Chapter 32 Aniyah #2
“Some supes don’t get that gift,” he said softly. “But children? Children are their own kind of magic. We would hate for any of our grandchildren to miss out on that blessing just because of fate.”
Pops Manic nodded beside him, his voice holding the rumble of low, distant thunder. “We just want all of you to find your happiness, and that might come without a mate. Love doesn’t always follow the same path. Don’t trap yourself into one idea of how it’s supposed to happen.”
I nodded slowly, staring into my drink like it might hold the answer I didn’t have. The straw swirled in lazy circles as I tried to make sense of the words echoing in my ears. These were men I admired, men I trusted, yet their reassurances warred with everything I’d ever promised myself.
Their words echoed around the chaos in my mind, dragging me back and forth between what I wanted and what I feared.
“Do you have someone already?” Grandpa Easton asked gently, his voice laced with curiosity and something deeper. Could he somehow sense the battle brewing inside me?
I didn’t answer. Couldn’t. Because, yes, there were someones. There were feelings. There were men. All of them were orbiting closer, clawing at the walls I’d so carefully built.
And just like that, Tata Ternin blew it up with one comment.
“Of course, not! Not my Aniyah!” he said proudly, puffing out his chest. “She collects men like trading cards and tosses them back in the pile when she’s bored. Right, honey?”
My tongue pressed against my cheek, holding in the words I wanted to say because the truth was… I didn’t know anymore. Those men, each of them, were becoming something else, something more, and I was terrified of it.
“What! Ani—”
“Ternin, shut up!” Papu Syris snapped, giving him a sharp look that said he was seconds from getting duct tape slapped across his mouth.
I let out a slow breath and gave Tata a soft smile, just enough to let him know it was fine. I wasn’t mad, just overwhelmed.
“What’s wrong with them?” Pops Manic asked. I was fraying at the seams, and his gentle gaze rested on me as though he was all too aware of that fact. “Are they treating you poorly?”
I shook my head. “It’s me,” I whispered, the words tasting like guilt. “I’m the one who’s wrong.” My voice cracked at the end of my declaration, too soft, too broken.
With the way Papu Syris gasped, you would have thought I’d insulted the Glovefox name itself.
“That’s impossible! Preposterous! Why, I—”
Grandpa Easton cut him off, raising a hand with a tired sigh as he pointed at Tata and Papu.
“If you two don’t quit it, Manic and I are going to tie you up with that special rope Rayla gave us and throw you in the trunk.”
Despite myself, a quiet laugh escaped me, wet and shaky but real. My heart still ached, but their ridiculousness, their love, their unwavering support… it wrapped around me like armor and made me feel like I could tell them the truth.
“What if I’m not what they desire most?” The words spilled out before I could stop them, barely above a whisper.
As I asked the question, I was shaking with something I didn’t want to name.
“What if I used my power and saw someone else? Or… a version of myself I’ll never be?
What if it has nothing to do with me at all? ”
I hated how pathetic I sounded. I’d become this lovesick girl, like someone had cracked me wide open. My insecurity was bleeding out of me, but I had to say it. I had to get it out.
“I don’t think I could handle that kind of heartbreak,” I admitted, swallowing down the tightness in my throat. My voice grew steadier, even though the rest of me wasn’t. “It might be better if I never find out.”
Silence. Then—
“Now, that’s crazy.”
Tata Ternin’s voice cut through the air, sharp and full of heat. I looked up, blinking back the burn in my eyes, and met his glare. His arms were crossed, disappointment etched in the tight lines around his eyes.
“Ternin—” Grandpa Easton tried to intervene, his voice calm, but Tata just shook his head.
“No,” he said firmly, then turned back to me. He reached out, brushing my hair away from my face with the tenderness of a man trying to control his fire for the sake of someone he loved. “You are a Desmond—”
“Her last name is Glovefox. Don’t let him fool you, sweetie,” Papu Syris sang out cheerfully, reopening that age-old debate as if this wasn’t a pivotal moment in my emotional spiral.
