Page 11 of Shattered Illusion

“Alright, there’s something else we need to review before I take you to the academy.”

What else could there be?I wonder to myself. Knowing my luck, though, he’ll say eventually, my skin will turn purple or something asinine like that. That should have already happenedafter the damn lagoon. Right? I’m already a freak with pink eyes, white hair, and black marks all over my body.

Axel shifts me in his lap again, then picks up the discarded file from the cushion next to us. But he doesn’t open it. He seems to be thinking before he voices his words. A trait I’ll need to learn so I don’t get myself killed by my peers.

“This file,cor meum, is your parents’ final will.”

“What?!” What the hell does he mean, their will? They gave me up. So why would their will have anything to do with me?

“I know it’s hard to believe. But I actually met your parents a time or two before you were born. My father was their lawyer and put everything in place. See, your parents knew it was only a matter of time before someone came after them, and they wanted to safeguard you so you didn’t meet the same fate as they did.” He pulls me even closer, if that were possible, and opens the file onto my lap.

Staring back at me is a photograph of a couple who look very much in love and who I look almost exactly alike. The only difference is that the woman—my mother, I guess—is heavily pregnant. With, I’m guessing, me. Both of them have white hair like mine is now and bright pink eyes. The same eyes I saw looking back at me in the mirror when Axel pointed them out. There are peeks of black marks on their skin like mine, but their clothing in the picture obscures most of them.

My fingers shake as I reach out, tracing the familiar features of my parents. The same nose and chin as my mom. The same eye shape as my dad. It’s evident by the photo that I got my height from my mom as she stands at least two heads shorter than my dad. And the way my dad is looking at my mom, you can tell they were very much in love. Mom’s hands are cradled around her swollen belly, a look of reverence on her face.

“Do you…” I clear my throat. “Do you know their names?”

I feel Axel smile against the crown of my head. “Reese and Alyssa Foss.”

Reese and Alyssa Foss.I let those names tumble around in my mind, hoping for even the slightest memory of them to come to light. But there’s nothing. Not even a small blip.

“They loved you so much,cor meum. That’s why they did what they had to for you to be safe and make it to your twenty-first birthday. It was their hope that things would be different for you. So they’ve set you up completely.”

He slides the picture aside, revealing the first page of their will. Everything—and I mean all of it—has been left to me. Most of it is legal jargon, which I don’t understand, but I recognize numbers for bank accounts and a few addresses.

“There’s no way all of this is mine. It can’t be, Axel. I didn’t do anything to earn any of this. Inheritance or not. I can’t accept it,” I mumble, still shell-shocked from the influx of information he’s thrust on me in the past hour or so.

“It is,cor meum.They left it all for you, their only daughter. They also made a video for you that will help explain everything. Would you like to watch it?” He lifts me effortlessly from his lap, and I have to fight to suppress a whimper when he gets up from the couch. I don’t want him to go. He’s the only thing keeping me sane through all of this. Even though I should be scared shitless of him after the display in the main room. “Cor meum?”

I shake my head, twisting my hands in my lap, my eyes glued to the picture of my mom and dad. I’m not ready. I’m not ready for any of this, butthat?No. I don’t think I can handle watching a video my real parents left for me. Not while the wound of knowing they are truly gone is so fresh.

“Hey.” Axel crouches in front of me, placing his icy hands on mine. My pink eyes meet his red ones, tears clinging to my lashes as I try to fight against them. “It’s okay. You don’t have to watchit right now. That video will always be here for you when you’re ready. You just tell me when, okay?”

All I can do is nod my head. Words fail me. This is all just too much. First, I find out I’m a supernatural, and my parents aren’t my parents. Then I’m told my real parents are dead, and I was given up, so I didn’t meet the same fate. Also, I’m the most powerful type of supe and people want to own me. I swallow hard. Or kill me. I justcan’tanymore today.

“Let’s get to Stonewell so you can process, alright?”

Again, all I do is nod as Axel grabs the folder, replacing everything inside, and then he gathers me close in his arms, leaving his office behind. He tucks my head under his chin as he heads toward the magically repaired elevator, once again ready to take me to the unknown.

“Sleep,cor meum.It’ll all make sense eventually.” I don’t believe a word of that, but I do as he says and close my eyes, ready for sleep to take me under.

Cool knuckles brushacross my cheek, rousing me from the nightmares plaguing me. Nightmares I’ve never had before, but they’re scary nonetheless.

“We’re here,cor meum.”

Nope. I shake my head, dislodging his hand. I refuse to open my eyes. Because then everything that’s happened so far will be real. And I don’t want it to be.

“Come on, sweetheart, open those pretty pink eyes for me.”

Gah. Why does the vampire have to be so damn sweet? His words alone make me want to open them, no matter how much I don’t want to.

“Please.” Are my ears deceiving me, or does it sound like Axel’s pouting?

Peeking an eye open, I find Axel leaning over the center console of his car, his knuckles once again brushing featherlight strokes across my cheek and an honest-to-god pout on his face.

“A big bad vampire should not be pouting. What would the humans say?” I mock-gasp, my heart pitter-pattering in my chest at the sight.

His chuckle, smooth as honey, echoes around the confines of the sports car. It’s a carefree sound, one I wouldn’t mind hearing over and over again.

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