by Lisa Daniels
He held out his hand to her. Reluctantly, she took it. Her father’s flesh felt alive. His heart pulsed. Even Janos sniffed cautiously at him.
“Oh, I know you’re with my daughter now,” Rickard told him. “And it’s okay. Though I suggest keeping it under wraps for now.” He patted the werewolf, who gave a growl of confusion. “If you do see me slipping up, however, you may do whatever it takes to ensure I move on.”
“Easy to say when you’re a difficult thing to take down,” Janos said.
“I’m your employer. Not a ‘thing’,” Rickard said, sounding annoyed and so like her father that Talia realized that maybe he was in there, after all. With Elodie, she never knew who she was before. With her father… it still felt like him. But there was something else, too. Something deeply uncomfortable.
He took his leave when they had no more questions for him, and they remained together in silence for a moment.
“Well…” Janos said. “That just happened.”
“My father… he made a deal.” That absolutely sounded like her father, she thought grudgingly. Turning himself into this rather than be consigned to death. Except he still had his heartbeat. His body was alive, his brain had been damaged and emptied. He was bound to a revenant.
This, she thought, is not what I expected. At all.
Eventually, she was able to smile again with Janos. She had a future set with him. A decision to make regarding whether she should tell Rosen about their father. And she knew she would need to watch him closely, making sure he did what he said he wanted to do, and not anything else added.
Certainly seemed like she was going to be busy.
“Any time you want something done, just say the word,” Janos told her.
“I just want you close,” she replied. And to finish my course, start my career, and not get harassed on the street. That’ll be nice, too.
“You have me. For as long as you need me, you’ll have me.”
Holding Janos’ hand, she smiled. “I know.”
Stressing about the potential situation with her father was too much. So she chose instead to focus on the moment she shared with Janos, on the fact that her father still acted like her father for now… on the fact that the next few years were probably going to be very, very interesting…
Could be worse, she supposed. At least she had someone like Janos standing by her side, willingly. He didn’t think the worst of her. He wanted to be with her regardless.
She closed her eyes, leaning against him, taking a few steady breaths. “Just so you know,” Janos said, “I’m okay now. With what happened. About the necromancer, back when they tried to get the information out of my mother.”
She rubbed her cheek against his shirt. “Hmm?”
“Still going to have some problems with it. And with… whatever situation we’re in now. But I don’t have any with you. And I’ll try my best… to be as understanding as possible.”
“Same.” She squeezed his hand. “I need to be understanding to you as well. I know necromancy isn’t an easy thing to tolerate. I just hope you’ll tolerate me.”
“Of course I will.” He leaned over to kiss her, and they both smiled into the contact. It was nice, to be held by someone. To know that Janos had complete faith in Talia, that he didn’t judge her.
Then, still holding hands, they decided together to have some food, and see where the day took them next.
Click Here for book 2 in the series: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07Z8HVS6S
Table of Contents
Prologue
Chapter One – Talia
Chapter Two – Janos
Chapter Three – Talia
Chapter Four – Janos
Chapter Five – Talia
Chapter Six – Janos
Chapter Seven – Talia
Chapter Eight – Janos
Chapter Nine – Talia
Chapter Ten – Janos
Chapter Eleven – Talia
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