Evil through and through. There was no way around the truth. He might lie to others about his parentage, but he couldn’t lie to himself.
Brigid had seen the beast and decided that he could never be trusted.
Worst part?
He agreed. There was a part of him that liked to dance with cruelty. It flirted with the darkness that had birthed him. And it was hard to resist.
Humans called him the son of Lucifer and he never bothered to correct them. Mostly because Noir was far more sinister.
Cruelty lured him like a siren. It wrapped its arms around him and made him want to hurt others. Some days, it took everything he had not to give in.
That was what had terrified Brigid. Honestly, what terrified him.
It was why she’d decided that she could never be around him anymore or share a future with someone who had his lineage.
“She’s pregnant, Sim.”
Simi cocked her head. “Your woman?”
He winced at her innocent question. “Not mine anymore. But yes.”
“That’s a good thing, right? Babies are always wonderful. Tasty too.”
He snorted at the last bit, knowing she’d never eat a baby anything. She just liked to tease about it because it got under Acheron’s skin. “I’m not allowed to see him when he’s born. She told me that she will hide my child where I’ll never find him.”
She blew out a long, disbelieving breath. “Then the woman be dumb. Don’t know your powers neither. You could find anything. There’s no place to hide your baby where you won’t see him, and I know it.”
He loved the way Simi made him feel.
If only Brigid could be so kind. Pressing the heels of his hands to his eyes, he let out a frustrated roar. “How can she take my son from me?”
Simi hugged him. “People are mean, akri-Thorn. Sometimes even meaner when they’re hurt. Simi don’t know why. But … maybe she’ll change her mind.”
No. He knew better. It was over. He’d lost everything.
Even his mind.
How could he ever get past this? He’d loved her more than anything and she only saw him as a monster. She wouldn’t listen to a word he had to say. He’d given her his best.
And she refused to see anything more than the worst in him.
It was awful.
Suddenly, Simi held an old doll up in his face.
Thorn scowled. “What are showing me?”
“It’s what you gave the Simi when she was little. It makes the Simi feel all betterer when she’s sad. I was hoping she’d make you feel better, too.”
A foreign emotion choked him over something he’d completely forgotten about. He remembered that doll now. The day they’d met and he’d sought to scare a little girl.
The way Simi had laughed at his inept stupidity.
Amazed by the fact that she still had that rag doll all these centuries later, he took the doll that was remarkably well preserved. “I can’t believe you kept this.”
“Of course. The Simi keeps all her presents … that I don’t eat. It’d be ickiest to keep edibles. But the Simi loves her doll. Lucilu always makes me smile.”
“Lucilu?”
