Chapter 7
Chapter Seven
LIAR
The restaurant was very small, stuffed between a pawn shop and a shoe store.
From the outside, it didn’t look like much, but once we stepped through the doors, the atmosphere struck you with the price tag.
It smelled like rosemary and silver polish, and every single waiter was French.
Of course, there were only three waiters.
“How can I help you?” the handsome man of indeterminate age asked Nix before turning his charming smile on me.
Nix put a hand on the man’s shoulder and gave him another smile that was fifty times more charming. “You can help me by not smiling at my wife.”
I blinked at Nix, shocked by that weirdness.
The waiter blinked a few times then nodded, keeping his gaze firmly on my husband. “Of course, sir. Anything else?”
“We’re here to join her aunt and father.”
The waiter glanced at me again before turning and sweeping away from us, down a long hall that led to a closed door. “They are in a private room,” he said, not looking directly at anyone.
“Of course. We have family business to discuss.”
The waiter shot a look at Nix, confusion clouding his brow. “Of course. Are you certain they’re expecting you?”
Nix smiled as he reached past him for the doorknob. “If we aren’t expected by Flowers, I would be very surprised.”
He opened the door and then we were inside, closing the door in the waiter’s face.
The room was not intimate. The oval table was large enough to hold a good dozen people, and my aunt and supposed birth-father were on opposite sides, frowning at each other.
“So sorry to interrupt this romantic evening,” Nix said smoothly, drawing a chair for me in the center between the two.
He slid me in and then took the chair to my right, between me and my aunt, but placed his arm around me, almost like he was protecting me from the other direction as well. I was wrapped in protection.
I cleared my throat and then glanced at the blond man on the end whose expression was politely interested.
“Do you mind?” I asked him, because I shouldn’t burst in on a complete stranger’s dinner.
He shook his head. “Not at all. The topic for discussion isn’t delicate, and your sensibilities may be offended, but it is in regards to yourself.”
“What he means,” my aunt put in from the other side of the table, voice cold, eyes hard, and she didn’t take her eyes off Flowers for a second. “Is that he will never tell you what he actually thinks, so you’ll never know how irritated he is or not.”
Nix sighed heavily, his body contracting around me, sending a shiver down my spine. Why had I thought this would be better than staying home?
“Sunshine has a few questions about her dad.”
The blonde man cleared his throat. “Me or the man who raised her?”
“Both,” I said while my heart throbbed painfully.
“I don’t mind if you’re indelicate. My feelings aren’t real.
” I nudged Nix, just because that had to be the most insensitive and annoying thing anyone had ever said.
“Please tell me what happened with my mother. Did you know my dad? Was he…” I took a deep breath and then said in a rush, “A criminal?”
He smiled slightly. “Angus Wilson was a doctor. A brilliant chemist who worked with your mother to help discover the root of her disease, to find a cure.”
I frowned at him. “You don’t know how to be indelicate, do you?
How did I end up with my dad instead of you?
Did you know that I existed? As far as I can tell, it seems that my existence is a total shock to you.
Was my mother also a compulsive liar? Did she attract psychopaths?
Was my dad insane from this super serum thing that everyone keeps talking about?
Is that really why I’m dying? Why did you stab my husband?
How do you know my aunt? What is your favorite medium? ”
He blinked at me, brow furrowed slightly. “You’re dying?”
I rolled my eyes. “That’s not important. Is it really from this super serum thing? Was my mother really dying when you married her? What’s your super power? Are you one of those people who never answers any questions? If you don’t, I’ll have Nix torture you.”
Nix laughed and then pulled me on his lap, so we weren’t even pretending that I was independently sitting on my own chair any more. “Seeing you with me is enough torture. Easy, Kitten. Your heart’s beating too fast.”
I tried to relax, to match the posture and seeming calm of the man some people thought was my father.
He studied me in return, like he was making his own calculations.
“Your mother had a dream, an obsession, and it eventually destroyed our marriage. She left me for Angus, because he was willing to play with her life, and her future children, while I wasn’t.
You were her ultimate goal, only she thought you’d be a male.
You were supposed to be the one who could conquer the rising Prince of Beasts, the son of the villain who killed your mother’s brother.
