12. The Birds and the Bees and the Science… Oh Please. #2
“Oh. Yes, sorry about that,” Dad apologizes and runs his hand through his hair.
“Short version, they are supernatural cops that are on Earth. When we, the supernatural, stay too long or are on Earth without permission, Reapers can be sent to collect us and send us back here through the door they have access to.”
“Damn, so the rumors are true,” Knots shakes his head. “I’ve been hearing whispers that Supes have been trying to overstay their time and blend in on Earth for the long run.”
“Yes,” Dad confirms. “It’s true.”
“Well, what’s so bad about that?” Moni asks, looking a little blue, literally.
“It throws off the magic,” Knots tells her.
“It’s like draining one world to feed the other; you need to keep the balance, and until the proper people are in power to help balance that, we can’t allow that flow to tilt.
” My father picks up his fruit and pops another grape into his mouth, and I take that moment to look at the picture in my hand.
In this picture Beleth gave me, it shows Liliwen, Delvin, me, Aunt Patty, my grandparents, Beleth, and three people I don’t know.
“What do you have there, Nerezza?” I look up into identical gray eyes as mine, and my breath catches.
Do I want to ask? Will it make everything real? I won’t be able to live in this make-believe world anymore. A part of me is terrified to ask, but another part of me needs to know. It’s as if I’ve waited my entire life to know what’s real and learn about my past.
Sensing that I need more comfort and support, Knox sits on the floor in front of me and pulls me into his lap so his chest is against my back.
He wraps his arms around my waist, squeezes me, and kisses my temple, all while sending strength and love through our link.
Lynx changes back to his human form and easily leans up against me, holding my hand in solidarity.
I really don’t deserve the guys I have sometimes.
Swallowing the lump in my throat and taking a deep breath, I hand Dad the picture.
“Who are the people in that photo and what’s their role in all of this?” I ask, proud that my voice doesn’t crack.
“Where did you get this?” Dad’s eyes widen with wonder as his hand runs over the picture.
“That one, I got on the Road of Worth, from an…an…ally… I hope,” I reluctantly answer as I look down at Beleth’s ring that’s still on my thumb. He gave it to me and said to summon him if and when I need him. I guess my bio mother once told him I would need him one day.
“An ally? In Hell? There aren’t many that you might find,” he comments before catching sight of the thumb ring and smiling. “Yet, it looks like you did,” Dad murmurs before handing back the picture.
“We call ourselves the Pathmakers. Our purpose is to restore the power equally and put the right people in charge who balance the realms flawlessly.”
“Well, shit, you must be almost done, swiping right on the save the worlds app,” Lynx chips in.
“Yeah, it’s only taken us a few wars, rebellions, a death of a Fate, and the reappearance of a sarcastic storm shifter and the four horsemen,” Dad deadpans.
“I see where you get your sarcasm from,” Lynx turns to me.
“Everyone in that photo has a particular job. For instance, your grandmother guides the Reapers, which is why I want to throttle her when I see her next,” Dad admits through clenched teeth.
“She should have guided that missive a different way and allowed me to stay, or at least given me a heads up so I could have been more prepared.”
“Well, she did say she always liked Mom better,” I tease, trying to make it light. “But I guess, she would be biased, though.” I chuckle.
Dad immediately looks away from me, and a rollercoaster takes off in my stomach with a heavy plop as ice slides down my spine from his reaction.
Fuck. It all clicks as Dad wets his lips, and I can hear the pregnant silence in the room as I’m sure everyone else is picking up on what he’s not saying.
“Who am I related to in this picture?” I can’t even look at him in front of me. I can only stare at his likeness in the photo of him smiling with his arm wrapped around my birth mother and me as a baby.
“The only people you are related to in that picture are Liliwen—your mother, one of the Fates—and me, and even that is in question.”
“What?” I jerk my head up and shake it as if trying to get water out of my ears. “I’m sorry, I must have just blacked out for a moment because I think I misheard you.”
“The only person you’re biologically connected to is Liliwen. Because of me not being around to protect your mother, you have extra magical essence of an unknown origin, so I’m not sure if we can count you as my biological daughter anymore.”
