Lilly
My father first tried knocking on the door.
Then he tried banging on the door.
Then he tried kicking the door.
But I was determined to make sure that no matter how far my father went, no matter what steps he took to try and reach me, I would tune him out. If he was going to take away my physical freedom, then I was going to do everything I could to retain the freedom of my mind I desperately had sought.
After the aggressive approach, he tried to reason with me. First, he offered me a meal of my favorite pizza in town if I just came out and spoke. Then he offered me a paid trip to New York City, where he promised not to speak to me for a week if I just came out now.
The only thing he said that made me even consider rising out of my bed was when he said that he would withhold the strike on Cole Carter if I just left my room.
But like everything else that he threw at me, I knew it was either an empty gesture or a lie. I’d heard him boast about ending the Reapers, of killing the man that I had cared enough for to almost lose my virginity to. He wasn’t going to call off an attack now—and if he did, he’d “fail” to do so, knowing full well that it was too late.
So, instead of giving him the time of day, instead of getting up off my bed, I just laid there on the ground, trying to think of what my next step would be.
Unfortunately, I couldn’t think of anything other than “wait.” My father would have security around this house at ten times what it was before; there was no way I could possibly escape without a half-dozen Saints tackling me to the ground. Even if a shootout with the Reapers took place, I didn’t see it happening. If I was in jail before, now I was in maximum security lockdown, with escape through physical means less likely than escape through some mystical, superhero means.
Then the pounding stopped. The footsteps became quieter. And I felt I could breathe easier.
Which I did for all of about two minutes before my father came back, unlocked the door with ease, and stepped in, shutting it behind him.
“You didn’t think I wouldn’t have a key to all the rooms in my own house, would you?” he said. “I have tried to give you all the privacy in here you seek, but I cannot let complete insubordination slide.”
“Insubordination?” I sneered. “What am I, your soldier?”
“You know full well what I mean.”
My father grabbed a chair from my desk, turned it around, and faced toward me. Like a bratty teenager…
That was it. I hadn’t really acted this way when I was with Cole or out in Ashton. With the independence of an adult came the temperament and behavior of an adult. With the “grounding” and punishment of a teenager came the attitude of a teenager. Perhaps I was capable of being a functioning member of society if I got that chance.
But for right now, I just rolled over on the side of the bed, refusing to face my father.
Except this time, he didn’t initiate conversation.
He just sat there. I could feel his eyes upon me, waiting for me to turn to him, and though I tried not to face him, it was like being told not to think of a white bear. The active act of trying not to do something made it inevitable that I would.
“What did you do with Cole?” I said.
But he took a page out of my book and did not answer me. Frustrated, I sat up, turned, and looked right at him.
With his silver, almost white beard, slicked-back hair, and soulless eyes, he looked every bit the part of worn-down warrior looking to make a point.
“I did nothing.”
“Bullshit,” I said. “You rattled off his address and said that you were going to kill him.”
“I will repeat,” he said. “Idid nothing.”
Oh, for fuck’s sake.
“OK, let me ask in a way that gets through that thick skull of yours,” I said. “What did the Fallen Saints do to Cole?”
My father folded his arms, that wicked smirk spreading over his face. Even I, his only offspring, felt a chill to my core whenever I saw that sadistic smile forming. It was impossible not to see those eyes and feel that a deeper evil lay behind them.
“Bombed the place,” he said. “Last I heard, they evacuated the complex. But it should be destroyed.”
