Page 33 of Facet

“How are you doing with all of that?” I quietly asked.

He inhaled deeply and huffed it out. “I’m honestly not sure. It’s weird, but cool at the same time. Part of me wonders how much loyalty a demon could have for me? How much should I trust him? Hell, I wonder if my ownbrothersshould trust me?”

I wrapped my fingers around his wrist and pulled his hand back to kiss it. “Well, I trust you. You’re a good man despite your heritage.”

“Am I?” He shook his head. “You know there are a lot of things I’ve done that would say otherwise.”

It was my turn to shake my head. We’d have to agree to disagree.

“I still have time before I have to make breakfast, right?” I still had two days in my weekly rotation for breakfast.

“Yeah, you’re good. Your phone is right here on the bedside table. The alarm is set?”

“Mmhm.”

“Okay. See you later.” His full lips slid over mine, and uncaring of my possible morning breath, I opened for him.

Once our sensuous kiss ended, I nodded and dozed off.

“I’mAlive”—Shinedown

“So will I be able to do that too?” I asked my father when we were suddenly behind a remote gas station. It appeared to have been long out of business and abandoned.

I was slightly lightheaded from whatever kind of teleportation my father had done. It was obviously on a much larger scale than Squirrel, because I was pretty sure my brother could only go somewhere he could see or where he knew the layout. It also had to be fairly close.

Between him and Ghost and their disappearing acts, they freaked the fuck out of everyone. I’d love to be able to teleport just to get even with them, if nothing else.

“With much practice, you should be able to teleport, but possibly on a much smaller scale. I’m not sure how diluted my powers are with you. Until we have a chance to test them, we won’t know for sure,” my father—still weird to accept—replied as he straightened the cuffs of his tailored shirt under his impeccable suit.

Together, despite our physical similarities, we looked like polar opposites. He was dressed like a mafia don and I was in ratty jeans, combat boots, and a plain black T-shirt.

“Why are we here again?” I glanced around. “And where is here?”

“Bumfuck, New Mexico.”

“Obviously. And the why?”

“You want to find your woman’s family. Though I don’t understand why. It’s only going to cause problems if she gets to know them and then she chooses immortality with you. Regardless, we’re meeting with an informant I have.”

“Okay,” I drew out.

In the distance, a car approached as a dust cloud billowed behind it. Séamus—my father—held his ground and we waited until it stopped on the other side of the lot. My adrenaline ratcheted up as the car sat there without anyone getting out.

A sidelong glance at my father showed a calm, cool, and collected man. A guy that barely looked older than me.

Finally, the driver’s door opened, and a man climbed out. He stared at us for a moment before he approached. He looked like an average dude in his mid-twenties. Slightly disheveled, but otherwise nondescript.

“I had to drive all night to get here,” he grumbled. He shot a distrustful glance my way. “Who’s this?”

“None of your business,” my father coolly returned.

The guy snorted. “Like I can’t tell he’s your spawn.”

“I didn’t ask,” my father said in a completely bored tone.

“Fine. Have it your way. What do you need from me?”

“I need names of groups that were in child abduction and black market adoptions. Roughly twenty-five years ago. Specifically, I want ones that place girls into families in southern California.”

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