Page 165 of Deadfall

She grinned and shook her head. “I’ll let you two catch up. Griffin has a lot to fill you in on.”

Thankfully the animal followed after her and even though I was bummed she left, I knew G and I had a lot to talk about.

“How’s the homecoming been?” I asked.

G’s eyes gleamed and I chuckled, only to wince when it hurt my ribs. “That good, huh? Alright, spill man, I want to hear all the gossip.”

78

EMERSYN

I came out of the infirmary only to freeze when I saw my father at the end of the hall. He’d stopped too, and we stared at each other. We both decided to close the distance at the same time and when we reached each other, the look of longing and relief on his face was palpable.

He reached out a hand and touched my shoulder. “Sometimes I still think I’m dreaming.”

I gave him a small smile and nodded. “Me too. Can we–can we talk?”

His eyes brightened and he nodded. “Yeah, we can go into my office.”

We entered his office and I was immediately assaulted by the scent of him as I remembered it. It brought back memories of him reading to me and Cole, of tucking us into bed—cozy nights curled by the fire, or when I got scared and crawled into bed with Mom and him despite them proclaiming we weren’t allowed to do that. Tears pricked my eyes.

“Aw, Em, come here,” he said.

He pulled me in by the back of my neck, and I sank into his chest. I willed the tears to go away, I wasn’t ready to confront our past, or all of the space that still yawned between us, but for now, this was enough.

After a moment, I pulled away to see him blinking rapidly to clear his own emotions. He turned and sat down on a couch that faced a large open window framing the backyard. I sat down and faced him as I took a deep breath.

“Albatron talked to me before he brought us home,” I said without preamble.

I watched my father’s eyes sharpen, but he nodded and didn’t comment.

“He said he shot me as a mercy,” I said, and he scoffed quietly. “Knowing what would happen to me—”

“What does that mean?”

I pressed my lips together. I had to tell him in order for him to understand.

“I was abused by Octavius.” My father looked like I’d just stabbed him.

“Albatron stopped him—”

“He fucking what?”

So I told him about what happened after the lake house, and the three years that lead up to the clearing with Vetticus. Or, I told him most of it. The important parts. When I was done, my father was speechless. He looked gutted, devastated, and guilty beyond what was his to hold.

“Albatron hoped by saving me this time, you’d hold off on going after him—possibly indefinitely,” I said. I felt exhausted, like I’d just spilled things that had taken up a great capacity in me and now that they were shared, some of the weight was gone.

“Yeah right,” he muttered dryly.

I couldn’t help but grin. “That’s basically what I told him you’d say.”

We shared a small look of amusement.

“He also told me that he wasn’t our enemy—his brothers were the ones who decided trafficking was too lucrative to pass up. He claims he wants to do away with all of that, including not agreeing with what’s being done to children. Again, there was a lot he wasn’t saying. I think he’s tied into much of the business with his brothers against his will—maybe old family legal obligations?”

“That doesn’t forgive him of his sins,” my father said.

I agreed.