AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“I’m sorry we had to leave it behind,” I said in all seriousness.
Her smile deadened, but at least she was no longer a million miles away.
“Me too.”
Her quiet words were oddly loud. The conversation in the living room had stopped. My father’s heavy footsteps pounded across the floor, and the house creaked in response.
All kindness left Dad's voice. “Who’s there?”
As Dad barreled into the kitchen, Freya stiffened beside me. My dad had been an ass for a long time, but I’d never seen him stare at anyone with such hatred. His scowl carved lines into his face, and his hands clenched into fists.
“What is this thing doing in my house?” he practically growled.
I stood between him and Freya and held up my hands.
“Dad,” I warned, “calm down.”
He reached under the cabinet to his left and pulled out a gun I hadn’t even known had been taped there.
“Dad?” Cadence called from the living room.
My father raised the gun at me.
He clicked the safety off. “Get out of the way, Walker.”
I stared at him in utter shock.
Freya stepped to my side. “You know witches can’t be killed by little guns, hunter.”
He scoffed. “If you know what I am, then you must know I wouldn’t bother wielding a regular gun.”
I moved in front of Freya again. Regardless of our less-than-stellar relationship and the secrets he’d clearly been keeping, Dad wouldn’t shoot me.
I hope.
“She’s here to help,” I promised. I gestured to the gun. “Please.”
Cadence burst into the room behind him. Her head swiveled back and forth between the gun in my dad’s steady hands and its target.
“She’s my friend, Daddy,” she whined.
Cadence hadn’t called him that since she was six, but the endearment didn’t hurt. The gun wavered in his hands. Dad refused to tear his gaze from Freya, who stood as still as a statue behind me.
“She’s a monster,” he said and clenched his teeth.
Cadence’s little jaw dropped. “Because she’s a witch?”
Dad finally glanced at Cadence. “You don’t understand.”
“No,” Cadence argued. She moved in front of me and put her hands on her hips. “You don’t understand. Because if Freya is a monster, then so am I!”
Dad’s eyes widened in fear, and the rough lines of his frown smoothed. He hadn’t looked so young in years.
“You know?” he asked. He ran a hand through his unkempt hair and lowered the gun. “It’s too late.”
“Too late for what?” I asked.
Freya whispered something behind me, and the gun flew from my father’s hands and into hers. She sighed in relief, but Dad looked ready to take her on with his bare hands.
