Page 133 of Wrath

“I’m going to find my father,” Ryland said, the shadows already coalescing around him, concealing him from view.

In the next second, he was gone, nothing but a ball of darkness bobbing through the entryway and out of sight.

“Any word from Davia?” I directed this question at Bash.

As the strongest mage alive, he had the ability to communicate with others over long distances using glowing stones. Davia and her troops—the ones not protecting the innocents—were supposed to watch Aaliyah and report any movement.

If she started to move, we would know.

Bash shook his head. “Nothing. Davia hasn’t seen any movement so far.”

“Maybe she doesn’t know we’re here?” Jax suggested.

“Maybe.” Bash didn’t sound as if he believed it.

He opened his mouth to say something else but then went unnaturally rigid. His green eyes fixated on something just over my shoulder.

I felt his presence before I even saw him. It was that feeling you get when you were walking alone at night and knew, with unwavering certainty, that there were eyes on you, yet you were unable to catch sight of the culprit. Every hair on the back of my neck stood at attention, and a chill that had nothing to do with the weather skittered down my spine like a million ants.

Slowly, my heart hammering in my chest, I pivoted on my heel and faced the newcomer.

He stood in the doorway of the capitol, a tiny smirk dancing on his lips. He was tall, much taller than me, with light-blond hair brushed back into a low ponytail. A dark suit clung to his muscular frame, but somehow, it looked strange on him.

Because in the memories Aaliyah gifted me, he wore a flowing white robe and sandals.

“Hello, daughter.” His smile stretched, unveiling perfectly white teeth. “I was waiting for you to arrive.”

FORTY-SEVEN

Z

Ialways thought I was stronger than my past, stronger than my memories.

Yet, as I stared up at the arresting face of a man who’d allowed me to be raped and tortured centuries ago, I felt nothing but stone-cold terror. It enveloped my entire body and made thinking impossible. All I could see was his sad, disapproving face as he left me to my fate—all because I dared to fall in love with men he didn’t approve of.

Of course, he didn’t lookexactlylike my father. There were minuscule differences between the man standing before me versus the one from my past. But there were enough similarities to make a cold chill spread through my body.

Magic flared to life in Bash’s hands, and Lupe released a threatening roar. Devlin stepped closer to me on one side, while Jax took my hand on the other side. Dair wheeled his chair closer to me. Killian’s tail began to twitch.

My “father”—though that term didn’t fit the man before me—tilted his head to the side curiously.

“You seem to be missing one,” he mused.

He was talking about Ryland.

“Don’t talk to her,” Devlin growled. “Don’t even look at her.”

“Back the fuck up,” Bash added.

I appreciated my mates standing up for me, but this was my battle.

Those memories that haunted me? They weren’t mine. Not really. They belonged to a different woman. A dead one.

I was Z now, and everything that had transpired in the past shaped me into the woman I was today. I was strong and confident and capable of anything I set my mind to—including standing up to this pathetic excuse of an angel before me.

Was I scared? Absolutely.

I didn’t know what could set him off. Hell, I didn’t even know what he was capable of. He could smite me where I stood without so much as breaking a sweat.

---