He roared in exasperation, throwing his hands in the air and storming off. “I don’t know what I was thinking. I can’t be around you. I never wanted to see you again in my life, but here you are, showing up out of gods know where, out of the fucking blue!”
I followed him. “Halo - ”
“Don’tHalome. Why can’t you just leave me alone?” he snapped. “What is it? What do you really want? Do youwantsomething from me?”
“No.”
“Then why - ”
I grabbed his wrist. That made him even angrier, but I needed him to calm down. “Because I’m afraid that if I’m not with you, something bad will happen. Toyou.”
His face twisted up in a sarcastic scowl. “And? You care because?”
“You’re the omega-father of my child,” I said neutrally.
He refused to look at me, rolling his eyes.
“And because I don’t know what Silas is up to. Him and whoever wrote that note.”
“Again, you have no reason to care,” Halo muttered. “You gave up the right tocareabout me when you betrayed me to the Knights.”
My grip tightened on his wrist. Still sensitive from the handcuffs, he flinched. I let go of him.
“I don’t - I don’t want youdead, Halo, what part of that don’t you understand?” I said desperately.
In a quiet voice, Halo said, “I don’t understand because you left me to die.”
“I did not,” I insisted. “The Knights only wanted your capture.”
He crossed his arms. “Because a life under lock and key is better than dying, right?”
It took every ounce of willpower not to shift into my dragon and fly up into the sky with a frustrated roar.
“Whatever you claim, the Knights didn’t mean to kill you. I swear it. They only wanted you safe and under control, for your own good, and for the good of Cinderhollow. Please believe me.”
“Oh, Ibelieveyou,” Halo said. “It’s just disgusting and wrong. Oh, and by the way?” He gestured in a sweeping motion to the dark cluster of buildings in the distance - the town itself. “Cinderhollow? Still standing. Has been all this time. Thanks to who, I wonder? Oh, right - the omega who made the giant fucking barrier that’s been protecting everyone all this time!”
“Not the man you killed,” I said coldly.
“You’re impossible,” Halo spat. “Screw this. I’m leaving. Goodbye, Kass.” As he stormed off, I heard him mutter, “Fucking stupid goody-goody.”
In the moment, I didn’t care. I was enraged, upset, horrified and simplypissedoff at Halo’s immature behavior. I didn’t bother watching him walk away like a petulant child.
Four hundred years pass and we still can’t talk to each other without fighting,I thought.Fine by me.
But a nagging frustration gnawed at me. If Halo wanted to leave, that was his own choice - but what about our daughter? Angel was out there somewhere, and even if Halo was acting like she was fine, how could a young girl be fine without her fathers?
I was angry - angry at Halo, but also at myself. I should have been there with her. I shouldn’t have let Halo take her. But he was a fiercely determined father - I knew the only way to pry Angel away from him at the time would be from his cold, dead hands.
The weight of my spinning thoughts forced me to sit down. I gripped the rocky ledge beneath me so hard that it scraped my fingers.
Halo’s venomous words seeped back into my mind.
A life under lock and key is better than dying, right?
Guilt clawed at my chest. Was that really what was best for my daughter? Locked up with her father, alone, without me? At the time, all I could think about was doing the best thing for our tribe - and that meant turning Halo in. He was a danger to everyone.
Maybe even to Angel.
