by Chloe Adler
The door opened almost immediately and Tiyah entered, putting the tray of coffee down on my nightstand and then getting onto the bed. We looked up at her. I was worried, and I was sure he was as well. He was still inside of me, for god's sake.
The enormous smile spreading across her face told us all we needed to hear.
Chapter Sixteen
We all stayed in bed until late morning, pleasing one another, drinking coffee and talking. By the time they went back to their boat, I'd convinced myself this relationship could work. And after they left, I immediately wanted them to come back.
Instead, I called Amber again and again. She didn't answer, so I sent her a text, keeping it diplomatic. How would she feel if she knew I'd witnessed the entire scene? Invasion of privacy much?
Hi, I'm worried about you. Please let me know if you're okay, and if not, I'm here for you. I'm loyal to you first.
Then I called Iphigenia and asked her to meet me at the Harbor House Cafe. No doubt I'd have to apologize profusely to the waitstaff there as well. Geez, my dad and his female prison guard sure were leaving an ugly wake.
After showering and dressing, I made my way down to the boardwalk with Rex.
Iphi was waiting for me outside, pert and pretty at a table for two. She rose to greet me and pet the pooch, kissing his face over and over.
“I ordered you some tea and your favorite breakfast, pancakes and bacon.” Those big blue eyes batted. “I'm honestly surprised that you asked to meet me. I don't think we've ever hung out alone, just the two of us.”
I licked my lips. “I don't think we have either. But I didn't know who else to talk to.”
“About?”
“Some personal issues.”
“Why not talk to Sadie or Jared?”
“They're both so full with their own lives and I need an unbiased ear. Someone who doesn't know my family dynamics.”
She leaned her elbows on the table, cradling her chin in her hands. “That'd be me, all right.” Those big, blue eyes blinked at me under a thick mane of blond, corkscrew curls. “I'm all ears and I'm honored that you chose me. I've always wanted to spend time with you.”
“You have?”
“Sure. You're Sadie's best friend and Chrys's roommate. I'm the only witchy sister that hasn't had any alone time with you.”
“Ha. Well, I wish it were under better circumstances.”
The waiter brought the food and tea. Iphigenia leaned back in her chair to spread her napkin across her lap and then leaned forward again, focusing completely on me.
“Iphi, I have a few things I need to say. In confidence.”
“You can trust me.”
“I know I can. You've kept confidences for both your sisters in the past. It's the other reason I came to you.”
She nodded, waiting.
I told her about what had happened with my dad and Amber at the club, in detail. I'd never spoken about anything even remotely sexual with Iphi, but she was nineteen, and though she never flaunted her sexuality the way Sadie did, I got the feeling she wasn't anywhere near as innocent as Chrys had been at twenty-five. And the one thing I knew about Iphi for sure was that she wasn't judgmental. I told her about my dad's new squeeze and how condescending and passive-aggressive Margery had been with me. How I suspected her of trying to push me out of my own family.
I gauged her reactions throughout and the only telltale sign were her eyes. Sometimes they widened and other times her brows drew tight in concern.
When I was finished she reached across the table and took my hand over my plate, fork and all.
“Oh, Burgundy, I'm so sorry.”
“Thank you for saying that. I just don't get it. My dad isn't who I thought he was and maybe I always knew he was an ass. I mean . . .”
“You don't have to explain that to me. Look at my mother.”
I nodded. Aurelia and my father had a lot in common. “This is difficult to believe, let alone say, but Margery makes Aurelia look like Mary fucking Poppins.”
Iphi laughed so hard that the water she had just been drinking squirted out of her nose. She brought her napkin up to her face, still giggling.
“Speaking of, are your mom and Alistair still together?”
“They are. It's so weird. Such an unlikely pair.”
“Yeah, who knows anymore what someone else is attracted to.”
“Is there something else?”
“Besides my new, evil stepmonster and perverted, rapist, asshole father?”
She nodded solemnly, waiting.
“And you say you don't know me well. Am I that easy to read?”
Her plump, pink lips stretched into a wide grin. “Not at all but you forget, I've lived around you for most of my life. I was fifteen when Sadie met you and moved in with you and Jared. I'm observant.
That I did not doubt. Little spitfire. I cradled my face, looking down at the table. “I met someone.”
“Oh my god!” Iphi shrieked. “That is the last thing I expected you to say. I want to hear everything. What's his name? How old is he? Where'd you meet? Oh! Or her!”
“You sound like a mom.”
She jumped back. “You're right. Yuck!”
“I know you won't judge so I'll lay it out. It's not a he. Or a she. It's a them.”
She cocked her head. “Them? How many are there?”
It was my turn to laugh. “Just two, it's a couple.”
“Oh,” Iphi clapped her hands together, “that sounds right up your alley.”
Observant little imp.
“So what's the problem?” She leaned forward, focusing all her attention on me.
“Well, besides the fact that I probably can never tell my family?”
