Page 36 of Blood Magic (Ariel Kimber 3)

My eyes kept going back to the box on my bed, the one with the unread letters and the pictures of Vivian and Rain.

The word coward flashed in my mind, bright and neon pink in color.

I frowned.

Pink was not the color for me, even in my head. Neither was the word coward.

I got up from the loveseat and moved across the room towards the bed and that half empty box filled with answers to questions I didn’t even know I’d wanted answered. Questions I wouldn’t have had before finding the box in the first place. I would have gone the rest of my life thinking Vivian was my bio mother and I would have never known any better. Was I better off knowing that she wasn’t? I didn’t think so because it didn’t matter. According to the letters, my biological mother was dead, so it wasn’t like I was getting a second chance at having a real mother, a decent one. They were both dead. But I had never had a father before. And, according to those letters, Rain Kimber was my biological father, and he seemed to be very much alive.

I wasn’t really sure how to feel about it.

I sat down on the edge of the bed, beside the box.

I was going to do this. I needed to do this. No more hiding and running away from things that scared me.

I realized that’s what was stopping me from reading the letters. They scared me. I needed to get my feet firmly planted on the ground for once in my life. I was tired of having the rug pulled out from under me. And the contents of those letters had the potential to change everything for me. They’d already changed everything I knew to be true about my life so far. Did I really want it to change even more? No, no I absolutely did not want that. But I also didn’t think I wanted to go the rest of my life without knowing. Eventually, the curiosity would kill me.

I reached in the box and pulled out the first piece of paper my fingers came in contact with.

I unfolded the neatly folded piece of paper and got down to business.

My Dearest Vivian,

This has got to stop, sister of mine. It has gone on for long enough. It’s been five years now that you’ve kept her from me. Five very long years. Enough is enough and I want my daughter back. Five years is a long time, Vivian. Time enough for you to sink your claws into her and brainwash her to your liking. I know this must please you greatly and I applaud your ability to hide her from me for this long. But, I’d like for you to remember something. Not a day goes by where I’m not thinking about my beautiful daughter or my bitch of a sister who stole her away from me. And every day that goes by is another day for me to come up with an appropriate way to punish you for what you’ve done to me and my beloved Ariel.

Remember that, sweet sister. I don’t want you to ever forget about me. And I don’t want you to ever stop looking over your shoulder, searching for me to be one step behind you because one day I’m actually going to be there. And, on that day, your punishment will begin. After, of course, I’ve gotten my Ariel far, far away from the likes of you.

I swallowed thickly as I laid the neatly folded piece of paper in my lap. I was not going to cry. I would not do it. No way, no how.

Rain Kimber, my supposed bio father, had thought me beautiful even though he hadn’t seen me in over five years when he’d written this letter.

Me. Ariel Kimber, abused loner and wannabe brave girl. I had a parent out there who loved me and thought I was beautiful, and he thought that without even knowing what I looked like.

I let that thought wash through me and this time I had to blink to keep the tears at bay.

I didn’t care that Rain seemed like an unstable psycho with anger issues and what sounded like a lust for bloody vengeance. I didn’t care about this at all. He’d called me beautiful and done it in a way where I knew he’d meant every word. Rain Kimber could light fire to half the world and sit back on a lawn chair while drinking a glass of Kool-Aid as he watched it burn and I think I still wouldn’t have a problem with him. I had a feeling that I could burn this man’s house down and he’d still sit there in his lawn chair while sipping his Kool-Aid and he wouldn’t bat an eyelash at me. And he sure as hell wouldn’t hold it against me. He sounded crazy enough to applaud my skills and ask after my technique. Then, when he found out it had all been an unfortunate accident on my part, he’d hug me and laugh it off as a hilarious joke.

Burnt the house down? Whoopsies. We’d laugh it off and then move in with the Alexanders.

I felt like Rain Kimber and Quinton Alexander would meet and either became immediate besties or they would outright despise each other. I felt like they were both crazy enough that they would go the way of option number one. Their obvious affection towards me would likely make it hard for them to despise one another.

What was that absurd saying that I had heard people say before? Hmm… I think it was something along the lines of girls always being attracted to men who reminded them of their fathers. Rain sounded like a very loving crazy man who was all about family, unless you were family and you screwed him over. Quinton was exactly the same way.

Go figure.

I think that saying actually held merit after all. Who knew?

I wanted to know Rain better, and to do that, I needed to read more of his letters.

So that’s exactly what I did.

Chapter Twelve

I blinked my eyes open wide and sat up in a rush. I swiped at the corner of my mouth with my hand and wasn’t surprised to see it come away with wet drool. Disgusting. I wished I had control over my body while I slept, then maybe I wouldn’t drool all over myself.

Thankfully, there was no one else around to see me as I wiped my hand off on the bottom of my shirt. More disgustingness. Oh well, there was nothing for it. I was just a disgusting person at times, I guess I could own that.

I brushed the messy hair out of my face, pushing it behind my ears. A strand got tangled in one of my earrings and it took me a minute or two to work it out. I used to have to take the earrings out when I went to bed at night because when I would move around in my sleep the metal backs pressed into my skin and it didn’t feel good. But after getting plastic backs, it didn’t hurt as much, hardly at all so now I usually slept with them in. Now, the only problem I had with them was getting my hair tangled around them. I could either sleep with my hair pulled back or shave my head so I didn’t have to worry about it. I liked my hair, so I usually slept with it pulled back or I braided as much of it as I could. There was more of it to braid now but I hadn’t been planning on sleeping this time.

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