Page 62 of Live Like Legends

“You said you just had people keeping an eye on them,” I accused, tearing my eyes away from them.

Dimitri sighed. “I do. I never said I didn’t have them in a safe place for safe keeping. You never asked and I don’t just offer up information without reason, sweetheart. I truly don’t like hurting others who don’t deserve it. This sweet little family could live in peace in the world I’d like you to help build. I don’t have anything against Enchanters, by all means they are the true victims of those angelic beasts.” He gazed over at the magical screen and shook his head as if he was visibly distraught. His green eyes narrowed when he looked at me again. “You try to move against me with your cute little shadows again and I’ll slit one of their throats in front of their mother. Lucky for you I’ll let you choose which one and if you decide you can’t choose then I’ll just kill them both.”

He sauntered over to me, placing his hand underneath my chin, tilting my face up. I tried to pull away, but his grip justgot tighter. “And if by some chance you get out of this after that, have fun explaining to your necromancer that you couldn’t behave enough to save his children. You see Dani, like I said, you make the wrong move, everyone hurts. You make no moves, peoplestillhurt.” He pushed my face away and turned around, preparing to leave.

Lilith watched me, a look of pity in her eyes. “And you thought I was bad. Stupid, stupid girl.”

I reached toward the place where my head throbbed, pulling my hand back and seeing more blood coating my palm. “The only stupid thing I’ve done was think you ever gave a shit about me. You wanted to create something that obeyed you and did your bidding, yet all you’ve done is made mehateyou.”

She laughed. “Hate is a powerful feeling. I would lean into it, I’m sure all those angels who don’t understand you do. The ones who see you as a threat, the ones that see you as amonster.”

My hands curled into fists at that word. That wasn’t what I was.

“A beautiful monster if I might add. Stubborn, but beautiful,” Dimitri added before removing the visual of Garrett’s family.

Lilith hummed, leveling her glare at me. She unfolded her hand towards me, streams of dark magic enveloped me. A whooshing sound filled my head and sounded loud in my ears. I tried to cover my ears, apply pressure to the sides of my head to make it stop. “Without me and my efforts, Dimitri would not have you. You would just be a pathetic girl dying by a tree in the woods if it wasn’t for me. You would just be a fragile angel, nothing special. You let those soft creatures get into your head, so let me remind you that I will always be the evidence of how far you’ve come and sadly from the looks of it, you haven’t come far at all.” She looked around the dirty, stone covered cell. The dirt caking the corners and the blood dried up on the floor.

Dimitri cleared his throat, causing her to stop. I felt instantly exhausted and more of a throbbing sensation in my head.

I licked my lips, taking a deep breath. “Iusedto admire you. Now I feel sorry that you feel the need to follow behind a man whose ego is big enough to fill this entire prison.” I spat back, watching as her lip curled.

Dimitri opened the door for her before she could say another word. “Rest up, pretty girl. If you can’t be motivated bythings, I’ll just have to be a bit more forceful now, won’t I? We will figure out a way to get that power out of you.” He turned on his heels to begin walking out of the cell, but then he turned back, rubbing his chin. “I do wonder how that angel with the feeble tasting blood is doing. I should pay that mind of his a visit, nothing drastic.”

My hand felt hot, like it wanted to create a giant ball of power like it had in Natalia’s training room. I dug my nails in my palm so hard, I thought I might rip through my own flesh. “Just leave him…”

Dimitri wrinkled his nose and shushed me. “Unlike your previous advisor, I won’t need to rip out your soul to get what I want, trust me. I need you fully intact. Now your spirit, wellthatI am willing to break.”

There was this awkward silence that surrounded us and I almost feared swallowing down the lump in my throat, thinking it would be too loud. My father was dressed casually as if he and Daya were planning a night to just sit on the couch and talk about each other’s days. My eyes left my father to dart around the room quickly, seeing that nothing had changed and for some odd reason that had me breathing easier.

I heard the floor creak as my father took a step towards me and I didn’t know why, but I caught myself taking a small step backwards with a small shake of my head. I knew he wanted to hug me or even just take my arms within his grasp to look at me, but I didn’t want that right now. My father stood his ground, giving me a shallow nod as if he understood.

“Mom, do you still have my…” Alex, Daya’s daughter, asked trotting down the stairs. Her words ceased when I came into view. Her whiskey-colored eyes that were identical to her mother’s grew wider as she did a small jump of excitement, darting in my direction. “Thank the realms! Oh my god!” Herarms flung around me and the momentum at which her body met mine caused me to stumble backwards.

I let out a soft chuckle, hugging her back. “I missed you too.”

“Did you come here for the latest midnight snack in history?” She nodded over to the window that showcased how bleak and dark the sky was.

“Umm…no.” My eyes drifted to my father whose face remained neutral even though I knew he was anxious to speak with me.

Alex scrunched her mouth up in thought. “Why the fuck else would you come here so late? I mean we haven’t seen you for nearly a month, so all I’m saying is…”

“Alex, honey, why don’t you and I go upstairs?” Daya grabbed her daughter’s arm, casting an apologetic look over her shoulder at me.

Alex threw her mother a confused expression. “Upstairs, for what?”

Daya let out a long sigh, dragging her daughter behind her as they crossed the room. “Because I said so.” She stopped to kiss my father on the cheek, likely saying encouraging words in his ear before walking past him.

Alex looked from my father to me and then back again, her mouth forming into an ‘o’. She tugged her arm away from Daya and wagged her finger at her. “Why didn’t you just say they were going to have a father/son moment? Stop making things so dramatic, Mom.” Daya rolled her eyes, giving me a reassuring smile before she followed her daughter out of the room and up the stairs to the second floor.

“Would you like to sit down?” I jumped a little at the sound of my father’s voice. It was steady, but there was a small sense of hesitation in his tone. It was like I was a wounded animal and he didn’t want to startle me.

He waved his hand over at the couch and I nodded. My feet felt like they weighed a ton as I took the few steps over to the piece of furniture I was all too familiar with. I watched as my father took a seat on one end and I stood there, staring at the other. It took me a moment, but with a heavy breath I sat down, leaving a large gap between us. I leaned over, placing my hands on my knees and looked at him.

His body was turned so that I had his full attention and one of his arms was propped up along the back of the couch. He had this look of patience that I always admired and had tried to emulate my whole life, but he made it look effortless.

“It’s good to see you.”

I closed my eyes, not wanting those five words to affect me so much. It wasn’t the words themselves because he’d said them to me before. He wasalwayshappy to see me. This time when he said them, there was something about them that had an air of sadness but still somewhat happy. He was happy that I was here, in his presence, but clearly the circumstances of my visit were never going to be a good thing. I cleared my throat before responding. “It’s good to see you too, Dad.”

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