Page 24 of Death Warden
He started and looked as if he was about to say something, and I realized I was desperate to hear his voice again, but a bear of a man blocked my view. Almost seven feet in height with dark brows and salt-and-pepper hair, he was wholly unfamiliar until I looked into his eyes, and then…then it was like looking into the mirror. His eyes were amber with bottle-green flecks, and they were the same shape as mine.
“Adienne?” he says softly.
My mouth was too dry. “Yes. That’s me.”
“I’m Dax. I’m your…your biological father.”
“Hi.” I wasn’t sure what else to say.
He exhaled on a chuckle. “Well…how about we get you some…tea? You must be freezing.”
“I’d prefer a whiskey if you have it. Maybe followed by a beer.”
His brows flicked up and then his face broke into a smile. “I think we can arrange that.”
* * *
Tobias had neglectedto tell me my bio dad was the president of the Grave Spirits MC. There were six in total, one for each territory. Dax, as he asked me to call him, was the leader of this one. He was also a hellhound.
The naked shifter dude now made sense. He was probably a hellhound too. Was the silver-haired guy also a hellhound? No, he smelled different. A cold, fresh scent that was the opposite of the warm tones underlying the Adonis’s musk scent. My bio dad had warm tones to his scent too, and why were smells so strong all of a sudden?
We were in an office-type room that led into the common room. There was a neat, orderly desk with a computer on it, and two small sofas with a coffee table placed between them.
We sat face to face on the sofas, drinks in hand, bottle on the table between us.
He hadn’t closed the door all the way, as if he wanted to assure me that I was free to leave at any time. Thing was, I felt safe here with him. Like I belonged.
“Are you all right?” Dax asked. “I know it’s a lot to take in.”
“It is a lot to take in…For us both.” I offered him a small smile. “Tobias told me you didn’t know about me.”
He shook his head, mouth turning down. “She should have told me.”
Yeah, I’d considered the whys and why nots on the ride here. “What would you have done if she did?”
“I would have demanded we be a family.”
I sighed. “I think I know why she didn’t tell you now.”
He frowned, dark brows meeting over his nose forbiddingly. “You think that would have been wrong of me?”
“No…I think you had every right, but maybe you don’t understand how the Blackmore family works. I mean…I didn’t until recently.”
His gaze hardened. “I know enough. I know your father was her conduit.”
“Yes. My father was my mother’s conduit. She couldn’t leave him even if she’d wanted to.”
He exhaled heavily. “She left in the night. She ran away, leaving me a note begging me not to follow. Begging me to respect her wishes. She made her choice, and I… I mourned her loss. Now I find out I have a daughter.” His jaw clenched. “I missed out on your life. I didn’t know your mother was dead. Why didn’t this Tobias reach out to me? Why didn’t he send you to me then?”
“Her will stated I was only to come to Frostgate if my life depended on it.”
His brows shot up again. “You’re in danger?”
I touched the amulet. “It’s a long story.”
He refilled my whiskey glass. “I have time, Adienne. I have all the time for you.”
I filled him in on Dralos and the burden I was carrying. “Frostgate has power, I felt it as soon as I entered the city. I just need to stay here until I have my revelation and find my conduit.”
