Page 64 of Hot in Witch City
My mouth widened into an O. “What?”
“Yes,” he repeated. “You’d shifted when you were four. I’d taken you to the beach, and you wiggled right out of my arms and swam away. I’d never been so terrified in my life. I didn’t think I could get to you. People were around. If they saw you with a tail, it could be dangerous.”
More synapses fired in my brain as I tried to process this. Bitterness then coated my tongue. Nova’s situation came to mind. Her parents had put a block on her magic when she was young—to keep her safe. Had he done something that nefarious?
In between hastened breaths, I asked. “What. Did. You. Do?”
“What I had to do to protect you.”
Blood rushed through my veins, my breath came in jagged bursts. “Tell me. Did you put a block on my magic?”
“What on earth? No. I just scolded you. I yelled at you never to do that again. I was so worried, freaking out, and my shouting terrified you. I felt bad about scaring you, but it was more important to keep you safe.”
I blinked twice, my eyelids heavy. “I’d shifted on my own?”
When he didn’t respond, I added, “But we’d talked about this when I was little. I asked if I’d grow up to be like my mother and be able to swim like a mermaid. You told me only full sirens had that ability.”
“I can’t shift.” His voice was low. “There are no other sirens in town who could help you. I was barely able to catch up to you when you swam away. You could have gotten into serious danger alone in the ocean. Not only could you get lost, but face predators. You may not understand it, Gianna, but everything I did, I did for your own good. You’re my daughter, my only daughter, and I did what I had to care for you the best I could.”
My hands trembled. How many times would he repeat what he did was for my own good, to protect me?
“You lied to me.”
“I had to.”
“Maybe when I was four, but I’m an adult. You don’t think you could have ever mentioned it in the twenty-plus years since, that I had the ability to shapeshift?” My voice edged higher, and my hands trembled.
We’d had arguments like this before I’d moved out, more on him forbidding me to do things, and me countering that he couldn’t keep me a prisoner. This one was different, though. He’d deceived me. He kept a part of me from myself. That was a form of control I couldn’t bear. My heart panged.
“What was the point, Gianna? You lived your life as a human with me.”
My skin was covered in a sheen of sweat. “There’s more to it, isn’t it? You’ve always hated that side of me, the side that’s like my mother. Maybe because it reminds you of her. This is another messed-up instance of trying to control me—to keep me from being like her!”
“Gianna, I told you why. It was to protect you.”
“No, it was to protectyou,” I spat. “My mother broke your heart, and you hate any reminder of that. You’ve been taking it out on me ever since she left us. All the strictness, all the reminders not to be like her.”
“It’s not like that—”
I cut him off before I burst into tears and shouted things I might regret. “I have to go.”
As soon as I hung up the phone, I fell forward with my head into my hands. How could he have lied to me for so long? I pictured myself as a happy four-year-old being shouted at by a huge, tough Marine. No wonder I was terrified and hadn’t shifted since.
So many emotions hacked at me, I was surprised I wasn’t bleeding all over the sofa. I curled up in the fetal position, trembling as the tears rolled down.
How could I ever trust him again?
Sebastian
While cooking up scallops in lemon and garlic at the restaurant, I thought about Gianna. Was she having a good night at the club?
When Gianna texted me an hour later, asking if I wanted to come over after work, of course I responded yes. Getting through the final hours of my shift then ticked on longer than usual.
When I arrived at her townhouse and knocked on the door, she pulled me inside and kissed me.
“That’s the kind of greeting I could get used to,” I responded with a grin.
“I want you,” she declared and grabbed at me.
