Chapter 23 - Anson
23
ANSON
I pace across my old bedroom for the umpteenth time, then stop to scowl at Ameera. She’s still sitting on my bed with the same serene expression she’s been wearing since we walked in here to wait for my father and Wai Lin to arrive.
“How are you so calm right now?” I ask.
She gives me a placid smile. “Patience comes with age,” she says, then glances around. “That, and I’ve been distracting myself by picturing you as a little boy growing up in this room.” Her smile widens. “I saw the family photos on the walls in the living room. You were adorable.”
I shrug as I fight a grin. “I was alright.”
She rises and approaches me, then glides her hands along my chest and I shudder at how good her touch feels. If only we had the time to indulge our lust. It would make for a great distraction.
“I can’t imagine you ever being just alright,” she says with warmth in her gorgeous eyes that fades a moment later. “But I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t worried,” she says, frowning now. “If this doesn’t work…”
“I know,” I say, not wanting to speak aloud about our chances of surviving tomorrow night if I don’t get my magic back. I take her hand and press a kiss to her knuckles.
She steps closer, burrowing into my embrace until her head is tucked under my chin and I get a hit of her sweet floral scent. Then we just stand there for several long minutes, holding each other until a knock on the front door jolts us back to reality. We part and share a glance as the front door creaks open, then move closer to the bedroom door. I ease it open a crack so we can better hear the voices filtering up from the stairwell.
“Are you okay, bug?” Dad asks in a tight voice.
“I’m fine,” Amber replies. “I just needed to talk to you about something important.”
“See?” Wai Lin says. “I told you she was okay.”
The floorboards creak as they move farther into the house and into the living room, and I hear the rustling of fabric that I can only assume means the three of them are taking a seat on the couch.
“I want to talk about Anson,” Amber says.
“Your brother is gone,” Dad says, his voice unyielding. “There’s nothing more to talk about.”
“Allen,” Wai Lin says. “At least hear her out.”
“Fine,” Dad says, his tone a little softer.
I frown at Ameera, whose slight smile is the only outward sign of her gloating. She was right about Wai Lin’s influence on my father, and I acknowledge it with a stiff nod before focusing on the conversation downstairs again.
“Anson isn’t gone Dad,” Amber says. “I’ve been talking to him and-”
“You what?” Dad asks, his voice rising. “Have you lost your mind?”
“Have you?” Amber asks, getting angry now. “Because I’m not the one turning my back on my family when they need me the most.”
I grin. My father and I may be stubborn, but we’ve got nothing on my sister when it comes to sheer force of will. She’s just more judicious when she chooses to use it, so it packs even more of a wallop when she does.
“You can’t-” Dad begins again.
“Stop,” Amber continues. “Just stop. I don’t want to hear anymore about what kind of evil monsters vampires can be. Believe me, I’m well aware of that. But so can anyone else, even mages, or have you already forgotten about that dementia spell Roman put on you?”
A long moment of silence passes, and I can just imagine the sullen look that’s probably on my father’s face right now. I’ve worn it many times myself when someone else is right and I didn’t want to admit it. Ameera’s knowing smirk tells me she’s probably thinking along the same lines.
“You know she’s right,” Wai Lin says. “There’s something different about Anson and this Fatali woman. They’re not like other vampires. I tried to tell you, but you wouldn’t listen.”
“Because it’s nonsense,” Dad replies, but his tone lacks the confidence of a few moments ago.
“What if it isn’t?” Wai Lin continues. “What if your son is still himself and you turned your back on him when he needed you the most?”
“I… I…” Dad stutters out.
“Don’t you owe it to him and yourself to find out if you were wrong?” Amber asks.
Dad’s next words are so whisper soft that only my sharp hearing allows me to make them out. “Because… because that would mean I’ve failed him, just like I failed you when you were attacked.”
That’s it. I’ve hidden away up here long enough. I push through the door, then move to the stairs and follow them down to the landing. “You didn’t fail me, Dad,” I call out, my voice wavering with the lump of emotion in my throat.
Dad and Wai Lin surge to their feet. He lifts a hand and a fitful spark of white fire appears in his palm, but Wai Lin snatches his wrist in her hand, and puts a stop to the UV light spell he was conjuring.
“Don’t,” she says. “Give him a chance.”
He looks at her, his expression anguished and terrified. “I…”
“Please, Dad,” Amber says. “Just hear him out. You’ll see he’s still himself, just like I did.”
He looks at her, then at me, before he stiffens and glances behind me as Ameera moves down the steps to stand next to me. “You… you let them both in here?” he asks.
