I scuffed my foot against the carpet of the hallway. “I guess.”
“Besides,” my mom pressed her forehead against mine, “I have it on good authority that he feels bad about pulling you out of school after we hounded you into it.” She winked and released me, grinning as she walked toward the stairs.
Sighing, I turned my attention back to the looming office door. There was no point in waiting any longer. He likely heard us out here and was becoming impatient.
I did not want to deal him when he was in a good mood, let alone in a bad one.
I knocked on his door and waited a moment for his permission to come in before stepping into the room.
For once, Darren wasn’t at Antoine’s side. That didn’t stop the office from being just as intimidating as it had always been since the first time he called me in here when I was in trouble.
Mahogany bookshelves lined the walls, filled to the brim with books that I knew were mostly first editions. Two chairs sat before his desk. I knew that, while they looked like they might be comfortable, they were not. I had a theory that he purposely picked uncomfortable chairs so that people wouldn’t be tempted to overstay their welcome.
Behind a large mahogany desk, in a high back desk chair, sat my dad, Antoine. His silvery white hair hung loose around his face and down to mid chest. The suit he’d chosen — or rather Darren had probably chosen — was a midnight blue with a matching tie and a pristine white shirt beneath it. His icy blue eyes didn’t look up from the papers he was reading in front of him.
Closing the door behind me, I took one of the seats, knowing to wait until he was finished to address him. I only had to wait a few minutes before he sat the packet of papers down and lifted his gaze to mine.
“Jaquelynn,” he said in his cultured European accent, he never could tell me exactly where it came from. He always just said that he traveled a lot when he was alive.
Though, the fact that he still had an accent after hundreds of years told me that he purposely refused to assimilate to the American one, which honestly was completely on point for him.
He laced his pale hands in front of him on the desk’s surface and watched me carefully. “I wondered how long you would loiter outside my door before coming in.”
I shifted in my seat. “Yeah, well, I wouldn’t be here at all if I didn’t have to be.”
“I see,” he said smoothly, not a hint of emotion in his voice. He paused for just a moment. “You are still angry with me.”
It was a statement, not a question. One that I couldn’t rebuke, even if I wanted to.
Crossing my arms over my chest, I bent my knee over the other one. “Of course, I am. You took away my only reason for being over one mistake.”
“Jaquelynn,” Antoine sighed, his expression softening. “That right there is exactly the problem.”
I glared at him.
“You act as if hunting is all you are good for. That it is the only worthwhile achievement in life.” He spread his hands out in front of him on the desk. “But there are so many more possibilities, if you would just let yourself embrace them.”
“Like you’ve embraced them?” I snorted. “When was the last time you experienced anything outside of these four walls? I’ve only ever known you to work, work, work. So don’t preach to me about exploring the world when you aren’t.”
My dad steepled his fingers together. “You forget, Jaquelynn, I have several hundred years on you. I have lived my mortal life and then several other lifetimes after I became a vampire. I have had plenty of time to explore the world and then settle down with a house, a career I enjoy, and the family that I love.”
“So?” I shrugged. “I have plenty of time for that.”
His eyes narrowed on me, his voice hard. “Not at the rate you are going. These new powers are certainly a surprise for sure, but we do not know if that makes you immortal, like your mother and Darren. You may heal faster than the average human servant, but you can still bleed. Or have recent events not reminded you that?”
My mind drifted back to when I was attacked. Delirious and weak, I had barely made it to Kyren’s before I passed out. Thankfully, he had been able to feed me his blood so that I healed quickly, but if he hadn’t been home or had refused to help me? I would be dead right now.
“I remember,” I murmured, my arms loosening around me.
“Jaquelynn, I do not wish for you to squander your precious days on hunting down monsters. There is a whole world out there waiting for you.” He paused for a moment and then looked at me with a small tip of his lips. “I had thought you were heading in the right direction when I heard you were entertaining the werewolf and even making friends at the academy.”
His lips dropped into a deep frown. “Then Julian reported the attack, and I saw that you had not learned what is most important in life yet.”
My foot bounced over my knee the more he spoke. I knew what he was saying was true. I had been focusing on hunting and nothing else for the last ten years or so. My relationship with Julian was really the only time I’d ever given my time and energy to anything else.
Now, if I was honest with myself, I’d admit that I enjoyed attending the academy. I liked the comradery, the classes, going to the cafeteria, even the coed showers. It gave me a sense of normality I’d only ever seen on television.
And I admit that it was nice to have friends outside of hunters. Someone to talk to and go to parties with who wasn’t talking about the latest new handgun or inventions to make killing monsters easier.
