Page 77 of Cruelly Fated
His perceptive gaze flicked to Valor. He didn’t comment on my choice of company this time. It wasn’t his place. After I gave my statement, I assured him I had a safe place to stay. He looked as though he wanted to press for details, the investigator in him rearing up. After a pause, he flattened his lips into a forced smile and rejoined his crew.
I hugged Lance next, my arms looped around his neck. “I promise to stay in touch.”
“You better. Looks like the place is shutting down. Finding a decent-paying job on this side of Avari is… Well, let’s just say I’ll need a distraction to keep from wallowing.” He squeezed my hand one last time and headed toward the back-room door.
“Ready?” Valor asked.
I shuffled toward the passenger door he held open for me.
“How did you know? And who was the other vampire with you?” I asked, needing to understand how he and Kyon had gotten involved.
“It’s a long tale. Good thing we’re about to hit Avari’s worst traffic,” Valor said, shutting the door behind me.
I peered at the clock—just after one a.m., and once again, sleep was evading me. With a sigh, I tossed the covers aside and sat up, face buried in my hands. Why did life have to be this confusing? It was all too much.
Kyon’s last words replayed in my mind:We will talk. They stoked a deep-seated hope. A desire. Because no matter how hard I tried to push him away for his family’s dark legacy, my heart protested at every turn.
He hadn’t known about his brother’s club’s operations and had no business butting in, yet that’s what he’d been doing earlier today when he questioned the club’s secretary and managers about the safety of workers and forced the name of the vampire lord responsible for my mother’s death out of them. Valor suspected Kyon would soon pay the coven another visit, in his dragon form…
I rubbed my face. Noble Kyon pulled on my heartstrings even more so than the savage with a difficult past. The cave and that collar, his strong reaction to it, stole my sleep too. Perhaps one day he would share what had happened to him.
My toes bumped the corner of a box I’d tucked under the bed. I slid to the floor and pulled out my mother’s keepsakes. I’d already gone through most of them, except for the pile of letters tied together.
With shaky fingers, I undid the knot and spread the envelopes across the floor. Dozens of letters, all without recipient addresses. I frowned, not understanding what I was looking at. Had shenever meant to send them? Or…did she not know where to send them?
She’d scribbled dates, starting with the day I was born. I peeled open the first envelope and pulled out a note written in Mom’s familiar hand.
Cyrus, our daughter was born today. She’s got your eyes…
I hiccuped, pressing a hand to my mouth.Cyrus… My father’s name. Mom had never spoken it aloud. Every time I’d asked about my dad, she’d deflected, always changing the subject. I’d assumed she hated him—resented him for leaving. But these letters told a different story.
I sifted through the stack, my hands trembling. She’d written several in the first year of my life. Then the frequency slowed—once every few months, and eventually, only once a year. As if she still held onto hope, but with less certainty. Toward the end, she didn’t even bother with full dates—just the year. She wrote her last letter the year she died.
I traced a finger across the paper, knowing she had held it in her hands not long ago. I breathed in deeply, then began organizing the notes in chronological order and reading, one by one.
“Everythingfine?” Valor’s concerned voice came through the speaker.
I hesitated. Asking for a favor, especially from someone who’d already done so much for me, wasn’t in my nature. It sat in my throat like a bitter pill.
“Allie?” The urgency in his voice amplified.
“Yes,” I breathed. “I was wondering…would you mind calling the prison? I’d like to see my grandpa, but my visitation isn’t until—”
“Done. Anything else?”
“No.”
“Listen, one of our downtown restaurants is hiring. Stop by my parents’ residence after your visit so we can discuss. It’s a night shift…”
“Yes. Yes!” I squealed, then chided myself. I cleared my throat and said with more composure, “I’ll be there.”
A downtown job at a top-tier restaurant? That kind of paycheck could cover my rent and chip away at Grandpa’s legal fees.
Valor let out a quiet chuff of laughter and pinged his location to my phone.
“There is a favor I’d like to ask of you actually,” he said.
“Me?” I blinked. I couldn’t imagine what the prince of Avari needed from me.