You probably don’t remember,” he said, addressing Nix.
He then proceeded to take the bowl of bread sticks and pass them towards me. “Would you care for some?”
I took one and smiled automatically. “Thank you.”
“Of course.”
“So, you didn’t want me?”
“I didn’t want to create a monster in order to defeat a monster. That seems quite pointless. All you have is a world of monsters.”
Ouch. “That makes sense, but you’re saying that I’m a monster?”
He shook his head as he dipped his breadstick into an herbal sauce.
“You are nothing close to what your mother designed you to be. But then again, the Prince of Beasts abandoned his heritage and became a different creature entirely, leaving his full potential unrealized. He also disappointed expectations.”
“We were made for each other,” I said, elbowing Nix again.
He grumbled. “Be careful with your precious elbows.”
I rolled my eyes and nibbled on the end of the breadstick. “Aunt Willie, is this true? Where’s your place in all of this? Are you really my aunt, or at least dad’s sister? Or are you someone else entirely?”
She was quiet for too long, studying me with a frown. “I’m your aunt,” she finally said.
I pointed at her. “When you’re lying, you can’t leave such a long pause between question and answer, or no one will believe you. Who are you really?”
She licked her lips and glanced at the blonde on the end before looking at the table in front of her. “I was Angus’s sister. That is, we were raised by the same people in a group. The two of us were the only ones who lived past childhood.”
My stomach lurched and I took a shaky breath, on the brink of tears at the thought of them suffering so much. ‘The only ones who lived past childhood?’ Also they were raised in a group? Like test subjects? I cleared my throat. “You don’t know your parents?”
“No,” she said shortly, frowning at me. “And neither do you. But we protected you. We kept you alive.”
“What about my great uncle on my mom’s side? Was he made up?” I’d never actually met him, but I had driven up to the enormous mansion a few times and waited in the car for my dad or my aunt.
Flowers made a sound, getting my attention. His face was mostly impassive, but there was a hint of disapproval. “Culver was aware of your existence? Peculiar that he didn’t mention it to me.”
“You abandoned your wife,” Aunt Willie said coolly. “Why should he have loyalty to you?”
“You mean that once she left, I let our alliance dissolve.”
I rubbed my forehead. They were sounding a little bit too insane. “You had an agreement with my great uncle involving my mother, but once she left, the agreement was over?”
“Yes. You look a bit pale. Are you all right? Can I get you something to drink?”
I shook my head. “No, thank you. Why did you stab my husband?”
He looked at Nix with a little intensity.
“Because he broke into my laboratory and then drew my blood. That’s why I’m here, because he told me that I was related to someone important.
I’m not related to anyone anymore. My family is long gone except for me.
The only reason I’m alive is because I have turned my back on the wars and struggles between men and monsters, but now here you are.
” He raised a brow at me as though searching for the monster.
“Sorry about that. You didn’t want me to exist, so you’d probably rather not see me. I’m sorry for not honoring your wishes.”
“On the contrary. I didn’t want to have a child who would suffer or become a monster, but it’s done. You are so much like my mother. Your husband took my blood, which binds me to your life, your fate. He took from me, and now owes me in return, for your sake.”
Nix grunted. “What did you have in mind?”
Now they were making a deal about me? Like he’d made a deal about my mother with my old grumpy uncle?
I didn’t think so. I shook my head and stood up.
“Nix shouldn’t have done that. He’ll give your blood back so you can go home and enjoy your safety and happiness without any more disruptions.
There’s no deal. I’m not some object to be bought and traded.
” I shook my head again and then offered the blonde man my sunniest smile.
“It was so nice to meet you. I’m sure you have other business you need to get to. ”
He slowly stood up, eying me. “If you prefer I discuss business with your husband and without you…”
“No. I’d prefer if you go back to that world you came from and not tell Nix he owes you something for your blood.
I’m not trying to get money or anything out of you.
Can’t you let this go? He was only doing it to try and save me.
At some point you must have liked my mother or I wouldn’t exist. Please. Don’t be the villain here.”
He smiled at me, a genuine smile that was still demure, but the smile went all the way to his eyes. “You really are my daughter. Remarkable. I don’t dislike you, Mrs. Hammer.”