Page 9 of City of Promise and Light (Mates of Gods and Fae #1)
“It sounds too good to be true, Sybil,” he laughed roughly. The ridicule in his voice made my face flush, especially at the reminder of my father’s saying. I could hear his voice now, telling me with a pointed look: if it sounds too good to be true, then it probably is .
“I know it sounds too good to be true, Liam,” I snapped. “But that doesn’t change the fact that I would be getting a pay raise and find something that I actually enjoy instead of wasting my time complaining about being somewhere I don’t want to be.”
Liam’s eyes narrowed at the accusation in my tone.
Wincing, guilt hung heavy on my heart. We both hated our jobs, but when it came time for him to look, Liam listed reason after reason why it wouldn’t be a good idea.
It would be too hard, too complicated, he would say.
He would have to start back at the bottom and work his way up again.
So instead of finding something new, he settled for staying miserable, content to complaining about it but doing nothing to change it.
Rolling his eyes, Liam huffed and shook his head. “And on that note,” he sneered, “I’m going to work.”
I watched Liam walk away, disappearing up the stairs to his office.
Letting out a groan, I tipped my head back, closing my eyes.
I didn’t mean to take out my frustration on him, but I’d hoped for him to take the news better than he had, and it didn’t help that this damn headache was getting worse again.
Sitting down at the table, I rubbed my aching temples, when pain sliced through my chest like a knife.
I sucked in a breath, my hand pressing against the throb, which was growing sharper with every breath.
My stomach churned and the world seemed to tilt around me as black spots danced across my vision.
I leaned forward, resting my head against the table just as another shot of agony ripped through me, reverberating through my bones.
I slowly stood, my legs feeling like lead. Propping myself against the wall, I wearily made my way to the couch. My chest heaved from another jolt of pain that seized my body, and I collapsed onto the thick cushions, falling into complete darkness.
Several hours later, I woke to Liam scoffing as he came down the stairs from his office.
Ever since Covid, he worked from home, and unlike the Metro, his company steadily allowed employees to work remotely.
I opened my eyes, my mind feeling foggy.
Liam remained silent, giving me an icy glare when he walked past the couch.
Irritation snaked through me and my jaw clenched, knowing how he believed I was lazing around and sleeping the day away without a care in the world.
He acted oblivious to the pain I was in—or he just didn’t care.
While Liam made his lunch, I moved to my own office so we could both stew in our frustration alone.
Sitting at my desk, my headache eased, and I rubbed at the memory of the slicing ache in my chest. Like when Mr. Farra shook my hand, the pain quickly disappeared, but this time, it left behind an echo of discomfort, which was concerning.
Exhaling, I opened my laptop to find information on Mr. Farra.
He left out his company name on the job description, and I hoped learning more about him would help with my decision.
I also figured that if I was thinking about taking his offer, I should at least confirm if his company was real.
However, after thirty minutes of searching, I couldn’t find anything on Ambrose Farra or Samian, though I hadn’t expected much from Samian, since I didn’t know his last name.
Still, the lack of information on Mr. Farra made my instincts scream for me to refuse his offer and keep far away from him.
After a few more attempts of searching for him, I sighed, frustrated with the lack of results, and closed my laptop.
I looked out the window, my brows furrowing at an old beat-up Honda, its color a faded blue, parked in front of my house.
I couldn’t make out who was inside the car as they leaned forward, letting their head rest on the steering wheel.
I watched closely to make sure they were okay, my mind flashing back to a fuzzy childhood memory of a shiny light blue car, similar to the one outside my window.
My face paled when the man stepped out of the car. He had aged quite a bit since the last time I saw him. He looked thin and shorter than I remembered, but his face and narrowed eyes were burned into my memory, still haunting my dreams.
My father made his way to my front door. I watched as he hesitated, looking back to his car as if he were rethinking this moment, wanting nothing more than to drive away. Slowly turning back to the door, he lifted his hand and knocked.
My body froze, unable to move. My strength evaporated.
I hadn’t seen or heard from him since he left my family twenty years ago.
It had been twenty long years without a letter or phone call explaining why he’d disappeared.
But here he was, standing at my door, not noticing me while I stared at him through the window of my office.
The ache in my head immediately returned, though this time, it was from tension climbing up my body. My breath started to quicken, my vision blurring as cold panic set in.
I heard Liam’s footsteps coming down the hall. Looking into my office, Liam stopped, his eyes widening when he noticed my swirling anxiety. Whipping his head to the door, he started, “Is that?—”
“Yes,” I said quickly, my body starting to shake.
