Page 166 of Deadfall

“What do you think of his character?”

I frowned and looked away as I gathered my thoughts. I watched Fang sniff my father’s boots before he found a warm spot in front of the fireplace and curled up, with one ear turned toward me.

“He’s definitely shady. But, evil?” I shook my head. “No.” I looked back at my father, wary of what I was about to say next. “He never touched me. Didn’t even look at me. Neither did his second, Angel. He looked out for me on the island too.”

My father sighed. “I just don’t know if I can get over the fact that he shot you. He was also involved with Atrox—when I was imprisoned under Vetticus.”

“I think Vetticus is the real evil here,” I muttered.

“Well, we don’t have to worry about him anymore,” my father said dryly. “He’s currently rotting downstairs.”

My eyes widened. “You got him?”

“Oh, we got him.”

My father studied me for a moment, then stood up and held out his hand. “Come with me.”

He led me through the house and down a flight of stairs which opened up into a modern and well kept dungeon, for lack of a better word. There were a few holding cells, but my father continued through another door until he reached a more ominous area, obviously meant for torture.

The smell of decay and rot hit my senses. A body hung from chains suspended from the ceiling. He didn’t move. Didn’t even look like he was breathing. Whatever that thing was, it was far from even resembling a human much less the one that had tormented my dreams for years.

“I thought about all the ways I’d kill him for so long,” I admitted.

My father pulled a knife from his belt and flipped it so the hilt was toward me.

“Do you want to?”

A ghost of a smile tugged at my lips as I took the knife from him. “Aren’t you supposed to tell me murder is bad, and killing people doesn’t solve my problems? You know—Dad shit?”

He chuckled, but his eyes caught on my scar. He brushed his finger along it, an intense look of regret and pain in his eyes.

“I won’t pretend to be a good man, baby. I don’t even know how to be a father anymore,” he met my eyes sadly. “But, what I do know is I see a very capable and strong woman standing in front of me. I didn’t get to watch you grow up, I didn’t get to teach you the things I wanted to—” His voice broke and he pushed the emotions aside. “But, we have a second chance now, and I’ll do anything to not lose that.”

There was so much I wanted to say, but I couldn’t will the words to form. I wanted to rage at him, to yell and be angry, but I also just wanted to move on, to see what our relationship could be without all of the fucking trauma of the past getting in the way.

“Why is he still alive?” I asked.

He looked over at Vetticus with a smoldering rage over a decade old. “He took everything from me—I wanted him to suffer for as long as possible.”

I nodded. “I think this is your kill then.” I handed the knife back. “But, I want to watch.”

He took the knife and walked up to the man who had taken everything from us. The man who had killed two people who we loved more than anything in the world. The man who had destined for me to grow up without my father. The person who had made my father suffer in ways I’m sure I would never know. I watched my father position the knife, and I took a breath as he slid it into Vetticus’ neck.

With little more than a whisper of air, the evil that had haunted us both was gone.

My father stared at the body with a steely gaze, the pain swirled at the surface, but when he turned his attention to me, I saw the man who would do anything for his family. Regardless of what he decided to do about Albatron, there was still one clear path ahead of us.

“Mahoney’s next,” I said.

“Yes, he has a lot to atone for,” he growled.

“Are we going to lure him out or go to the island?”

My father’s jaw tightened. “He won’t be lured out. We will have to go to him.” He fixed me with a look and my stomach sank. “But, you will stay here.”

Panic gripped me and the hard blow of betrayal nearly took my breath away.

I shook my head adamantly. “No.”