Page 61 of Tyr

“That’s not my concern. I gave birth to you. Took care of you. Fed you. Raised you. Kept you safe. You owe me.”

Celeste swallowed the boulder lodged in her throat. “You don’t love me at all, do you? You think I owe you because you pushed me out of your body? You should have given me to my dad and lived your own life.”

“You ruined my life!” she shouted. “You and your damn father. Filling my head with the idea we’d be a family. That he would make everything okay for us. But he didn’t! He ruined me. Tainted me. Made me into this.”

“No, Mother. You made you into that. Dad tried to do everything he promised. It was you who broke that. You who ruined him. Ruined me. You just couldn’t handle the fact that a demon was a better person than you were supposed to be.”

Her mother’s eyes narrowed, and her fists clenched. “Take her.”

Amezodile stepped forward and clamped his hand on Celeste’s arm. She struggled against him and tried to pull away, but Amezodile’s grip was too strong. He dragged her toward the bedroom door. No. Not again. She refused to be weak and pushed around any longer.

Celeste dropped her shield and blasted him with a wave of mental energy. Amezodile dropped her arm like it was on fire. He grabbed his head and crumpled to the ground.

“Stop!” her mother commanded.

There was no stopping. Not this time. Not for Amezodile. And not for her mother.

Celeste blasted Amezodile again, and he wailed in agony, his form shifting into dozens of different people.

Her mother ran forward and grabbed Celeste, shaking her, but Celeste shoved her mother to the ground.

Over and over, Celeste let her rage pour out of her as she blasted Amezodile. The power and control intoxicated her. It lit inside like a tender flame growing with each cry, each physical shift, each plea for her to stop.

“I warned you, Amezodile,” she said softly. “I warned you last time that you would pay for not helping me.”

“Stop, or you’ll never see your father again!” her mother yelled.

Celeste’s gaze whipped to her mother. “You said you don’t know where he is.”

Terror flooded her mother’s eyes as she glanced at Amezodile, who still cried in agony a foot away.

“I lied, like you said.”

Celeste took a step forward. “Where is he?”

Her mother licked her lips, and Celeste attacked, blasting her mother with a wave of mental energy. Her mother screamed andcurled into a ball. Celeste hit her again. She’d never attacked her mother, but as her anger boiled over, Celeste let all of her pain and rage flow into her mother, who screamed and writhed like the snake she was.

Her mother’s wings sprouted from her back, ragged and decrepit. She tried to shield herself, but there were no protections against what Celeste bombarded her with.

Power. Control. Pain.

“Where is he?” Celeste yelled.

Her mother screeched. “Anton’s!”

Celeste blinked rapidly and pulled back her ability. Her father was at Anton’s? Why was he there? What had Anton been doing to him?

Rage built inside her once more at the prospect of someone hurting her Papa.

Her gaze traveled back to Amezodile. “You should have told me that in the first place. It would have saved time. Let’s go.”

Amezodile tried to get to his feet, but his legs buckled, and he dropped again.

“Now!” Celeste ordered.

He tried again and managed to get to his feet shakily.

“Start the car. And pay the cabbie outside.”

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