“They saw that?” he asks, and I nod again, my chest tightening.
Thorne reaches out, wrapping his fingers around mine as he offers me a tight smile. “I don't know the answer to that, and I can't say that much of this makes sense, but what we both know is that where Jude is involved, things are always more complicated than they seem.”
2
THORNE
Idon't know how long we sit for, but as time passes, her heart rate lowers, and she slowly calms, while all I can do is stare at her from the corner of my vision.
I’ve stared at this woman a thousand times.
Hated her.
Desired her.
Needed her.
Yet I feel like I’m staring at her with fresh eyes. Her purple hair looks deeper, richer, more mystical. Her eyes are wider, brighter, more alluring. Her frame is taut and tight, but her shoulders aren’t as hunched as they were the first time I saw her.
She’s not hiding anymore. Not who she is, notwhat she wants, and not what she’s scared of. For the first time, she’s laid bare, vulnerabilities and all.
Her life has been turned upside down with one simple test, and in doing so, it has flipped mine right along with it.
I'm not the last shadow fae.
She's half scythe, half shadow fae.
I'm not alone.
And Odie is here too. My father's best friend.
My pulse races with the incessant need to gain as much control over the situation as I can. But the truth is, the hows and whys don't matter, not with such a startling revelation. More than that, I don't know what my first move should be.
There's only one other moment in my life when my mind has been this still and chaotic at the same time, and that day was when my parents and sister died. My gut sinks as I recall every second of that fateful day, the moment they ceased to exist along with everyone else in the Shadow Realm at the hands of the scythe.
My small hands tremble, fear clawing at me as my father presses the golden key into my palms, capturing my shaking fingers in his. His soft, honey-colored eyes find mine, a beacon as the sirens blare. We’ve run this drill so many times, but this is the first time it’s been more than just a test. Thescreams that ring through the hallways are truer than the bones that make up my body.
“Father…” I wobble, and he holds my hands tighter.
“It’s okay, Thorne. We’re going to be okay.”
“But they’re coming. It’s not safe,” I insist, shaking my head as I will him to listen to me, but the way his mouth curls tells me it’s pointless.
“All you have to do is wait here until someone comes to get you. If the sun makes two turns across the sky and no one comes, you?—”
“I climb to the highest stairwell and exit through the window.”
He nods, smiling despite the fear that glistens in his eyes. “That’s my boy.”
“And Francesca?”
“She’s with your mother. She’ll be safe, Thorne. Your job is to worry about you, okay?”
I nod, but the trembling in my hands travels up my arms instead of disappearing with his firm words.
“Now get inside, son. Get comfortable,” he breathes, and despite the thickness in my throat and the heaviness that weighs on me, I move, shuffling backward.
My back hits the wall too quickly, and my father presses a kiss to my forehead, the touch fleeting before he’s back at the doorway, offering me one final look before he nods. I hold on to the moment for an eternity before the sound of the doorshutting vibrates through the air, solidified by the lock clicking into place.
