Page 39 of Out of Sight

“Yes.”

“Good.”

He didn’t ask her how and when, but she patted him on the shoulder. “You need to keep working out; you got beat by a girl and a sad little beta, at that.”

He blinked. “Oh. Oh no. You... heard that?”

“Yup. And considering that it is you who fucks a beta on the regular, that sort of snobbery is really out of left field.” She looked at him calmly.

“Well, you were always lurking in corners, honey.”

“Dad. I knew that if I wasn’t an alpha or omega, no one wanted me there. When all of my brothers popped up as alphas, I was the one who didn’t fit. I was edged out of photographs, not invited to events, and when I was invited, I was banished to the kitchen to work for the blessed ones, and I should be happy for it. Dad, I am way too egotistical to keep doing that.”

She exhaled slowly. “I am far too me now to let anyone push me into a corner, but I need to learn what I can do with it, and I can’t do that here.”

“But you are staying in the city?”

She looked at Yorwell, who was listening but from twelve feet away. “Yorwell, where do you live?”

“I will be welcoming you to my home on Akervel Lane.”

She looked at her father. “I will be staying on Akervel Lane.”

He nodded. “Will you call us and let us know how you are?”

His phone lit up, and a wall of text started streaming across it. “How are you doing that?”

“When they tried to take my life and my future, I decided to do something for myself. I put myself into my work, and the result was my survival. I am very proud of that.”

“I... can you give me some time to get used to the idea of having a daughter again?”

She patted his cheek. “Don’t strain yourself. You have six sad, little betas married to your alpha sons, and that is enough estrogen for anyone.”

He whispered, “Have you met them?”

“No. Of course not. All the weddings were in the last seven years, and I missed them all.” She cocked her head. “Do you want me to find a new last name? I will if it makes you uncomfortable.”

He looked stunned. “No. Please. You are still my little girl. I need to figure out a way back to you.”

“Dad. Don’t meet your little girl. Meet the woman that I am. I am angry, powerful, very irritable, and can probably punch through most suburban homes right now. My first act upon getting a body again was to pull the power back from the men who did this to me. There are three empty hulls of bodies smouldering around the city, and I couldn’t be happier. There are also a few really skinny shadow mages out there. Anyone who sampled my power. I pulled it all back. I needed it. This body is heavy.”

“So, you are actually stone?”

“There is a spell called stone to flesh. I cast it on the statue that Achilles made of me from old photos Sabin found. I am guessing that I am going to age pretty gracefully. I can crack walnuts on my ass. Hell, I can probably crack ball bearings on my ass.”

Yorwell snorted, and a few others laughed.

Her father muttered, “Language.”

Ted smiled and watched as Lucia dragged in a deep breath that she probably didn’t need, and she blasted out a stream of cursing that ran for three minutes.

When Lucia was done, all the kids had hands over their ears. Lucia beamed. “There. You said language, so I guessed you wanted a demonstration. I know a lot of really bad words, and I use them as needed. If you want to get to know me, you will need to know that I don’t take orders from family anymore. Ever.” She smiled. “I will, however, consider requests.”

Olyna moved close to them and said, “Lucia, you seem to have some complicated feelings.”

“I have had a body for the first time in six years for about two hours. I have no money, no clothing, no place of my own to rest. I need therapy in the worst way. My family is looking at me like I am a cuckoo hatchling, and I really want to try eating and want a set of sweatpants.” She felt tears tracking down her cheeks.

The soft tinkling when the tears hit the deck made her look. She laughed. “No fucking way.”