He looked away from me, but I saw the tremble in his shoulders and the ways his eyes lit up. I could tell he really was excited because he played with the ends of his Victorian era butler coat. I’d once told him that since he was dead, he could wear whatever he wanted. His reply had been “I know”, and then he’d walked off. Go figure.
I gave him a wide grin. “Me too.”
And I was. It was nice to have my kid back home. I just wish I didn't need the excuse of finding her grandfather for her to want to stay. I’d replayed our fight the day she walked away over and over, wishing I’d said something different. I wished I’d been more understanding of how she felt, instead of righteous in my thoughts, but I wouldn't get a redo. I just had to try to be better in the future. As much as she thought I was meddling with her future, I really was trying to make it better.
I may have failed her in her early years, been too hard on her in her teen years, argued too much with her in her young adult years, but fucking damn it, I was going to do right by her now. But first, I had to make sure the universe and its ecosystems kept going long enough to do that.
I pushed past Reginald, trying to get out of the house before she even got to the gates. I knew my daughter. If I was still here when she arrived, she would push me to tell her what I knew, and I really needed her to be focused here and getting to know her new mates. That’s what was important. I could handle the rest.
“What are her mates like, Sir?” Reginald asked as he looked out the window in the direction I was sure they were coming.
Before I could help it, my thoughts slipped out. “Assholes.”
I mean they were, but they seemed to care for my daughter, and that care could turn into love, if she let it.
“Oh, so they’re like you.” His flippant tone concealed the humor his eyes couldn't hide. “I guess it's true what they say about daughters looking for partners like their fathers.”
My mouth dropped open, even as my heart throbbed like it would burst. I wanted to yell,No, no, say it isn't so. I'm not like those dick heads.
I growled as I kept going, not wanting to waste time as he crushed a sliver of my soul. I caught him covering his chuckle with his hand, and I stalked forward, putting all that nonsense in the back of my mind. Stay focused. Don’t think about those dickheads and what they could possibly be doing with my daughter. She was a strong and independent woman, who could handle herself. That was one thing I had done right.
Before I crossed the threshold of the mansion door, Reginald called, “Sir, did you want me to explain to her what is going on with the Hellscape?”
I paused, thinking about it, running through all the possible scenarios in my head. On one hand, it would be good for her to know, but then she’d be more suspicious and likely to figure out what I was doing. On the other hand, if I didn’t tell her and she ended up finding out because she was ruling and it was inevitably revealed to her, she could get pissed at me. Decisions, decisions.
“No. Don't tell her right away. She needs to start meshing with her mates, but don't keep anything from her. If she finds something out or one of the princes comes to her with their issues, let her handle them. If she asks you something about it, you can tell her what you know. Hopefully, those idiots will have convinced her to accept the bond by then and they can figure it all out together.”
That was the best plan. Not really hiding the issue, but having her arrive at her own conclusion and growing confident in ruling how she saw fit. Hopefully by then, I'd have found my father and it wouldn’t matter what she found because it would be fixed anyways.
He nodded, understanding what I was trying to accomplish.
“Consider it taken care of, Sir. Happy hunting.” He closed the door, finished with our back and forth and, I was sure, wanting to get the house ready for the new occupants. I bet he was just buzzing about having more beings there other than just him and me.
I snapped my shadow wings out, loving the feel of having them free. The only way to get to Heaven’s gates was to either be a dead soul and float up or have celestial wings. Heaven was definitely the place I needed to go for some answers. I needed to talk to some angels, maybe some of my siblings, and find out who knew what. Because one of them had to know something.
I felt it two weeks ago, right before I contacted the Four Horsemen, when we were on that quarterly mirror call when I asked about his lack of communication. The lot of them were a little too dismissive about it, saying he must be doing another visiting-human-plane-in-disguise thing again, but I didn't buy it. One of them was hiding something, and I was going to find out what it was.
After I talked to some of them, I would find some kind of a clue and then go rescue my father. Then I was going to flaunt it in his stupid face that he needed my help. That God needed the fucking devil to save him. Wouldn't that be a great book?! I could see it now: God, this withered old man, captured by notorious and evil angels wanting to make him pay for loving humans more. And the devil, this handsome bad boy with a heart of gold—if only his father had had more faith in him, he could have been the top angel, even better than Michael—swooping in to rescue him.
I snickered under my breath as I bent my knees and jumped, flapping my wings to take flight, thinking more about this God and Devil story. I could see it now, a smash hit!Spoiler alert, in the end, Michael dies despite Lucifer’s efforts to save him. Oh no! Hehehe.
Chapter 26
Aswewalkedthroughthe Barren Lands, the guys were quiet but still followed me, clearly deep in thought.
After a while, they started asking me questions.
“So you’re saying that as soon as Hell recognized you, its magic decided to force mates on you, and because we were the closest to you, it picked us?” Death narrowed his eyes at me with his disbelieving sneer.
I almost rolled my eyes. He was interesting, sexy, a risk of a man that I always found attractive, but he was also an asshole.
“First thing is, yes, the Hell magic has been itching to force a mate, or now mates, on me since I ran away all those years ago. Two, I have no fucking idea why it picked you all. I thought I would only have one mate, like my parents, but it looks like I got four.”
I glanced back and raised my eyebrow at all of them, one by one. “Looks like I got four mates who are going to cause me a lot of headaches; so, no, Death, I didn't pick you intentionally to be my mates, and I sure as hell don't know why Hell chose you.” I turned back around with a huff, done explaining myself.
“I think Hell decided on us because we’re perfect for you, little goddess.” War pushed forward to walk next to me, his words so sure that I almost believed him.
I looked at him coolly. “No comment.” I still blamed them for part of all this, even if it was really my dad's fault. He wasn’t here, so they got to take the brunt of it.
