Page 60 of Tyr

She shook her head. It was too late for whys or should haves.

Celeste needed to get her father out of the house. As soon as he was outside of the wards, she would use her mind to call Tyr. She’d tell him where they were, and if he didn’t hate her, he’d come.

She shimmied out from under her bed and spotted a chair next to the door. She silently jumped up and tiptoed to it. Picking it up, she wedged it under the doorknob.

“I’m afraid that won’t keep me out,” said a voice behind her.

Celeste spun around. Her mother lounged on the bed. Celeste’s stomach flopped, and she had to look twice to be sure it really was her mother.

As a child, her mother’s eyes had shone like brilliant aquamarines flecked with golden starlight. But years of abuse and sin had diminished the golden flecks that belied her celestial heritage to nothing more than smoldering embers behind a starless night sky. Her cheeks, which once had been the perfect shade of peach, had sunken in and tinged a deep grayish color. Even her mother’s once shiny, thick hair hung limp and as dry asher mother’s cracked lips. As Celeste took in her mother’s frame, she wondered how long it had been since her mother had eaten or bathed.

“I’m taking Papa.”

Her mother laughed and motioned to the figure on the floor. “Him? He’s all yours.”

Celeste knelt next to her dad and pushed the hair from his face.

“Papa? I’m here.” She pressed her hand over his heart. It still beat.

She reached out with her mind to see if he was conscious.

For a second, nothing happened, and then the man’s eyes opened. A sick feeling dripped through Celeste, and she scrambled away.

“You aren’t my father.”

The man chuckled as he broke the ropes with ease and got to his feet.

Celeste touched the man’s mind. A cold wave washed over her.Demon.

She looked from him to her mother. “What is this?”

The man shook off her father’s façade to reveal Amezodile. Anton’s bodyguard.

“Where’s Papa?”

“You ran from Anton, and he wants you back. I knew you would only come if you thought your father was in danger. Amezodile’s a trickster demon.”

Celeste tried to grasp her mother’s words. “So… Papa isn’t in danger? He isn’t here?”

Her mother licked her lips. “I haven’t seen your father.”

Rage bloomed inside her again. “I don’t believe you.”

“I don’t care.” Her mother jumped to her feet. “You left me here to deal with the mess you created. You and your stupid father. Do you have any idea what I’ve been put through byAnton? I made a deal with him. You broke that deal. He almost killed me.”

Celeste couldn’t hold back the vitriol that she’d suppressed for too many years. “This wasn’t my mess. You sold me knowing what he was capable of. He broke almost every bone in my body because of you.”

“You should have just done what he asked, and you would have been showered with gold and jewels and everything you want.”

“No! Gold and jewelry, yes, but never what I wanted. I don’t give a crap about that stuff. I want love. I want a family. I want—” She stopped herself right before saying Tyr’s name.

“Just like your father. Stupid. Naïve. Weak.”

Celeste clenched her fists to keep from smashing her mother in the face. “Where is my father,” she asked again through clenched teeth.

“I said I don’t know.”

“And I said I don’t believe you.”

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