Page 103 of Behind the Shadows

My fingers hovered over the lid. I didn’t even need to open it. I knew who it was from.

My father.

And suddenly the walls didn’t feel like walls. They felt like eyes. A cage. The air didn’t feel like air, it felt like his breath on the back of my neck.

My throat tightened. My skin crawled. I wanted to scream—to throw the box, to burn it, to run—but I didn’t move because this was the game, wasn’t it? It was all mind games with him.

Placing the box on the counter, I glanced at Ella, who took a sip of her wine. Carefully, I lifted the lid and stared at a stack of pictures. I removed them one by one, staring in disbelief.

“Holland?” Ella asked.

I hadn’t noticed the tears that had slipped down my cheeks and landed on the countertop.

“Sorry.” I wiped my face and sniffled. “It’s pictures of Ally and me, my sister.”

Ella approached and put a gentle hand on my shoulder. “What the hell?”

She grabbed the next picture from the stack, a small gasp escaping her. “Do you know that man?” Her voice rose in pitch, and for the first time I saw fear twist her facial features.

“He’s … he’s my father,” I managed.

Ella turned ghostly pale. “Your father?” She threw her head back and laughed as if she’d lost her mind. “Does Kip know who your father is, Holland?”

I took a gulp of my wine. I shouldn’t have opened the damn box, but I felt safer doing it with someone here. Besides, Kip was close to his friends, and I suspected he would confide in them now that they knew about me.

“He does, but only today. I just found out from Lily, and I wanted to verify the information before Kip said anything to you and Death.”

“Fucking hell.” Her head dropped and her shoulders sagged with the weight of the world. “The most evil, vile, intelligent monster I’ve ever met … his blood is running through your goddamn veins.”

“Yeah, I thought about that too.” I blew out a heavy sigh as I put the lid on the box and tucked it into a drawer. I would deal with it later. From what I’d seen so far, it was to let me know that my father had always been around even if he hadn’t been in my life. A reminder that he was always watching.

Ella nodded toward the living room. “Let’s at least sit down. Tell me more.”

We settled in again, and I filled in the gaps and brought her fully up to speed about the first time I‘d seen Kip, what had happened to Ally and me, how Draco and Cooper had tracked me down and that they were now dead, and the rest of the details that had led up to Lily’s death. I thought Ella would have left by now with the crazy shit I was telling her, but not once did she look at me with an ounce of judgment. I liked her. A lot.

“That makes sense about you killing Dom, but Draco and the note your father left take it up a new level of fucked up.”

“Yeah, but I don’t understand why now. After all this time, why are Kip and I learning the truth about him? What’s his goal?”

Ella tapped her fingernails against the wineglass and stared at me. “If I had my guess, he’s bringing his family home.”

“He has more than one daughter?” For some reason, the thought hadn’t crossed my mind.

“I have no idea, but he has his eye on Death and me too.” Her voice dropped. “Not because we’re related—because he still sees us as his property.” She leaned up and removed her phone from her back pocket. “Can I ask Dope for help? Better yet, maybe we should pay him a visit and tell him everything. He should be able to find some answers for us.”

“I need answers. I’m confused and honestly scared. But Ella, whatever else we learn …” My jaw clenched so tight it ached. “The Pied Piper has to be brought down. He sold me. My sister died in captivity. I owe the motherfucker.”

Ella stood, her wine forgotten. Her eyes—once filled with suspicion—burned now with something darker.

“No,” she said. That one word full of a deadly promise. “We all do. He’s been playing god for far too long. But this time?”

She extended her hand. “He has no idea what kind of monsters he just brought home.”

45

KIP

I leaned back in my chair and shifted, trying to find a more comfortable spot. “If you know so much, then who the hell did I kill because I thought it was Samantha? I fucking deserve to know.”