Chapter 14
Dad’s alive?
I stare at my seething mother. She could still be lying, but everything in her demeanor says the opposite. My suspicion that he was dead was based on logic, not direct evidence.
“Prove it,” I say.
Mom returns a hard look, then pushes her chair back from the patio table. “Fine. Come with me and I’ll tell you everything. Maybe it’s time you know the truth about your precious father you worship so much.”
I shiver at her tone but rise from my own chair to follow. Even the warm breeze we’d been enjoying by the pool has morphed into the ominous wind of an impending storm.
She says nothing as we enter the house through the French doors and weave through the east wing of the mansion.
“Ms. Wells! Is everything okay?” the household manager asks when we pass her in the main corridor.
“Yes… Actually, there is one thing.” Mom pulls to a stop and slips the socialite mask back on with a friendly smile. “Why don’t you dismiss the staff and take the rest of the day off?”
The manager’s mouth opens, then closes again.
“I mean it. Gabi and I are very comfortable and would greatly appreciate some privacy while we discuss personal family matters.”
“Oh, um…”
Mom places her hand on the woman’s arm with a soft smile. “You all do so much for us. Take the day off. Paid, of course. We’ll be fine.”
Before she can argue, Mom turns and continues on her journey. I offer the manager a tight smile before following my mother, who takes us around the bend toward the gallery.
We’re headed to the office.
But I’m surprised when she veers left instead of right. This route takes us toward the back of the mansion, not the front. When the basement door looms ahead, I cast a nervous glance at my mother.
Even as a kid, I was never allowed in this part of the house. My parents said it’s because it wasn’t safe with all the old fixtures and crevices. My young imagination used to come up with all kinds of scenarios about what they were really hiding in the off-limits portion of the building.
Maybe I’m about to find out what they have been hiding once and for all.
The unease grows when Mom pulls open the door and yanks a string attached to a single lightbulb. Every horror movie ever contains the following scene—two oblivious lead characters descending into the dark basement toward certain demise. But Mom seems focused and determined.
Once we reach the floor of the basement, my anxiety eases slightly.
Instead of the spooky grotto I expected, we land in a clean, well-lit wine cellar. Racks of bottles stand in neat rows that fan out in multiple directions. Overhead lights on sensors flicker on as we move through the cellar.
“This is the only part of the house not being monitored,” she says as she leads me through the center racks.
Shocked, I instinctively scan the surrounding area as if there will be evidence of cameras.
My pulse picks up as I follow in silence. Everything Aden said about my family’s involvement with The Shadow comes racing back. I had trouble believing it, but suddenly, the idea doesn’t seem so far-fetched.
Mom’s strange behavior is the biggest piece of evidence. I’ve seen my mother’s assertiveness, anger, and callousness, but never this cool determination. Maybe there’s a whole other side of her I didn’t know about.
She stops at a steel door at the other end of the cellar and enters a code in the padlock. Once the door clicks open, she pushes inside.
I glance around the small space in confusion. I expected a vault filled with weapons—maybe some futuristic state-of-the-art spy equipment—not a glorified office cubicle.
“Mom, what’s going on? What is this?”
She turns to me and waves around the room. “This is where your father spent the last few years betraying us.”
I raise my brows as a bitter scowl settles over her features. “Jack was a brilliant businessman, but our family didn’t reach this level of wealth and power on our own. I learned the true extent of his dealings with The Shadow when gunmen forced me into a parked car the day after his disappearance.”
I gasp. Oh my god.
Mom doesn’t know Aden told me about our family’s involvement with The Shadow, which means the fear and anger burning in her eyes is real. She’s telling the truth.
“Mom…”
She blinks away tears at the memory, then crosses her arms with resolve. “Yes, that’s right. Four men covered in black leather forced me into a car and informed me that your father double-crossed them, and you and I were the collateral until they recovered him or the equivalent of what he stole. Since that day, I’ve had no choice but to satisfy every one of their demands to protect us, while also maintaining the fa?ade that nothing’s changed. So no, Gabriela. I did not kill your father, but he nearly killed us.”
I swallow hard, having no idea what to say. My heart is in my stomach, my throat closing up. I don’t want to believe any of this. It’s so outrageous, and yet, it explains everything. If I can accept the evidence supporting Aden as a god, I have no choice but to accept the evidence my mother is telling me. The evidence that is smacking me in the face about my father.
“What… What did he do to them?” My question comes out as a whisper, and Mom’s stance softens slightly.
