Page 94 of His True Beloved

Holyhairymonkeyballs.

My ex-dad stared at us like he had won the lottery. The arrogant look on his face let me know he didn’t give an absolute shit that there were more vampires in the room than his lonely self. That bares the question is, how powerful is he?

Hell, how did Mom and I not know?

The facade of being an airline pilot was the perfect cover. He was gone for weeks at a time and came home only when it seemed to be the least convenient time for the both of us. He showed up right when we were happy with just each other, but he would destroy that in an instant. Demanding Mom should attend certain functions with him, get his face out there for all the humans to find him entirely and utterly handsome and trustworthy.

Other than that, there was no other sign he would have been some creepy warlock. We didn’t have any black cats, no locked door to the basement, no magical fairies dusting the house. How he had kept us from this was insane. We didn’t know him, even more so than when we thought he was human.

“That won’t be happening.” The vampire assassin stepped forward. His hand went to his side, pulling on the dagger from his sheath. He pulled it in and out as if taunting the warlock to even try.

Sebastian gripped my hip, pulling me away. Justin did the same with Mom. It was easy to pull her away from the situation because she was a fainting mess. “How could this happen?” She breathlessly clung to Justin. “I never knew… I never would have thought—”

Yeah, we didn’t think. We just thought the douche was cheating and working long hours.

“That’s right, you wouldn’t think,” the warlock snapped. “That’s why I took you in off the street.” He glared at Mom. “You were broken, beaten, the easiest target to practice my memory and mind control. You were a great guinea pig to practice with, but I had to keep up appearances in our community.” He smirked. “I was still learning. I had to have everyone think I was some god-like person and have them trust me until I could perfect my spells.” My ex-dad walked about the room, looking at all the decorations. Adaline went to reach out her hand to have him not touch the vases that decorate each table, but Rowan grabbed her hand, shaking his head not to bother.

“I married you, Vanessa, to appease my parents. They found you appropriate, the perfect charity case to keep up our family face. But I also had to get an heir.” He chuckled, picking up a ceramic doll that sat on one of the shelves. The warlock didn’t even bother putting it back, dropping it to the floor. The porcelain doll’s face cracked.

Adaline is going to lose her shit.

Her fists shook, and her red eyes brightened in fury until Rowan pulled her to her chest. Her breathing calmed but that look was one I never wanted to ever see on me.

“But, lo and behold, after all I had done for you, a roof over your head, food in your belly, you couldn’t even carry our child correctly because she didn’t get an ounce of magic in her body.” He sneered at my mother.

“Wouldn’t I get some of his genes?” I whispered to Sebastian. “Not that I care about having some magical powers, but isn’t that how genetics work?” Sebastian shook his head, gripping me closer.

“No, it isn’t how it works,” the assassin interrupted. He kept his eyes trained on the sperm donor. The deep voice vibrated through my chest, and I swore everyone else felt it too. “In the supernatural world, you gain either your mother or father’s supernatural qualities but still have the mixture of the physical aspects of their bodies. Humans are a blank slate, and while your father’s genes are strong, he is not bonded to your mother.” The assassin shifted his feet, glancing at us. “That is the most likely reason you did not gain his supernatural genetics.”

The sperm donor scoffed. “You must not be a very old warlock if you didn’t know that simple piece of information.” The assassin raised his brow.

“I’ve only been practicing for twenty-five years.” He narrowed his eyes. “But in that time, I’ve exceeded the expectations of my peers.” He puffed out his chest.

“You weren’t even born into your powers.” The assassin scoffed, pushing his sword back into his sheath. “A magical entity had to pull deep within your genetic code to pull the power from you. I hardly consider you a warlock,” he ground out.

“Fuck you,” the warlock spat.

“Damn, this is getting good.” Suron nudged me, and Sebastian gave him a deathly glare. “I’m going to go get some popcorn.” Suron strode out of the room like tension wasn’t at an all-time high, and I buried my body further into Sebastian.

“What do you mean someone had to pull at his DNA code to let him have magic?” I waved my hands around.

The assassin glared his eyes at the sperm donor/warlock and narrowed his gaze again. “A terrible breeding line is what it is. Somewhere along the way, his ancestors were mating with humans, not of their mates, and got them deliberately pregnant. Supernatural genetic powers won’t appear on the outside but hide deep within the genetic code. It has only been discovered recently by the whisperings of Bergarian that with great power, they can summon these powers to the surface by dark magic.”

The sperm donor twitched, the vein on his forehead filling with blood.

I wonder if that thing will pop?

“Pulling this power from deep inside a human is also expensive,” the assassin mused. “Usually, payment is with a human life.” The assassin looked back at me.

“What?” I whispered. Mom stepped forward, standing in front of Sebastian and me. Her bravery shocked me as well. Not once had she stood up to her ex-husband, and here she was protecting me.

Aw, Mommy grew a spine.

“You bastard,” she spat at her ex-husband. My eyes widened at the language my mother dared to use. She must be pissed, and I don’t think I’ve ever seen my mom this angry.

She might explode.

“You were going to give Christine away!?” she shrieked. “My daughter, you were going to—”

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