Page 90 of The Secret Keeper's Daughter

Harek steps in front of me again. “Why do you care? You’re just going to try to kill her.”

“I have no such plan.” My father moves so Harek isn’t blocking us. “Who are you, anyway?”

“Her best friend. The one person she’s been able to depend on her whole life—unlike some people who abandoned her.”

“I’d have had to know about her existence to abandon her.”

They stare each other down.

I turn to Harek. “Stop, please.”

“You’re siding with him?”

“I’m not siding with anyone. I just want answers, and he has them.”

“He also has every reason to kill you! What’s stopping him?”

My father smirks, though it’s more playful than menacing. “I just found out I fathered the first ever female hunter. She’s mydaughter, and she looks just like the love of my life. The last thing I want is to hurt her.”

“Right.”

“I appreciate your concern for her, but it seems she wants to talk with me. You should honor her choice.”

Harek steps back. “Just know I’m not trusting you farther than I can throw you.”

“Which wouldn’t be very far.” My father chuckles.

“Exactly.”

It’s my turn to roll my eyes. “The testosterone is too much. I’ll catch you two later.”

“Wait!” My father pleads with his eyes. “Don’t go. I easily have as many questions as you do. Where have you been living all this time? I’ve never sensed your presence.”

“You can sense me?”

He nods. “You arrived last night, am I correct?”

Blood drains from my body. “How did you know?”

“You’ll learn to fine tune your senses. I’m assuming you haven’t come into your powers until just recently?”

“Let me guess,” Harek says. “That’s when yours started weakening? We’ve heard the rumors.”

“It’s been about a week, and unfortunately, that’s long enough for things to start going awry. Look, why don’t you two come to my place? We can talk and get to know each other. I don’t even know my daughter’s name.”

“Eira.” I square my shoulders. “And yours?”

He hesitates. “She named you Eira?”

“That’s what she said,” Harek mutters.

“What’s your name?” I ask my father.

He holds my gaze for a moment before responding. “Einar.”

Now I’m thrown off balance. “That’s so close.”

“I don’t think she wanted any question about your parentage. Your name is clearly a combination of our names—Einar and Tyra.”

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