Her little face screwed up. “So first of all, it doesn't sound like your dad has been very supportive of any of your choices. Second, do you want to keep a creeper like that in your life? I mean, Burgundy,” she reached out and took my hand in both of hers, “this is a man who lies, cheats on his wives, molested a good friend of yours and lets his current wife treat you like crap.”
I looked away. Shit. She was right. “You make it sound so black and white.”
“Because it is. Very much so. Some things just are.” She shrugged. “And I suspect he's treated you like crap too, but”—a wry little smile twisted her face—”you probably chose to overlook it, make excuses or lie to yourself.”
“How is it that you're so wise at nineteen?”
“It's easier to help other people navigate their problems, that's all. I'm no wiser than anyone else my age.”
I squeezed her hands. “I would argue with that.”
“You deserve the same thing that Sadie, Chrys and Jared have. I know you had something special with all of them, especially Sadie and Jared, and it's not that they've left you, but in a way they have moved on.”
She was right. I was holding onto the past. The what-had-beens. With my father too. More memories of us together when I was growing up flooded back. I was little more than a toddler and he lifted me onto a horse. I was laughing with delight. When I was nine, he'd to take me into the fields with the farmers to help pick the fruit. After he became a lawyer, when I was a preteen, he took me fishing in a boat on Lago Cocibolca. I often dredged up these happy times, but I always blocked out what happened next. When that horse reared and I fell off into the dirt, my father stood over me, yelling and calling me stupid. In the fields, I overheated and he called me weak, told me that vampires didn't need water. When I begged to throw the fish back in since we didn't eat anyway, he called me a bleeding heart, drawing it out like a dirty word.
“I didn't raise a delicate flower, so toughen up, you idiotic girl.”
And I had. I'd gotten so tough that everything, including love, had bounced right off.
“Iphi?”
“Yeah?” She let go of my hand, wearing a concerned look, and reached for her cup of tea.
“Do you think a completely unconventional relationship can work?�
�
“I do.” She nodded. “And if anyone can make it work, you can.”
Rex and I were walking back home when my phone rang. I almost didn't answer. It was my father.
“Hola, Papa,” I said through gritted my teeth.
“Hola, Maria.” His voice was stern. “We need to talk.”
“Why?”
“I have some questions for you.”
“You have some questions for me?” My voice rose.
“What's that supposed to mean? I am still your father and I'm still the one who is paying for your house.”
Nice of him to keep reminding me. Nothing's free. Carrot, meet stick. “Talk to me over the phone then.”
“This needs to be in person. Meet me at my house.”
“Will you be alone?”
“What does it matter? Come over now.” He hung up.
My vampire heart raced uncomfortably. I didn't want to lose my father, even after everything. Even after I knew for sure that he was a prick. It would break my stoic heart. He was and always had been, emotionally, the center of my life. And I didn't want to lose my house for my friends' sakes, not mine. Where would they live? When would I see them? I wouldn't let us scatter and drift apart. I had to make this right, for them.
Might as well play the part. I dressed as conservatively as my wardrobe allowed, grabbed my keys and drove my Camaro to his house. Before I could ring the bell, my father opened the door, looking haggard. His hair was disheveled and he still wore his pajamas.
“Are you ill?” I asked, even though I knew vampires rarely got sick. Living among humans and other Signum for so long had skewed my senses a bit. He made a disgusted noise in the back of his throat and stood aside so I could enter, motioning for me to sit on the white couch just past the entryway, in their living room. Not even an offer of tea? Oh right, vampire customs.
“You look like you've put on a few extra pounds.” He took the seat across from me on a chair.
“Nice to see you too.”
“So why don't you tell me what you have to say for yourself, Burgundy.”
“Excuse me?” I shrugged. “I like to eat.”
His sigh was deep and loud. Exasperation. “I'm quite upset with you right now.”
“You're. Upset. With me?” I was incredulous.
“Very.” He crossed his arms over his chest. “After everything I've done for you, you betray me like this?”
“Like what?” I snapped.
“Oh, so you're going to pretend you have no idea what I'm talking about? This is how you're going to play it?”
I could only surmise that he was pissed about Amber even though he was the one who was in the wrong. Significantly so. If Amber decided to press charges I would stick by her no matter what. Even if it meant losing Casa Mañana and becoming homeless. That was the right thing to do. “I don't know what you're talking about.”
He stood up and walked over to the floor-to-ceiling windows. The view was spectacular and he stood staring out at it, breathing heavily. Was he drunk?
“Let's see if I can spark your memory. You've been saying some very nasty things about your stepmother to other people.”
“What?”
“You're still going to pretend you have no idea what I'm talking about?”
“I'm not pretending. I have no idea what you're talking about.”
“Deenie,” my father called out loudly. “Come in here. And bring your ball.”
Margery's daughter entered from the hallway, her head held so high I could see up her nose. In one hand she held her crystal ball and in the other, a stand. She set both down on the glass coffee table and looked at me with unconcealed hatred.
“You have one more chance to come clean and stop pretending, Maria,” my father snarled at me.