Liam looked back to me, uncertainty filling his eyes as he waited for me to decide whether to open the door or let my father walk away. Meeting his gaze, I nodded, telling him to open the door.
Taking a deep unsteady breath, I stood and walked to Liam’s side, coming face to face with the man who abandoned me as a child. “John,” I said slowly, taking in the haggard figure in front of me.
“Sybil,” John paused. “It’s been a while.” His voice was timid, his bright blue eyes misty as he studied me.
A cold, mocking laugh escaped my lips. “What are you doing here? How did you even find me? ”
Clearing his throat, my father shifted his eyes between Liam and me. “I heard you were considering a job from a man named Ambrose Farra. I wanted to talk to you about it before you decide to accept it.” His voice quivered, but at least he had the decency to look ashamed.
Stunned, I could only stare at him with wide eyes. Luckily, Liam answered for me. “How do you know about her offer?” he asked, his voice flat.
Straightening, John looked at Liam, fixing him with a rigid glare. “I have my ways, son.” He looked back to me, his voice softening. “I know I don’t deserve to be given a chance, but please hear me out. I wouldn’t have come if it wasn’t important.”
I winced at his words, my heart breaking slightly.
The job offer was important, but I wasn’t.
He abandoned me all those years ago, yet I had always hoped that one day he would find me again and apologize for what he did.
Now, even though he had found me, it wasn’t to apologize or explain why, and that realization left a gaping hole in my heart.
Dazed, I looked up to Liam, hoping he could tell me what to do. Liam grimaced slightly and exhaled. “I think you should listen to what he has to say,” he whispered.
Slowly, I nodded, standing aside to allow John to come inside. Making our way to the kitchen, I offered him a drink, though he refused. John sat at the table as Liam came up behind me, his hand meeting my lower back. The warmth of it felt reassuring.
“This might be hard to hear, but you can’t take that job with Ambrose Farra,” John said without a hint of remorse or hesitancy.
A laugh crawled up my throat at the audacity of this man. Of course, he would come here after twenty years just to dish out commands. “How did you even hear about this?” I asked flatly.
“Like I said, I have my ways,” John stated, his lips thinning.
“No, that’s not enough,” I hissed. “You don’t get to disappear for twenty years of my life and then randomly show up one day demanding that I say no to a job. That’s not how this situation is going to play out.”
“Look.” John hesitated, his eyes flashing with guilt. “I can’t go into details, but you cannot take this job, Sybil. Very bad things will happen if you do. I won’t let you do this.”
I huffed another cruel laugh at the severity of his tone. “I’m not twelve anymore, John, and I’m sure as hell not going to listen to you.” I could feel my temper fraying, the heat climbing up my neck. “Your opinion has no standing here, and I’m going to take this job whether you like it or not.”
“Sybil, I know that my words will mean nothing to you, but please reconsider this,” John begged, his breath becoming uneven. His gaze wavered, though I couldn’t tell if it was anger that caused his face to flush or panic.
My body felt like it was vibrating, like the adrenaline running through my veins sparked an emotion that I had buried deep inside.
I had never been good enough in his eyes, never worthy of his love, and this was just a reminder of that.
My head dropped and I squeezed my eyes shut as my body started to shake.
“Get out,” I whispered quietly, so quietly that I could hardly hear it over the sound of my blood ringing in my ears.
Twenty years. Twenty fucking years had passed, and he came here like none of it had ever happened.
My heart rate spiked, and my breathing felt erratic.
My body felt like needles were pricking me all over.
Looking back at my father, he was still sitting, but his fingers were nervously tapping the table.
A muscle in his jaw feathered and tension grew in his shoulders.
There was a hard glint in his eyes, like it was an inconvenience that he had to come out of hiding just to see me.
Seeing him there, watching the way his eyes were narrowing like the last night I saw him, made my patience finally snap.
“ Get out ,” I roared, my chest tightening painfully at the shame I’d pushed down all these years now bubbling up.
My body felt like it was throbbing, and the prickly feeling grew as it crawled down my arms and into my hands.
My blood hummed with a rage I hadn’t felt in years, not since that night in the forest with Micah.
Slowly, John stood from the table, his body rigid, his face muddled. He walked to the hallway, brushing past me without even a glance. Stopping at the door, my father paused for a moment, his hands clenched in a tight fists before walking out, slamming the door shut behind him.