Page 106 of As Darkness Fall
I didn’t reply, because what was I going to say? That they should have disobeyed the Alpha and said no? That they should have rejected me and gone on some sort of quest to find out who my parents were and what happened to them? In hindsight, that was great, but at the time, I could believe that they were willing to do as their Alpha commanded. It wasn’t that abnormal in the shifter world.
But it left me with questions. About who my parents were. What had Lars done to them?
“We’re sorry we never told you the truth,” my mother said. “But to us, youareour daughter. You still are. We certainly love you like one. And always will. Even if you can’t forgive us.”
Part of me was angry and wanted to lash out. To tell them that I would never forgive them for lying to me my entire life. And I almost did.
But I stopped myself. There was nothing good that would come of that. Since they had disappeared, the one thing I’d always been happy about was that the night of my Soulshift, when I’d found out I was adopted, was that I’d not burnt any bridges. All I’d done after they’d confirmed it was run out of the house.
I never said anything I couldn’t take back, and I wasn’t about to do the same now. Given that we were about to go up against a shifter with powerful magic and try to stop him from turning himself into a god, it seemed likely that not everyone would come back.
I didn’t want any of us to go out being mad at one another.
“You guys did a pretty good job of showing me you loved me,” I said. “You were great parents, truthfully. I wish you had told me, and it’s going to take me some time to get over that, to adjust to it, but I want you both to know that I don’t hate you for it.”
“We love you, Dani,” my mother whispered. “And we’ll be ready whenever you are.”
I found myself smiling, a great weight lifted from my chest. Yes, I was adopted. Yes, they had lied to me about it my entire life.
But they truly loved me. They hadn’t been faking it, andthatwas something to be grateful for.
“I love you guys, too,” I said. “Now come on, get in the truck. We have places to go and a lot to get you caught up on.”
“You’ve been busy, by the sounds of it,” Thomas said as we headed back to the truck.
“You havenoidea,” I said, pausing only slightly before adding, “Dad.”
The smile I got back was worth every ounce of pain I’d gone through to get to this point.
Now, if I could just figure out a way to stop the apocalypse from coming so I could enjoy having them back in my life.
Chapter Fifty-One
“We are gathered here today,” I began to the assembled group, “to hear all about how Dani fucked shit up.”
There was a mixture of wry snorts and nervous laughter from around the room.
We were back in Kellar in Aaron’s loft, condo, super apartment. Whatever it was called. There was no table big enough to house us all, and I made a mental note to give Aaron shit about that later.
So instead, the eleven of us were gathered in his common area. The giant sectional in the middle of the room housed many, while dinner chairs had been brought in for a few more. Aaron was up and about now, so he sat calmly on the stone mantle against one wall, the electronic fireplace flickering gently behind him.
Johnathan was awake, though still not fully healed, so Fred had taken a chair from one of the bedrooms for him to lounge back in and rest with the group. He’d insisted on being here for the talk. Aaron had caught him trying to crawl across the floor to join us; he was that determined.
And now, everyone was staring at me.
“Jo,” I said next. “A lot of this is going to come as a shock to you. Well, almost all of it is going to come as a shock to you. And you’re going to have a million questions along the way. I’m gonna need you to hold them until the end, okay?’
My best friend smiled from where she sat in one of the dining room chairs next to Aaron and my parents. “I think I know what you mean. Translation: you want me to sit down and shut the fuck up while the adults talk. Don’t you?”
A chuckle ran around the room as I shrugged helplessly. “Pretty much, yes.”
“I can do that.”
“Ten bucks says she can’t,” Aaron muttered.
“You’re on,” Jo said eagerly, reaching out to shake his hand.
I watched the two of them, rolling my eyes. “Anyway,here’s the laydown of everything we know to make sure everyone is caught up.”