Oh this was going to be good. “I have nothing to come clean about.” I crossed my own arms over my chest.
“Deenie, show her.”
The girl passed her hand over the crystal, and my meeting with Iphi that morning sparked into view. Deenie played the last part, where I told Iph what my father had done to Amber, called Margery a monster and confessed my triad.
When it was finished, she barked out a sharp laugh. “Shame on you for trying to sully your own father with lies to make my mother leave him,” Deenie said in a high pitched voice. “You call her the monster?”
“Thank you, Deenie,” my father said softly, “you're more of a daughter to me than my own Maria has ever been.”
Wow. Stab me in the heart with a knife, why don't you? “Are you fucking kidding me? You've known this girl for what, a few months?”
“Your father practically raised me,” Deenie threw back. “And he's never been anything but kind and generous to both me and my mother.”
I stood up. “I think I've heard enough.”
“Sit down, Maria, I am not finished,” the man who called himself my father said.
I didn't sit but I didn't leave. “What more is there to say? Apparently you cheated on my mother like you cheat on Margery. Good for you, Dad. Not only are you a rapist, you're a cheater and a liar too.”
“You will not speak that way to me in my house,” he hissed.
Margery swept into the room, dressed in what looked like a ball gown. Weird.
“You, girl,” she pointed to me, “are ungrateful. Your father has done everything for you, and this is how you repay him? It's always been about you, hasn't it, Burgundy? Conniving to see what you can get from him. Take. Take. Take. And never give. I'm not surprised to hear you call me names behind my back, but to make up such horrible lies about your own father's character. Shame on you!”
“You people are nuts.” I walked to the door.
“If you walk out of that door, you'll have,” he looked at his watch, “two days to come up with your mortgage, and it's no small amount either.” He let out a condescending laugh. How had I never noticed that before? “And you will never be allowed back into my life.”
“News flash, Dad, I don't want to be in your life. I didn't know you had such little integrity. My friends, my chosen family, have higher morals in their pinky fingers than you do in your entire body,” I seethed and turned around, reaching for the doorknob.
His laugh was thick and still condescending. “Oh right, you mean like your friends Tiyah and Elijah?”
I spun around. “What about them?”
“They've been lying to you all along. Using you.”
“Just like you use your father,” spat Margery.
“What the fuck are you talking about?” If I stood there much longer I might've ripped off that woman's head.
“Your little play-toys are werewolves, you stupid girl.”
Chapter Seventeen
“What happened?” asked Jared the minute I walked through the door of Casa Mañana.
Instead of responding, I pulled a bounding Rex into my arms, covering his face with kisses while he tried furiously to lick mine. My little furry savior. Rex was anything but little, but I could still lift him with one hand.
I slouched down on the couch where Jared joined me and the dog sat at my feet, staring at me with pure love in his puppy-dog eyes.
“Oh god, yoga pants. Who died?”
I pushed my dark hair back over my shoulder and took a deep breath. “I was with my father. I think it's over.”
“What's over?”
“My relationship with him, this house. Everything.” The thought of losing Casa Mañana was almost more painful than the thought of losing my father. My friends depended on me. I had made sure of it.
“Oh, Burgundy.” He gathered me up in his arms. “I'm so sorry. Is there anything I can do?”
“Besides telling Alec, Chrys and Carter that they'll soon be homeless?”
“No one's going to be homeless.” His breath warmed my ear.
I wish I had his confidence about that. For years, I had been their breadwinner, their rock. They depended on me and I couldn't let them down or I would lose
them. Alone, indeed.
A red tear rolled down my cheek; he wiped it away with his thumb. “We can get through this.”
Alec walked in from the hallway and joined us on the couch.
Jared threw an arm around him.
“You look upset,” Alec said to me.
Jared looked at me questioningly and raised one shoulder.
“You can tell him,” I replied.
“It's her dad. Things aren't working out,” he said to Alec.
“I'm sorry to hear that,” Alec responded. “And . . . I understand how difficult dads can be sometimes.”
Alec's dad was a complete ass and we all knew it. “Dads and moms in my case.” I laughed but it was bitter.
“Whatever we can do to help,” Alec offered. “We have skills, you know.”
“Oh I know.” I tapped my fingers on my leg. “I need to tell you both something, but at this time, I have to swear you to secrecy.”
They exchanged glances, then nodded at me.
“This is knowledge that everyone will know soon enough, but please don't spill it before the Council does.”
“You have our word.” Jared put his hand on my leg and I knew he was telling the truth, plus I'd always trusted him.
“Werewolves are real,” I blurted.
The boys exchanged looks again before Jared barked out a laugh. “Yeah right, Burg, and pigs can fly.”
I rolled my eyes at him. “So freaking cliché. Nice, Jared, but I'm serious.”
He leaned forward. “How do you know?”
“Never mind the how right now.”
Alec ran his fingers through his thick dark hair. “My father always said as much.”
“He did?” Jared asked.
“Yeah but he never had proof to back it up, and we always thought he was just trying to scare us.”