Tata plucked the straw from his drink and hurled it at Papu with an annoyed grunt. “Oh, shut up! I’m trying to make a point!”
He turned back to me, took a long, dramatic breath, then nodded like he was grounding himself. “Now. Aniyah, you’re a Desmond.” He stuck out his neck and gave the other three a death glare, daring them to contradict him, before returning to me.
“Being a Desmond means you do the hard thing. You face the fire. You go after the thing that might break you, might reduce you to ashes, might tear your heart out. You kick ass and do it anyway for two reasons.”
He raised one finger.
“One, we’re not cowards. I forbid it.” His hand chopped down in front of him. “Cowardice is a stain, and you, my girl, are meant to shine brighter than the sun.”
Calix’s dramatics were starting to make a lot more sense.
He raised another finger.
“And, two… even if the worst happens, we’re here.
All of us. Your parents. Your siblings. We’ll put you back together, piece by piece.
If you fall, we will catch you. If you shatter, we’ll rebuild you.
All of us are willing to take on the world for you, which includes any idiots who could possibly dare to desire something else besides you. I mean, look at you.”
He motioned to me, sweeping his hands like a showman before finishing with a crisp chef’s kiss. “You’re perfection, just like your mother. If they’re blind fools, then it's easy. We’ll kill them.”
He brushed his hands like he was getting rid of dirt. “Then we find you new ones. Better ones. Gorgeous, rich, emotionally stable, and flexible ones. Hell, we’ll even hold auditions.”
His devious smile told me he meant every word.
Papu Syris nodded, excited at the thought, and lifted his glass. “Men are a dime a dozen. But you, sweetheart? You’re platinum. If they can’t see that, they don’t deserve to breathe the same air as you.”
A watery laugh escaped my throat, emotion bubbling up in my chest like champagne about to spill. “What if I don’t want you to kill them?”
Tata yanked me into his chest, petting the top of my head with exaggerated care. “Don’t worry, honey. We’ll do it while you’re not looking. You don’t need to worry that pretty little head about it. Your grandfathers will take care of everything.”
My heart swelled, full and aching. Their love was suffocating in the best way, heavy, warm, unyielding, but they were right.
Even if I got burned, even if I crashed and fractured into something unrecognizable, I wouldn’t be left to rot in my ruin.
My family wouldn’t let me become a ghost of myself.
They’d drag me back from the edge, kicking and screaming, if they had to.
“Thank you,” I whispered into Tata’s chest, my arms tightening around him.
After a long moment, he gently pulled away, clearing his throat as he turned to the side and waved his hand like he couldn’t bear the emotion building behind his eyes.
“Oh, darling,” he said, his voice rough, “we’ve kept you too long. Tonight’s your night. I’m sure you’ve got better things to do than babysit a bunch of old men.”
Papu Syris sniffled dramatically and nodded, blinking back tears while Pops Manic rolled his eyes at them and shot me a wink. Someone had to maintain dignity, I guess.
Grandpa Easton reached out, patting my hand. “Looks like Ternin’s going to need a minute to compose himself, but he’s right. Go enjoy your night, Aniyah. Just know, we love you. Fiercely.”
I stood and wrapped my arms around each of them in turn, hugging them tight and thanking them for being here. For always being here. For reminding me that even when I was lost, I wasn’t alone.
As I pulled back, Papu Syris leaned in close and whispered with a grin, “Don’t take forever to have kids like your mom did.”
Laughing, really laughing this time, I stepped away, lighter than I’d been in weeks.
Then I checked my phone.
Several texts from Nathen were waiting. The first one said he was heading up without me, then two more asked where I was.
And the last? Just a single skull emoji.
Shit.
I’d left him alone… with Ras.
Eyes going wide, I flew toward the elevators, praying Ras hadn’t done something reckless. Nathen was one of my top earners, and he was too pretty and too valuable to be bled out over a misunderstanding.