Page 17 of The Monster at the End of This Courtship

"Do you stand to inherit anything from your adoptive parents?" Lark asked.

"No." I sighed. "But I think I know. Somewhere, she got the impression I wasn't going to live past twenty-five."

"Your parents might have tried to dissuade her from getting too attached," Lark guessed.

"Instead, she had me apply for all kinds of life insurance." I'd thought it was strange at the time. "Can she declare me legally dead?"

Lark laughed. "Not a chance. When we leave here, I'll make them forget you existed. Only your parents will remember you. Have they met her?"

I nodded.

"If they see her again, they'll think she looks familiar, but they won't be able to place how they know her, and she won't remember you, or them, at all."

I nodded again. "Yes. Let's do that."

"Do you want to see them?"

"My parents?" I asked.

"Yeah." He frowned at my shocked expression. "It's not required, but we usually do some debriefing with the parents before we whisk their kids away." He laughed. "Punky's parents got the third degree for not sending him to college."

"I didn't want to go," I said. "That's not their fault."

"I won't give them hell, then. Want to go for a quick visit?" Lark met my gaze and patted my knee.

"Yes. I think I do."

"Is there anything else you want from in there?" Lark asked. "Television? Phone?"

"Everything on my side of the closet, everything in that dresser I showed you, and the satellite television box and dish."

The last two would be worthless to me on Ignitas, but I didn't care. I wondered how Rosanna would react when they canceled on her for nonpayment and then charged her for a box she didn't have.

Once I was satisfied we had everything, Lark started the van again. We lurched from the parking lot and onto the freeway. My parents lived in a suburb on the other side of the city, but Odessa managed to navigate through traffic so well, we made it in half the time it normally took me.

"I'll glamor both of us to look human this time," Lark said. "Think about how you looked when you were human."

I almost didn't remember, and it had been less than a month. I was surprised to look down at my hands and think they appeared foreign, when only two days ago, I had molted to be able to hide my claws inside my fingertips.

I tapped the doorbell, and we waited. My mom worked from home, but I wasn't expecting my dad to answer the door. He looked like death warmed over with a three-day old beard and dark circles under his eyes.

"Axel? Is that you?" He grabbed my shoulders and stared me up and down before pulling me into the house and hugging me until I couldn't breathe. "Shit, Son, you had us worried!"

"I'm sorry," I managed to eke out as he passed me over to my mom, who was still in her pajamas.

"Axel! Thank all that's holy! And who's this?"

"Lark, Ma'am." He bowed his head to her.

"Lark." She turned us to the side so she could better see Lark past me. "Something happened on your plane, didn't it. We've met other adoptive parents who all say the same thing. Their boys were taken before it was time."

Lark nodded. "We're in the process of informing everyone, yes. We've notified parents of the youngest first. I'm sorry it's taken so long."

"No," she said, "This is good. Closure is good. We were afraid we would never see our baby again." She turned her fierce gaze back to me. "That harpy who thought you were going to marry her will not stop calling."

Lark snapped his fingers and grinned. "What harpy?"

"What?" My mom blinked. "I don't know what I was saying." She hugged me again, the scent of her perfume sinking into my clothes, along with her tears. "I'm so glad you're here."

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