.

He sighed and ran a hand through his dark hair. “We’re getting off on the wrong foot. I’m sorry.”

Unsure if he was sincere, I gave him a cautious side-eye.

“Look, if we’re gonna be brutally honest, I’m furious. What your mother did was wrong—punishable by death in the Unseelie court. I would be within my rights to end her,” he explained.

Shock made my mouth fall open. “For fuck’s sake.”

He arched a brow.

“Wait, you’re serious?” My mother may not have been a great mom, but she didn’t deserve to be killed for it.

“Yes. Sheintentionallykept you hidden from me. She openly admitted that earlier.” He frowned.

“She didn’t tell you but that doesn’t mean she intentionally kept me from you. Maybe she couldn’t find you? Hell, maybe you’re not even really my father,” I argued, but as soon as the words left my mouth, I remembered her saying she cloaked me from him.

Shit. He was right.

His brows practically disappeared into his hair. “Well, that’s easily proved or disproved. She found me tonight—usingyourblood. In order to call me, you need my blood, which I’m sure you can understand I’m not in the habit of giving out. Therefore, she called me with blood of my blood. And that amulet you wear?”

I grabbed the onyx around my neck.

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