The room goes deathly silent as I stare at my dad, or not dad, for a moment as his gray eyes take up my entire vision, and suddenly the room starts to spin, until I’m abruptly squeezed, making me squeak.
“Nope, not passing out now, Kitten,” Knox croaks into my ear.
“What do you mean by essence?” Lynx asks, getting defensive on my behalf.
“It’s what happened to us,” Levi calmly says, and I turn to meet Levi’s hazel eyes. “Think of it as being the purest form of DNA, but a magical form being passed to another being and adding it to them.”
“Oh, okay.” Lynx nods but then frowns. “But then how did Rez get that?”
“Good question,” Levi says. “When it happened to us, Lilith poured her essence over us to save our lives on the days we were born, according to my dad. So, how did Rez get someone’s essence that you don’t know of?”
“I was told about it from her as soon as she realized what had happened, but I wasn’t there to actually witness it. If I were, it wouldn’t have happened, and the man who did it would have been dead,” Delvin growls.
Do I still call him Dad? What the fuck is my life coming to? I might as well hit him with the big questions.
“What happened to Liliwen?” I ask, looking for any signs of deceit.
“She died.” His answer is too short.
“How?”
“I don’t know.” His eyes flicker to the left. I feel Lynx let go of my hand and get up, but I’m too invested to pay attention to anything else.
“Lie.”
“Stabbed and drained of her power.” Dad shoots me an annoyed look. He knows that I’m not taking his simple answer, as I would have in the past. I want the complete, honest, and hard pill to swallow. I think I deserve it at the very least.
Oh, Daddy doesn’t like this game at all. Well, I don’t like playing this fishing game. Just fucking tell me everything and don’t make me pull the answers out of you like this.
I feel Lynx return to sit down next to me, and the smell of popcorn permeates the air.
Only he would find this entertaining.
“Hey, pass that over here,” Chester whisper-shouts. Never mind, I’m wrong.
“When the Leaders of Nova denied your return to Earth, what did they really ask you to do?” I give Dad a stone-cold look.
“Look for a body,” he repeats.
“Half lie,” I point out this time. His tone changed. He’s omitting something. “What are you leaving out?”
“And to find their killer,” he relents. He takes in a deep breath, and his jaw clenches. I’m almost afraid he’s going to crack his back teeth.
Honestly, I’m shocked that he’s letting me get away with this. Probably being his daughter is the only way I’ve gotten this far.
“Whose body, and did you know the killer?” I push to see how far I can. I probably don’t eve—
“Your mother’s, and I had a good idea,” he admits, and it’s all true. I slump against Knox as his words sink in. He didn’t get revenge for Mom because he ran away with me? And he let her killer—
“Is her killer still free?” I ask, desperately needing to know.
“As far as I’m aware, yes.” Truth.
“Who is he?” I ask, leaning forward and holding my breath.
“Adam, the same man who gave you his essence.” His voice breaks, and the air rushes out of me.
“Who the fuck is Adam?” Zeke yells in outrage.
Knots stumbles back into the wall as he turns pale.
“No… that’s just a rumor,” he mumbles as he shakes his head. “He’s not real. It’s only…” He trails off as he slides down the wall, his eyes becoming unseeing.
“The original Adam with Lilith,” my dad injects. “That’s why you don’t have markers. We don’t know what he is, and his essence changed your makeup.”
True.
“How was he even able to get close enough to Rez as a baby?” Ryker asks, looking at my dad like a moving target. Knowing him, he probably would use my father as target practice right now.
“She wasn’t a baby when he got close. Liliwen was pregnant, I was gone on a mission, and he was able to replicate himself down to every detail of what I looked like.
It wasn't until months later, when we were talking about something that your mother brought up, how she was shocked I even came home early, that we put two and two together.”
“So, what you’re telling me is I have two fathers, and one of them is Lilith’s psychotic ex-husband, who we don’t know anything about his magic, and she’s sworn to track him down to continue her war-path for, am I missing anything?”
“Nope,” Moni smiles from ear to ear, giving me a thumbs up. “That’s pretty much it.”
Perfect. When do I collect my troop leader survival badge?