Page 144 of Demise

She smiles sadly, tucking a piece of hair behind my ear.

“That is a very long story.”

“Please,” I beg.

“Luther Putnam discovered me and your father. He sent Christopher and Henry to kill me and—”

“Wait,” I say, feeling as if the entire world has shifted beneath my feet. “Are you saying Henry isn’t my father?”

She gives me a watery smile and shakes her head.

“Oh shit, I didn’t see that coming,” Liam comments before someone, rightfully so, smacks him on the back of the head. “Ow.”

“What do you mean?” I ask. “If he isn’t, then who is? Where have you been all these years? How could you—”

“G, it’s time,” Rachel says urgently.

My mom closes her eyes, her shoulders sagging with disappointment as she leans forward, pressing her lips to my forehead. When she pulls away, she gives me a sad smile.

“I have to go.”

“What? NO!” I shout, clinging to her.

“Skyla, I have to. We only have cover for so long.”

“Who is we?” Ronan asks.

“Please, I feel like I just got you back, don’t disappear on me. Please,” I beg.

“I’d never,” she says with a shake of her head. “I’m so sorry. Will you come to me this weekend? Stay as long as you want, make sure you aren’t followed or tracked, okay?”

I nod unquestioningly, and she gives me another forehead kiss before slipping on a hooded cloak and slipping between the guys and out the back door. When the door shuts, the room is silentfor several seconds. Rachel grabs a pen and paper from the desk, scribbling an address onto it before handing it to me.

“This is where she lives. Please, for the sake of everyone, make sure you tell no one. Not even Stephanie.”

“You know who Stephanie is?” I ask.

Rachel nods. “And she can’t know. It’s not safe for your mom…or for you.”

“You knew who I was the second I stepped foot into your shop, didn’t you?”

She gives me a soft smile before pulling me in for a hug.

“I’d have recognized you anywhere. You don’t know how long I’ve been waiting to meet you.”

“Do you know who my real father is? Where he is?” I ask as I look up to her.

She nods as she looks around the room.

“Come this weekend, and you will get all the answers you are searching for.”

I nod, glancing down at the paper in my hands. New Hampshire?

Chapter Forty Five

Liam

Ithought that discovering Wesley had been a mole for months was the craziest thing to happen to us this week. Then, we discovered that Skyla’s dead mom wasn’t so dead after all, and I stood corrected. Now, I’m sitting across from my father, who is handing me the Walcott family engagement ring, insisting I am now engaged to Maryia Sewall. This takes the fucking cake. Okay, well, I don’t think it can actually trump dead, not so dead mom, but shit, I’m fucking livid.

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