Chapter 48
“ O h, Cameron…Wakey, wakey.” Ignus stood by the door.
I sat up, clutching the sheet to my chest, but beside me, Serath continued to sleep.
“Don’t wake him,” Ignus said. “He’s been through a lot. Best to let him recuperate. He’s going to need his strength for what’s to come.” He glanced at the puddle of clothes by the bed. “Get dressed and meet me in the corridor. The boss is here, and he wants to speak to you.”
“The others?”
“Them too, but you first.” He left the room, closing the door softly behind him. This time it didn’t beep, telling me it was unlocked. Had he locked me in here before?
Curiosity warred with a twinge of unease, but I slipped from the bed, dressed quickly, and hurried out to find Ignus waiting on the opposite side of the corridor, arms crossed.
He pushed off the wall and set off. “Follow me.”
Once again, we navigated a network of corridors, and the lack of windows and view to the outside made my skin itch. “How do you do it? Live underground?”
“Needs must,” Ignus said. “It’s safest here.”
“And where is here?”
He gave me a knowing smile and a wag of his finger. “Naughty, naughty. I’m not giving anything away until the boss says it’s all right.”
We took a flight of stairs, the space so narrow I couldn’t help but wonder how a graynite would navigate it. It opened onto another corridor that ended in a door. Ignus knocked, and a deep muffled voice instructed us to enter.
“In you go,” Ignus said. “I’ll be waiting out here to escort you back to your mate once you’re done.”
I eyed the door. There was a graynite on the other side. The leader of this group. “You’re not coming in?”
He leaned in with a smirk. “Why, do you need me to hold your hand?”
“Only if you want Serath to rip it off.” I smirked back.
He stepped away from me with an exaggerated wince. “Good point.”
If this graynite leader wanted me dead, I’d be dead already. There was nothing to worry about. I took a deep breath and pushed open the door.
The scent of peppermint hit me before I had time to register anything else. Everything was brown leather and old-school antique furniture. The lighting was soft and warm, giving the space a cozy feel. It was obvious this was a study, but the only occupant was a man standing by one of the bookcases.
I stared at him in shock. I knew him. We’d met in Mistlegate at Calista’s place. “Ivor, what are you doing here?”
He exhaled, simply staring at me for several seconds before smiling. “It’s so good to see you again…properly.”
“I don’t understand…Who are you?”
He smiled, open and welcoming. “I’ve been thinking about how to do this part.
How to answer that question. Whether to start at the beginning and talk until we come to the end, or whether to drop the bombshell and clean up the mess a little at a time.
I think…I think I should simply rip off the Band-Aid.
” He walked into the center of the room and tucked his hands into his pockets, looking down at me with bright eyes.
“My name is Ivor Basque, and I am your biological father.”
UbrON
This is not how it was meant to be. This body is a gift to me.
Mine, and yet he has claimed it back. How?
How is this possible? I need to understand this strange tether that exists inside him.
The inky ropes of power that hold me captive are threaded with crimson.
They pulse with a strange heat that is almost… pleasant.
I can’t break free, and so I wait. I gather my strength, and although time has no meaning here, I still feel its passage until something changes. The dark ropes of power trapping me slacken, and I rise toward the gray, toward a pinprick of light.
Oh…his presence is heavy here.
Saturating this body.
Filling it so that I have no space but this narrow tunnel to squeeze through.
No matter. It is enough. A space to hide and a route to the surface while his defenses are down.
Like now.
He slumbers.
Oblivious. Unaware. I push forward and gently steal control of his body.
He is not the only one that can hide, and while he sleeps, I will live…