“That’s hard to explain.”
“Try.”
Mom sighs and massages her forehead. “Are you sure you want to know all of this? I’ve been trying to protect you from the truth for your heart as much as your safety.”
No, I don’t want to know more, but I have to. I’ve been searching for answers for so long. I can’t run from them just because I don’t like what I find.
I take a deep breath in a room that’s starting to feel even smaller. “Yes, I’m sure. Tell me the rest.”
“Okay, but it’s going to sound preposterous.”
I almost smile. Preposterous is becoming my normal. “I’m listening.”
She nods. “Well, apparently, there are… monsters living among us. They’re demons or something.”
“Demons? Like, actual demons or are we talking in metaphors?”
“Actual demons, from what I understand. Immortal, special powers, the whole deal.” She waves her hand. “Anyway, I don’t really understand much about them, but The Shadow is trying to find these things, for whatever reason. Capture them, I don’t know.”
Oh god. Aden! This has to be what he was referring to. I can barely breathe as I try to stay calm.
“They’re incredibly valuable, and your father… stole one.”
“Stole one?”
Fuck. My heart is pounding out of my chest. I have to call Aden, warn him that he’s even closer to danger than he thought. Mom clearly doesn’t know the truth about her “boyfriend.”
“They’re very powerful, but there are ways to subdue them. Something with iron, I think. Even though they don’t die, you can weaken them considerably. The Shadow thinks your father stole one. They don’t know why or what he planned to do with it, but they’ve been hunting him ever since. So have I, because until they get him and this… thing… back, they’re basically holding us as hostages. Your father left us to face the wrath for his sins.”
She draws in a deep breath and levels her gaze at me. “Their latest demand was access to Mayor Brookes. I don’t know what they want with him, but that’s not my concern. I will do whatever I have to do to protect you, Gabriela. That includes exploiting some opportunistic playboy like Aden.”
My blood goes cold. “You really are just using him.”
She shrugs. “He brought it on himself by coming after me for my money. He wanted to play in this world so badly, this was his chance. Except he didn’t play when the time came, and now our lives are on the line. There might be a way to salvage the mess he made, but it won’t be pretty.”
I shake my head, numb. It’s all too much. I didn’t even realize I was trembling until I wobble on my feet. There are so many reasons to be in shock right now that my body and mind can’t sort them out. I’m a quivering mass of flesh and bone.
I try to force in calming breaths as I back toward the desk to lean against it. In the distance, I hear Mom’s voice, but right now, my brain doesn’t know what to do with any of this.
Running away seems wrong. Not running away seems wrong. Every fucking thing seems wrong, and I don’t know how to figure out what’s right. Up is down. Left is right. Truth and lies mean the exact same thing, and I press my eyelids together, desperate to drown it all out.
Just a few weeks ago my pain was so easy. It was focused on two things: the loss of my father, which conveniently fed into the dislike of my mother.
Now?
I thread my fingers in my hair. It doesn’t make sense. None of this. What the hell am I supposed to do with it?
“I’m sorry, honey. I know this is a lot, and I know you haven’t liked or understood most of my decisions over the last few months, but I couldn’t tell you what was really going on. The more you knew, the more danger you’d be in. The Shadow is everywhere, not just underground in the Watershed District. They have their claws in politics, law enforcement, private enterprise, you name it, they’re lurking, and they don’t hesitate to remove a threat.”
I shake my head. She’s right. God, I know she’s right. Everything she said lines up with Aden’s story, and I’d be a fool to deny it simply because I don’t want it to be true. I can’t afford to bury my head in the sand. I need to get to Aden as soon as possible and tell him what I have learned.
“What are you going to do about Aden?” I try to keep my voice as casual as possible.
I meet her intense stare, praying I’m not giving more away.
“I don’t know yet.” Her cold tone is terrifying. “Whatever I have to.”
I flinch before I can stop it. “What does that mean?”
“I already told you, Gabi. Nothing is more important to me than keeping you safe. I’ve done things over the last six months that I will never confess to you, and I’m willing to do a lot more. So yes, if it comes down to Aden or you, that’s not even a choice in my head.”
She’s been backing toward the door for the last few minutes, and I suddenly notice the strange position of her body. Her feet point toward the exit, like she’s prepared to run. My stomach drops when she twists away from me.
No!
I figure it out too late, and the second I start to move, she does too.
Except she’s a lot closer to the door, so while she slips through the opening and slams it shut, all I can do is scream.