Page 304 of Of Sins and Sacrifice

“Then tell me. How come your mother didn’t blink at the mention of SoT? She didn’t even ask who I was as if she already knew…”

“I did not tell her.”

“And yet she knew.”

“She…did.”

“How?” I demand.

“Minnie…” he groans aloud. “I wish I could tell you.”

“Then tell me. What’s stopping you?”

“I can’t. Not yet. Can you just…trust me?”

“Trust you about what? Because I did trust you, but it seems that was misplaced since you’ve been deceiving me from the start.”

“That’s not true,” he quickly protests. “I may not have told you everything. But I never once told you a lie.”

“What about omissions?” I raise a brow at him. “What about vague statements that may not have been lies but were not entirely truthful anyway?”

He takes a deep breath. Placing his hands on my shoulders, he looks me straight in the eye, his gaze conflicted and anguished.

“I vow to you that everything I did was for your well-being. I would never hurt you. You know that.”

“Do I?” I whisper. “I know I’m not the sharpest when it comes to language and word play, and now I can’t help but feel that you took advantage of that.”

“Minnie…”

“Your mother looks to be around twenty-something in human years. Even if she had you extremely young, it’s impossible she would look this young.”

He doesn’t speak.

“How old is she?”

He doesn’t reply.

“How old is she, Valerion?”

At the mention of his given name, he snaps out of it.

“If I answered that, I would have to lie,” he whispers.

“She isn’t human.”

Silence.

“You aren’t human either.”

More silence.

“What are you?”

“I can’t tell you yet, Minnie. Please.” He pulls me into his arms, holding me tightly. “Give me some time. I will tell you everything when I can. I promise,” he murmurs in my ear. “Everything I’ve ever done has been for you, Minnie. Everything.”

He takes a deep breath.

“Time and time again, I tried and tried, and yet it’s never good enough. It always ends the same… So please…”

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