16. Seeing the Other Side #2
Dad’s face morphed from confusion to absolute horror. He dropped his bagel onto a glass plate and clapped his hands clean before heaving an incredibly pain-filled groan. “I figured he’d find out eventually…” he sighed out.
“Someone explain what the fuck is going on before I start taking heads!” I screeched.
Halcyon nodded to Mom, who took both my arms so she could shake me once. “Honey, I know you’re upset, but there’s a lot more to the situation then what you saw.”
“The only thing I saw was that asshole desecrating a two-thousand-year marriage!” I fumed, jabbing a finger in Dad’s direction.
“Would you calm down!” Dad barked, coming over to try and take my hand.
As soon as Mom let go of me, I swung, but before I could connect with his jaw, Mom snatched my waist and yanked me backwards.
Dad jumped back in surprise, seeing now that I was far beyond reasonable.
“Ok, whoa, wait a second here! Let me explain what is going on!”
“You have five mother-fucking seconds!” I slithered, letting Mom drag me to the couch. She sat me down and smoothed my hair down, giggling at the black smoke pouring from my ears.
“Well, if I ever were to question if you love me, I certainly can’t do that now,” she teased.
I suction cupped to her side. “No one hurts my mommy,” I firmly declared. Dad went to sit beside her, but I hissed like a rabid cat and yanked her away.
He threw his hands up in defeat. “Ashlynn, please, tell him I’m innocent!”
“I think this is your burden now, my love,” she said as she pet me like I were some kind of angry animal.
Dad heaved a low sigh, mad at himself over me, before he set a hand on my leg. I huffed at his touch but decided to act my age and let him explain himself. “I don’t know what you saw exactly, buddy, but it’s a lot more complicated than you think.”
“You all keep saying that, but all I saw was my dad tonguing another man!” I spat vilely.
“Ok, so, you saw enough…” he mumbled to himself. He collected his thoughts and took a steady breath to settle himself. “I’m playing with Ambermourn,” he finally admitted.
I raised an eyebrow. “Explain!”
“Ambermourn and I… we have some history, history that isn’t all bad.”
“Would you just spit it out!”
“Ambermourn and I used to sleep together,” he blurted.
A low gasp crawled up the back of my throat, and I shot my mother a dangerous glare. “You condoned this?”
She shrugged nonchalantly. “Well, I was sleeping with Aexina, Stark’s second-in-command, so…”
I shoved her away and scoffed loudly. “So, what, you two just fuck everything with a heartbeat behind my back?”
“This was before we got married,” Dad assured me.
“We both took a break for around six months to explore other options, to make sure we were really dedicated to one another. We knew what kind of commitment we were making, and since we had been together since we were eleven, we figured it was good to stretch our wings while we had the chance. Mom and Aexina had their thing… and Ambermourn and I had ours.”
“There goes my hopes of a pure marriage! Way to ruin that childhood fantasy!” I groaned out before shaking my head. “But I don’t understand? You were petrified of this man at the Immortal Convocation?”
“I was, yes, but…” his tone darkened, “we’re sure he’s up to no good, so we came up with a way to get close enough to him to find out. He’s still in love with me, so… I took one for the team, so to speak.”
My anger changed immediately. I hauled off and slapped the back of his head, making him yap and rub the tender spot. “You are a fucking moron, you know that?”
“Why now?” he whined.
“Why would you subject yourself to something like this? Sleeping with someone from Chandler? Someone you were literally in shambles over? Do you ever consider yourself for one Gods damn second?”
“He’s trying to find Pandora,” Dad said despondently, and that changed the mood completely.
“He has a sick obsession with her and my Four Horsemen spell. I haven’t figured out a link entirely, or how they know each other, but I’m slowly putting the pieces together.
I can’t get nearly close enough to him or his work/notes without doing something that keeps him occupied.
Trust me…” he deflated as he spoke, “I hate myself for doing this. I hate myself for betraying your mother, for even looking at that man. I vowed to never let him in my inner circle again, and here I am, letting him encroach in ways I swore I’d never fall victim to again. ”
His sad tone broke my heart. I slipped between the two and laid my cheek on his shoulder, locking my arms around his so I could hold his hand.
He gave me a gentle squeeze, thankful I wasn’t mad anymore, and snuggled into my hair.
“Dad, I’m so sorry. I wish you had told me sooner, so I could have helped. ”
His gaze was empty, distant, as he looked past everyone in the room. “Not everything is for you to help with, buddy. This is far more sensitive of a situation then I want you involved in.”
“I’m not a little kid anymore,” I reminded him. “You need to stop treating me like one. I’m supposed to be your successor, and part of that is knowing the good, bad, and ugly aspects of what it means to be a God, and what you have to do when times are tough.”
“I don’t want you to get any more involved with Ambermourn,” he firmly commanded. “I have a handle on things for right now, which means your nose stays in your own business.”
“Yeah, yeah…”
“I mean it, Nicodemus.”
He was so serious that I knew I needed to ease his worries. I patted his leg reassuringly. “I get it, old man. Just, promise me something?”
“Sure?” he quizzically replied.
My demeanor darkened as I spoke, “Promise that you won’t let him get too close.
That if you find something out, something bad, that you’ll abandon this operation.
I don’t want you getting hurt, or risk him getting too close.
” I sunk into the couch in shame. “I know, with Chandler, and Phillip… there’s no way sleeping with a man is an easy thing for you. ”
Dad kissed my hair three times, three sweet and reassuring kisses. “I know, shrimp. I’m doing things at my pace, regardless of what he wants. He knows not to push his luck considering the Chandler stuff. If it helps, Mom and I have been sleeping with both genders for a while!”
“OH MY FUCKING GODS! EWW, EWW! BLEACH MY brAIN!” I screamed, wiggling free to run in circles and screech like a dying animal.
“Really, Atlas,” she groaned out.
Dad shrugged casually. “Hey, everyone gets curious after two thousand years!”
“I’M DROWNING MYSELF!” I declared rushing towards the kitchen sink.
“No, Nick!” Dad laughed as he raced after me. Mom rolled her eyes heavily and threw her face into her lap, utterly defeated by the sounds of us arguing over the running water I was submerging my head in.