She offers me chicken again, more insistently, like it’s bugging her that I’m not eating. This time, Silas takes it from her and tosses it over his shoulder to drive the point home.
The demoness snorts. “You know, at first, we demons thought Amato was a damned idiot. Fucking soft, that guy. Used to be some hotshot doctor, and he cared about everyone and everything—would give a stranger the shirt off his back if he thought it would help ‘em. Always down for a chat about feelings, morals, life’s purpose, bettering the world?—”
“He sounds exhausting.”
“Yes, thank you!” she cackles. “That’s exactly what I told the fucker. Honestly, he drove us batty, but he wasn’t nearly as bad as most mortals. Even better, he was down to try any kind of shady shit to get you back. Blood tracing, necromantic rituals, soul-scrying—you name it, he tried it all for seven fucking years.That guy was so hells-bent on getting you back that I finally strong-armed him into telling me why. And you know what he said to me?”
I arch a brow expectantly.
“‘My daughter is my whole world. Without her, this one holds no meaning,’” Eisha recites dramatically, following it with a harsh laugh and sipping her soda loudly. “And then he went on to spin what I thought was the most ridiculous fucking tall tale I’d ever heard, going on about how oh-so-special you were. ‘Course, now I get that he wasn’t pulling my tail.”
I wonder if she’s talking about me being a saint. That’s still not a can of worms I’m ready to open, so I tip my head.
“But you never met my mother?”
“Nah, I never had the displeasure. From what I hear, she didn’t run in the same circles as your father for what little time she was around. A real career woman—and not nearly as open-minded as Amato was about most shit, let alone about demons.”
I speak telepathically only to Everett.
So, your father helped vote to execute my supposed father. The more I learn about your parents, the more I’m not looking forward to meeting them.
Dear gods, no. They don’t deserve to meet you. Not to mention, they have some psychotic urge to win thetelumover to be manipulated however they see fit. Baelfire wasn’t kidding about them being a nightmare.Then he pauses.I should probably tell you that I was there. When they executed Amato, I mean. Natalya did it.
I stare at the plates of food in front of us as the demons continue to devour their meal.
How strange to think that during those isolated, brutal first years of trying to survive in the Nether as a little girl, someone was here fighting like hell to get me back. Some idealistic, kind father who might’ve even loved me.
When it comes to father figures in my life, my experience has been strange—because, in an extremely inhuman, bizarre way, Amadeus genuinely cares about me. I wasn’t lying to Baelfire when I told him my adopted father wanted children. Whatever mysteries lay in Amadeus’s past, I’m positive he was once human, and some forlorn echo of his long-ago humanity led him to singling me out as someone he wanted to pretend was his own.
That’s why he doted on me—even if his method of doting meant extreme training methods, showing me off in gory battles to his Undead subjects, teaching me to be heartless, and eventually ripping my heart out to make me what he wanted.
Still, for being what he is, Amadeus tried to build an inhuman, paternal relationship with me.
Obviously I don’t see him like that.
If this Pietro Amato had somehow rescued me and taken me back to the mortal world to be a real father to me—gods, I can’t even imagine what that would have been like. It’s too foreign and strange.
But a part of me is almost…sadthat I never met the man they say fought so hard for me.
He would probably be disappointed to see what I’ve become now.
I don’t realize I’ve completely tuned out of another conversation until Silas leans forward with a frown.
“What do you mean, you know someone in the Sanctuary? I know the Sanctuary well, and everyone there shuns demonology. You must be lying.”
To my surprise, it’s one of the twins who snorts. His voice is rough and accented. “Come off it, I’m not lying. Thanks to the weakening Divide, my brother and I fled the Nether recently. First, we took an offer of a deal to escape the citadel, and allwe had to do was get a tricky legacy here in the mortal world to accept a big, secret mission straight from?—”
The other pierced demon elbows his brother. “Shut the fuck up! What’ve I told you about keeping your ugly mouth shut? You’ll spoil things.”
“What things?” I ask, arching a brow.
The pierced twins fumble and announce they’re done eating before they hurry out of the gas station.
Melchom rolls his eyes. “Demons fresh out of the Nether are a fucking pain in the ass. They’re just bumbling motherfuckers who can’t tell their tails from their dicks—but there’s family for ya, am I right?” he grins at me.
“I wouldn’t know. But if they’re related to you, it tracks.”
He laughs and elbows his girlfriend. “Ready to go, you infernal whore?”