“Yes,” Amber replies. “And they’ve been here for hours, yet I’m still alive and well.”
Dad glances around, his eyes uncertain. It’s going to take more than just our reassurances to get through to him.
“Take over my aura, Dad,” I say. “See for yourself who I am.”
Ameera stiffens next to me, and Amber and Wai Lin gape at me because they all know what I’m suggesting. What I’m offering is different from him merely touching or reading my aura. This would be me willingly opening up all that I am for him to sift through and control, something I’ve never allowed anyone to do to me before. I’ll be laying my life in my father’s hands if I let him do this. If I really am the monster he’s claimed me to be, then he’ll know. And after that, he could snuff my aura out and end me with a thought if he wanted to do so. It’s a massive risk, but at this point I have too much at stake not to take it.
“Alright,” Dad says with a scowl. “But if you try anything, I’ll fry your ass.”
“Dad,” Amber says, scolding him.
“It’s okay, Amber,” I say as I walk down the steps into the living room with Ameera right behind me.
I reach the bottom of the steps and Dad approaches me, his body stiff and his eyes narrowed, as if he expects me to attack him any second. I meet him halfway and we stop mere feet apart and face each other. This close, I can see the hint of fear in my father’s eyes and it hurts that I’m the cause. Hopefully, what I’m about to do fixes that, but I can’t help focusing on the irrational, paranoid part of me that fears he’s right, that I am a monster now. But there’s no backing down now, no matter the outcome.
Dad lifts his hands and places them on either side of my head, his eyes glittering with magic a moment later. I close my eyes and release the mental shield that’s been in place since he taught me how to protect my aura with it years ago. Then something sharp and bright pierces my head, and I wince at the sudden invasion of a foreign mind. It feels wrong, and I fight the urge to throw my shield back up and try to relax so Dad can do what needs done. He roots around my aura for what feels like an eternity, the sense of wrongness increasing with every moment. I shake with the instinctive need to fling him out, telling myself he’s my father and he won’t hurt me. At least I hope he won’t. Shit. Thoughts like that aren’t helping, and I’ve just about reached the end of my control when Dad gasps and yanks his hands away from my head. I open my eyes to find him standing there, gaping at me.
“It really is you,” he murmurs, and when I nod, tears flood his eyes. “My boy,” he whispers, then lunges forward and flings his arms around me so tight I wouldn’t be able to breathe if I was still human. “I thought you were gone.”
I hug him back, my emotions too chaotic for me to speak as tears well in my eyes. I finally have another piece of my old life back and the sense of peace and belonging that comes over me is something I never thought I’d feel with anyone other than Ameera ever again.
Dad pulls away and frowns. “I’m sorry, son,” he says in a ragged voice. He cups my face in his hands as tears streak down his cheeks. “So fucking sorry.”
Hearing him call me son again is a boon to my battered heart. “All’s forgiven, Dad,” I say, my voice thick with emotion.
He sobs, then yanks me into his arms again. A moment later, familiar arms wrap around us as Amber joins our little reunion, and none of us can contain our sobs of joy. I glance at Ameera and even her eyes are glassy with tears as she smiles back at me.
Eventually we pull apart and I grin at the family I thought was lost to me, at the fruition of the dwindling hope I’d been clinging to for days. I’m so overwhelmed I don’t even know how to put into words how happy I am at this moment. So instead, I focus on what comes next to help me get a grip on myself.
“If we leave for Ameera’s now,” I say to my father. “We should have enough time for her sire to teach you the spell, and then I can get my magic back before dawn.”
“Son, I can’t do that,” Dad says as his smile fades and my joy of a moment ago dies a quick death.
The pain of his rejection burns in my chest. “After all this, you still won’t help me?”
He frowns and glances away. “That’s not what I’m saying.”
“Then what the fuck are you saying?” I demand, pointing at him as rage boils up inside me. “Because right now it sure as hell sounds like you’re refusing to help me.”
He clams up and stares at the floor, and it’s all I can do to rein in the urge to throttle him into answering me. So much for our joyous reunion. I’m just about ready to grab Ameera and get the fuck out of here when he finally meets my eyes again.
“My magic hasn’t been… the same since Roman’s spell wore off and…” he says, trailing off with a pained expression.
“And?” I prompt, even though I’m pretty sure I don’t want to hear the answer I already know is coming.
He huffs out a breath and then annihilates the last bit of hope I’d been clinging to when he says, “I don’t think I can perform the spell.”