Page 344 of Hunters and Prey

He released my hand and sat back. “Yes, or so we are led to believe.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“It means history is recorded by those who have power, and in this case, it is the Draco who pen the legacy of our world. Even if it is true, even if they did liberate us, they also enslaved us. They conscript any Skin who dares cross into the city without a permit. Trust me, Anya, there is no black and white here.” His jaw hardened. “I’ve made up my mind. We will leave at the end of the week.”

He wanted me to leave behind my life, my job, and my friends for a dream that would end in shackles, pain, and most probably death. “No.”

He blinked at me in surprise and then his expression smoothed out. “I’m sorry. I don’t think I heard you right.”

My scalp prickled, and I bit the insides of my cheeks to quell my arguments. I could kick a merc’s arse and wield an axe like a pro, but defiance toward my dad was out of the question. This was the man who’d raised me, protected me, and taught me all I knew. He’d trained me, not only to defend myself but also to survive. He’d never steered me wrong, and lying to him the last few months had been torture. But this ... I couldn’t go along with this, not when my plan was so much better.

He arched a brow. “Have you got something more to say?”

Acquiescing was not an option. “I’m not going. And neither are you.”

He blinked at me.

“I have money. I’ve been saving. I agree that we should leave, but we should go east to the glade lands. There are several settlements there that we can join. We can afford to purchase land. I can run a workshop, Helgi can help me, and you can do whatever you want. You can retire, be a man of leisure, and the kids can maybe go to one of the education centers they have there.”

His expression softened and something akin to pity flitted across his face.

My spine straightened. “This isn’t some feeble fantasy. This is my plan and it will be good for us all. Just let me do this. Let me lead for once.”

“The glade is your dream?”

“Yes. It’ll be safe for us.”

“Is that what you want? Safety?”

Something dark and destructive stirred inside me, but I squashed it, not for myself but for the kids I’d saved. The children who were tucked up in bed upstairs dreaming of rainbows and fucking unicorns—at least that’s what I hoped they were dreaming of.

All that mattered was this cobbled-together family. All that mattered was their safety. “Yes, this is what I want.”

He tucked in his chin, his shoulders rising and falling as he struggled with some inner conflict. Gooseflesh broke out across my skin. Why did I get the impression there was more to his idea than what he was letting on?

“Age doesn’t always go hand in hand with wisdom, Anya. You’re a grown woman, but you’re still naive when it comes to the way of this world. My decision to leave for the Furtherlands is no whim. It’s part of a long-term plan. A necessity. If you don’t come, then I will be forced to go alone.”

My heart stuttered. “You’d leave us?”

He sighed, his dark eyes gleaming wetly in the lantern light. “No, the children would come with me.”

My mouth went dry. “You’d leave me.”

“I would have no choice.”

What the heck did that mean? “Of course you have a choice.”

“Oh, my sweet child, if only that were true.”

He hadn’t called me his sweet child in years, not since I’d shot up in height and overtaken him. It stirred warm memories of hot cocoa and bedtime stories, of nights spent mapping the constellations in a starlit sky. He’d been my guide for too long for me to turn my back on him now.

“Think on what it is you want to do,” he said. “I have to leave to buy supplies at dawn, but I’ll be back in a day. When I return, you can tell me what you’ve decided.”

He was serious. If I left for the glades it would be without him. The thought of leaving him behind, of being separated from him and the kids for any length of time, made my heart ache with sorrow.

My anklet stung my skin, and I winced.

“What is it? Is it your eye?” Dad leaned in to examine the bruise, but it was probably already healing. That was one of my Skin curses, or in this case, a blessing. I healed fast, like stupid fast. Aside from the healing, the only indication of my mutant status were the golden scales that covered my back.

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