Page 30

Chapter

Thirty

“Eira!” Harek tugs at my arm. “Let’s go .”

My feet are cemented to the ground. I can’t stop looking at my father, can’t help but drink in his sight. Literally everything that has made me different from everyone else in my life is on this man. He’s my father—there’s no other explanation.

No doubt in my mind.

He steps forward, and immediately Harek stands in front of me.

I push my friend to the side with a strength I never knew I had. He stumbles and gives me a dumbfounded look. I don’t apologize. Wouldn’t even if I could find my voice.

The man pushes some thick dreadlocks behind his shoulder and takes another step toward me.

Harek growls.

My father blinks a few times. “Tyra?”

I struggle to find my voice. “She’s my mother.”

His shoulders drop. “You look just like her.”

“I look just like you .”

He doesn’t deny it.

“Are you my father?” The question slips out, and it’s stupid. Obviously I’m his daughter—an imp without eyes could see that much.

“How old are you?” He rubs his palms together, dust falling from his fingerless gloves.

“Twenty-three.”

Harek puts a hand on my shoulder and shakes his head. He thinks I’m giving too much information.

What does it matter? If my father wants to kill me right here, he could easily overpower both of us. And I need answers.

My father glances up, like he’s doing the math. “That tracks, but how’s it possible? Where’s Tyra?”

“Dead.” My voice cracks.

His mouth falls open. “No.”

“Like you care,” I snap.

“What?”

“You haven’t been in our lives at all.”

He leans against a light post. “She disappeared one night, and I couldn’t find her.”

“Aren’t you a tracker?”

“Only of evil fae. There wasn’t a drop of badness in her. I can’t believe she’s gone.”

That reminds me to check my palm. No glow, no warmth. My father isn’t a threat to me.

Not yet.

“You’re really her daughter?” Disbelief drips from his tone.

“I look just like her, according to you. Yet all I see is you—that’s all I’ve ever seen. You can’t deny I’m both of yours.”

He swallows. “But it’s impossible.”

“You didn’t have a relationship with her?”

“I certainly did. She was the first, and only, fae I gave my heart to. Nobody else had been worth the risk.”

“Is your heart that valuable?”

He rolls his eyes. “The risk of a hunter is having a son.”

“What about a daughter?”

“No hunter has ever had a daughter.”

“Congratulations, you’re the first.” Though the words fly out quickly, I can’t help feeling conflicted. What does this mean? Could we get around having to attempt to kill each other to protect our own skins?

More importantly, could we have a chance at getting to know each other? He might be able to tell me things about my mother that I don’t know. Chances are, he saw a side of her that nobody else did. His eyes light up when he talks about her, and that’s not something Gunnar has ever done. We’re all his property, and nothing more.

But this man in front of me? He appears to be exactly the opposite of my stepfather. Maybe he could even care about me—not that I’m going to get my hopes up about that yet. I need to see if he’s genuine. He could be faking everything for all I know.

“Do you have the powers?” My father asks, pulling me from my thoughts.

Harek grabs my arm and shakes his head vehemently.

I keep my focus on my father. “You mean the glowing palm? The awesome ability to absorb the souls of evil fae? Check and check.”

He releases a string of swears.

“I’m not excited about any of this either, believe me.” The foreign magic in me roils around, reminding me of exactly why I hate these powers. All I want is to get it out, and all he can do is swear because I’m draining his power.

“You don’t have the sword?” he asks.

“Not anymore.”

His eyes widen. “You lost it?”

I can’t tell if he’s concerned or annoyed. Part of me feels bad for disappointing him, but then again why should I care if he’s annoyed with me? I have bigger problems to worry about, like getting rid of the foreign souls.

“What happened to it?” He looks around, as if it could be just lying around on the street.

“Long story.”

He mumbles something I can’t make out.

“What was that?”

Harek pulls on my arm. “Let’s go .”

“No.” I turn to my father. “What did you say?”

“You need the sword to get those souls out of you.”

“I know.”

“They’ll fight until it wears you down. We’re not meant to hold onto them forever. It’s just a method of travel.”

“A method of travel?” I ask.

“Carrying the souls until the sword can store them.”

I stare at him in disbelief. “It stores the souls?”

“Yes. That’s why I said you need it.”

Harek steps in front of me again. “Why do you care? You’re just going to try to kill her.”

“I have no such plan.” My father moves so Harek isn’t blocking us. “Who are you, anyway?”

“Her best friend. The one person she’s been able to depend on her whole life—unlike some people who abandoned her.”

“I’d have had to know about her existence to abandon her.”

They stare each other down.

I turn to Harek. “Stop, please.”

“You’re siding with him?”

“I’m not siding with anyone. I just want answers, and he has them.”

“He also has every reason to kill you! What’s stopping him?”

My father smirks, though it’s more playful than menacing. “I just found out I fathered the first ever female hunter. She’s my daughter, and she looks just like the love of my life. The last thing I want is to hurt her.”

“Right.”

“I appreciate your concern for her, but it seems she wants to talk with me. You should honor her choice.”

Harek steps back. “Just know I’m not trusting you farther than I can throw you.”

“Which wouldn’t be very far.” My father chuckles.

“Exactly.”

It’s my turn to roll my eyes. “The testosterone is too much. I’ll catch you two later.”

“Wait!” My father pleads with his eyes. “Don’t go. I easily have as many questions as you do. Where have you been living all this time? I’ve never sensed your presence.”

“You can sense me?”

He nods. “You arrived last night, am I correct?”

Blood drains from my body. “How did you know?”

“You’ll learn to fine tune your senses. I’m assuming you haven’t come into your powers until just recently?”

“Let me guess,” Harek says. “That’s when yours started weakening? We’ve heard the rumors.”

“It’s been about a week, and unfortunately, that’s long enough for things to start going awry. Look, why don’t you two come to my place? We can talk and get to know each other. I don’t even know my daughter’s name.”

“Eira.” I square my shoulders. “And yours?”

He hesitates. “She named you Eira?”

“That’s what she said,” Harek mutters.

“What’s your name?” I ask my father.

He holds my gaze for a moment before responding. “Einar.”

Now I’m thrown off balance. “That’s so close.”

“I don’t think she wanted any question about your parentage. Your name is clearly a combination of our names—Einar and Tyra.”

He’s right, not that I had any doubts. But if I did have any, they’d be shot down by now. I’d always thought my name was a shortened version of my mother’s, but it’s clearly a mixture of both of theirs.

The silence is deafening as I take it all in.

Harek puts his arm around me. “We’re not going to your place. It would be far too easy for you to kill her.”

I start to object, but he has a point. Even though Einar is my father, we don’t know anything about him except that we will have to fight to the death. And given that he’s a beast of a man, it’s clear who has the advantage.

He must see the hesitation in my expression because he nods. “Fair point. The last thing I want is any harm coming to her, but you have no reason to believe me. How about we go to a restaurant and talk over dinner? My treat.”

Harek and I exchange glances. That’s an offer we can’t refuse.

I turn him. “That sounds good.”

“Great. I know the perfect place. It was your mother’s favorite.”

How can I turn that down? We follow Einar down the road. If nothing else, hopefully I’ll learn more about my parents before I die at the hands of my own father.