Dannika Dark: Seven Years

Then there was Maizy, who needed all kinds of protection if what Austin said was true. What if some pervert wanted to keep her as a little girl, like a Mage or something? I didn’t know much about other Breeds, but there were some twisted people in this world. I was going to have to make sure she concealed the mark and didn’t speak to anyone about it. Once she was old enough to understand, it wouldn’t be a big concern.

I’d have to break the lease at my apartment, and hopefully any evidence of blood had been cleaned up. Even if I didn’t remain with Austin, I’d never be able to go home again. I got chills just thinking about Beckett going savage and all those crimson rose petals scattered across the floor.

A high-pitched scream blared like a siren and I shot up out of my chair, flipping it over. My heart raced as I pulled open the sliding door and ran inside the house.

There was my father, holding Maizy under one arm like he was hauling a sack of potatoes out the door.

“Put her down!” I shouted.

Maizy’s eyes were ripe with fear.

I couldn’t believe it. After all these years, there was the man who had raised me, five seconds from kidnapping my sister.

The years had changed him and he had put on a little weight around the waist. But he still had the black mustache, bald head, and mean face. The kind of face that wasn’t afraid to look his teenage daughter in the eye and whip her with his belt. Maybe that’s why I didn’t have an emotional meltdown over him leaving. The only tears I had shed were for the destruction he left behind of a family shattered to pieces.

“Alexia, go back outside.”

“What are you doing here?”

“Your sister has something of mine,” he said, shaking her a little bit.

I stepped forward calmly. “How did you know we were here?” I was stalling, trying to figure out what to do.

He eyed the front door and sharpened his glance. “I followed you here yesterday from your job. Can’t believe you still work in that piece of shit kid store. Didn’t you ever grow up? Then again, you were never one of mine, so I always knew you wouldn’t amount to much.”

That stung. More than I should have allowed it to. When Maizy whined and Dad shook her with a violent jerk, I redirected my focus on staying calm. I couldn’t afford to shift and put her in danger.

“Maizy’s a smart little girl. She’s just the sweetest thing and has always been good about doing what she’s told. She’ll be going into first grade in the fall. You missed out on so much by leaving us, but don’t do this to her.”

“I know what you’re trying to do,” he ground out, rolling his eyes and shifting her in his arm again. “Save your breath.”

“Why do you want her? Let’s just sit down and figure it out.”

“She’s a thief,” he said accusingly, giving her another jostle. Maizy whimpered and I stepped forward again.

“ Please don’t do this.” My heart sped out of control and my hands trembled. “I’ll help you with whatever you want. I’ll go with you if you just put her down.”

“Now why the hell would I want you? Wes was the only child who was mine, and now he’s dead.”

“Because of you.”

His eyes narrowed into thin slivers. “ What did you say to me?”

“I know you did illegal stuff, but why would you want Wes to follow in your dishonorable footsteps? He knew about the Breed world and wanted to be immortal. Wes made a deal with a Mage for immortality and it cost him his life.”

Maizy slipped down from his arm, but he held a tuft of her shirt with a strong fist. “What the hell do you think this is all about, little girl?”

Now I was dumbfounded, shaking my head.

“I got paid jack shit for the level of work I did. Thirty years of busting my ass for that man, and when I asked for a higher salary, he told me I was getting greedy. Said I’d better watch my step, or he’d put me under like he did Wes. That’s when I knew it wasn’t an accident, that he had killed my son. I took his fucking diamonds right out from under his nose.”

“Great job, Dad. Now you’ve put your entire family in danger. Way to show him. McNeal stopped by to tell me the story. Wes was a hitman?”

“That was never the deal,” he interrupted, the pitch in his voice higher. “Wes was just a messenger.”

“No. The Mage hired him as a hitman in exchange for immortality that he’d never give him. But Wes didn’t go through with it. He was a tough kid, but he was no killer. When he backed out, McNeal had one of his men take him out and stage the crime scene as an accident, probably so you would keep working for him.”

My dad’s face paled as the truth found residence in his dark soul. Dad knew Wes had died, but obviously didn’t know the whole story.

“You always were a liar.”

My eyes widened. “Do you think I’m making this up? You know McCrazy killed him, but you didn’t bother to ask why. Did you ever tell Wes about my world? You’re an idiot to think he wouldn’t have eventually figured it out.”

He drew in a deep breath and his features tightened.

“That’s right, Dad. My world. I don’t think it’s a secret any longer where I came from and what I am.”

“Wes would have found out eventually. Comes with the territory.”

“Why don’t you tell me a little bit about what happened to my real mother when you murdered her?” My lips thinned and I balled up my fists.

“That’s enough!” he roared, baring his teeth with a ferocious scowl. “Do you think I asked to take out a woman with a child? I never knew who my victims were until I arrived on their doorstep, and by then, it was too late to back out. I’ve never done a woman before or since. But don’t press your luck, because I just might decide a reunion is in order.”

I gasped.

Maizy’s expression was stoic, and it terrified me to see her withdrawing from reality.

“Get outside,” he said, pointing to the atrium.

“I’m going with you.”

“The hell you are. I don’t care if you are grown,” he said, actually unbuckling his belt like he was about to let me have it.

When it slid out of the loopholes of his pants, he expertly folded it with one hand.

“Think you scare me?”

His brow arched. “Maybe not, but I’ll sure scare the hell out of this one.” He gave Maizy a shake and I tethered the wolf in me from lunging—afraid I would hurt her inadvertently.

“Your own daughter?”

“She isn’t mine. No child of mine would ever steal from me.”

“Wes stole your alcohol all the time.”

Dad still got a facial tic when he was angry. “And my son isn’t here to defend himself and call you a liar, now is he?”

“What is this about?”

“The diamonds.”

I scratched the back of my neck and lowered my eyes to the floor. “Don’t you have them?”

“I had them the night I took your mother. After I dropped the excess baggage on the curb, they were gone,” he said, referring to Maizy. “By the time I noticed it the next day, I was too busy dodging a bunch of Shifters who were on my tail.”

I dropped to my knees and softened my voice. “Sweetie, did you take any pretty rocks from this man? If so, you need to give them back. Please, Maze, listen to Lexi and give him what you took. I know you didn’t mean it, and you’re not in trouble.”

Her lower lip poked out and I knew she’d taken them. At this point, I couldn’t have cared less if he ran off a rich man; I just wanted him to get out and leave us alone.

“I don’t got ’em anymore.”

My dad swung her forward and backward, making her shriek as she was flung around like a rag doll. “Then what did you do with them?” he bellowed.