Page 117 of Living Legend

My father had a love for the outdoors that I never quite understood, so bad that he would train out there as a teenager, camp out in the woods regardless of the temperature, and sometimes just stand out in the rain, as if nothing else mattered. I hoped Daya loved the outdoors just as much as he did.

I smiled to myself at the idea. “That sounds literally perfect, Dad.”

My dad looked up at me from where he was plating eggs and gave me a small smile. “Thank you. I think it was.”

“I’m just happy you have someone when I’m not around.”

He patted the kitchen counter absently with his fingertips and nodded, more to himself, as if to say, ‘me too.’ I bit the inside of my cheek, trying to figure something out. “Dad, how much does she know?”

“About?” He was starting to pick up the plates and bring them to the table.

I grabbed his arm, halting him. He sat the ceramic plate down and faced me. “Oh, I don’t know, Dad.Everything.”

My father placed his hand over mine and slowly dragged my fingers off his skin. “She knows enough to understand. She doesn’t know all the minute details, but she does know about…” He nodded over to where Daya had walked down the hallway.

My eyebrows disappeared into my hairline. “You told her about Dani?” I brought my voice down a bit so that I wasn’t yelling.

“I told her enough, like I said. Daya isn’t judgmental, Nicholas. Yes, she was a little skeptical of Dani being a demon, but she trusts me, and she knows I trust you. She believes the same things I do.”

“And that would be?”

My father let out a huff. “Not all demons are the culprits. The bad guys. We have both seen bad things happen to innocent people by the very people we believed to be the good guys, so to say our views on good and bad are skewed would be an understatement.”

I pressed my lips together in defeat. My father was around when the attack on Oculus happened. I had never really asked him about his part in it. There were multiple sides to that story, and my father was one of those people who was willing to see all of them, but the time for that seemed to be long past. The whole attack was so hush, hush at The Skies, it was almost as if the only people who talked about it anymore was the new generation.

I raised my hands up in front of me and he just waved his hand at me, as if to say it didn’t matter but to stop asking stupid questions.

Dani was safe in Daya’s presence. I could breathe easier; not that I was worried for her or anything. Nope. I was just being cautious.

I rolled my neck, walking over to the counter and bringing the other plates with me. I went to get cups from the cabinet above the sink and take the orange juice out from the fridge. After a few moments of easy silence, he spoke.

“Nicholas, I wanted to ask you how you slept last night?” my dad had his back to me, but I could see the easy way his shoulder moved as he arranged the plates and napkins on the table. I was hunched over in the refrigerator, frozen in place. If I didn’t say something for too long, he would know something was up. It was a simple question, a question anyone who clearly slept alone would be able to answer.

I grabbed the orange juice and straightened up, closing the door with my knee. “Perfect. Like a baby.”

My father turned around and faced me, his arms crossed over his chest. “Is that so?”

I placed the orange juice next to the cups and started unscrewing the cap. “Yup.”

My father clucked his tongue. “Funny. I’m pretty sure we both agreed that that is the worst couch to sleep on. As a matter of fact, I remember you telling me you would never get a good night’s sleep on that couch, and you would be better off on the floor.”

“Your point?”

“My point, son, is that there is no way in hell you slept on this couch all night and can honestly tell me you had a good night’s sleep.” He tilted his head to the side, waiting. When I opened my mouth, he started again. “Also, none of those sheets look like you attempted to sleep.”

I rolled my eyes. “You ever think maybe I don’t need sheets? Maybe I learned to sleep through the incredible back pain the couch provides.”

My father stalked over to me with a suspiciously humored smile. “Or you spent the night in your room.” He placed a large hand on my shoulder. “Listen, I don’t care that she’s a demon. I don’t care that you slept in your room with her. I don’t even care that you think you can lie to me about it.” He squeezed my shoulder. “What I do care about is my son thinking it’s okay to have sex in my house. It wasn’t okay when you were sixteen, and it’s not okay now.”

I closed my eyes so tight, I’m pretty sure I heard a blood vessel pop. This was where the floor sucked me in, and I was never seen again. All I felt right now was pure embarrassment. How in the hell did I think I was going to walk away from last night with no battle scars, no wounds? I kept my eyes shut when I asked, “You didn’t uh…hear anything, did you?”

“Oh heavens, no. Good thing, too, because you would have felt very awkward last night if you had woken me up and forced me to come into your room and shut you both up.”

“Ugh. How are you so sure if you didn’t hear anything?”

“Nicholas, I may be old, but I’m still your father. The way you looked at that girl last night, there was a fifty-fifty chance that something was going to happen. This morning, when I found everything still folded and no sign of you even attempting to sleep there, I put it together; you decided to have a not so sleepover.”

I placed both my hands on either side of my head and walked over to the arm of the couch. I sat down and placed my elbows on my thighs. “I’m sorry, Dad. I should have been more…considerate.”

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