Page 70 of Tainted Wings

Chapter 21

Isaac

Seeing her standingthere, inhisclothes, it stirred something inside me. For a moment, I wanted her to be wearing my clothes, to be covered in my scent.

Then I snapped out of it.

She told her mom off while my father stood there and watched, still stunned with the fact the son he left behind was now mated to his step-daughter. And all before he could even say hello.

Abby ran off an hour ago, leaving her mother standing there in angry tears. The guys joined their dads, getting in some time together while my dad and step-mom went off into one of the studies to talk.

So, I went down to the basement, to the space that’s just mine and the guys. I’ve been here ever since, watching her on the cameras we have set up around the house.

More specifically, one of the cameras that’s located in the maze.

Abby wandered around the maze for a while before finding the center. There’s a fountain there with a few stone benches nearby.

For the past twenty minutes she’s been sitting on the edge of the fountain, the sweatpants pulled up, her feet in the water. Her head is in her hands as she leans on her thighs. Every so often, she dips her fingers into the water, using one wet one to draw random things on the marble before it dries, taking what she drew with it.

I hate her. I hate her with every fiber of my being. But also, I don’t. I look at her like this and wonder why I feel anything negative about her at all.

She’s not her father, that much I’ve come to know, but a part of me can’t seem to let it go. Her father is the real bad guy, and she’s his daughter. I have to hate the daughter of the devil... don’t I?

Only, I don’t want to, at least not at this moment.

“Isaac,” my dad’s voice calls from the top of the stairs. He doesn’t come down, respecting that this is mine and the guys’ space.

Sighing, I grab the remote and click the TV off and stand, going to him.

“What’s up?” I ask as I meet him at the top of the stairs, shutting the door behind me.

“I wanted to know if you were up for some basketball?” He grins, and I can’t help the one that finds its way onto my face.

“Three on three?” I ask.

“Yes, Sir,” he laughs. “We still have to redeem ourselves from the last time you whooped our butts.”

“Well, I mean you guys are getting a little old.” I grin. “What are you, five-hundred-thousand now?”

He narrows his eyes, a smirk tilting at the side of his lips. “Watch it, boy,” he says, and I laugh. I miss him. I miss him more than I care to admit. And every day that passes, I feel like I’m disappointing him. I’m not the son he thinks I am. Not the one he wants me to be. But I’m a damn good actor and I make sure he thinks I am.

And it makes me sick knowing my whole life is a lie to him. But I can’t lose my dad. He’s all I have left. My step-mom is nice and all, but she’s not... she’s not him. He’s always been there for me when he could. His job kept him busy, kept him away. When he was here, he made up for the time lost the best he could.

Now that we're older, starting our own lives, I see even less of him. And it hurts. But I won't let him know that. He has one of the most important jobs, it’s just the way life is. It’s been that way for thousands of years before me, why would it change now?

“You mind doing me a favor before we head out to the court?” he asks.

“Depends.” I narrow my eyes with a chuckle.

“Can you go find your sister? Your mother has been worried sick about her since she ran out.” He sighs, running a hand over his face. “What a way to meet my new daughter.”

“Are you not mad?” I ask.

“Not really my place to be mad, Isaac,” he says. “I don’t even know the girl. Sure, I want the best for her, she’s the daughter of my wife. But she’s eighteen, all grown up. Not my place to have an opinion.”

“But she’s mated tohim,” I spit the last word.

“I heard.” He nods, his lack of reaction pissing me off further.

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