Page 40 of Thane's Demon
17
SWEET DREAMS
When he finally lifted his gaze to his daughter, there was no softness, no welcoming her home. There was only harsh evaluation, as if her very presence in his home was a disappointment.
“Late,” he said in a voice that carried even through the glass, clipped and cold. “Once again.”
Alora flinched. It was small. A tightening of her fingers around the strap of her bag. A brief dip of her chin. Most people would have missed it. However…I did not.That single, involuntary move lodged like a splinter under my skin.
“I went to the library,” she replied quietly. I could make out every word clearly, and I had quickly heard enough to know all I needed to. These people weren’t her family, not in the real sense. She was an adult, and yet here she was explaining herself like a scorned child standing before a judge.
He scoffed. A short, displeased sound. His hand tightened around his phone.
“Our driver said you were seen leaving the campus two hours ago. The library is not outside on the street, Alora. Who were you with?”
“You sent a driver for me?” was her answer, that slight bite of defiance finally rearing its head, and I would have let my demon roar with pride if I was not trying to remain hidden.
“Of course, I did! I can’t have you seen walking around the city like some lost cause and bring disgrace to this family… now tell me, who were you with?!” he snapped, and my demon snarled inside me. A raw, violent sound that had my fingers curling around the rail with enough strength to make the metal protest under my grip.
‘He watches her.’
It hissed angrily.
Of course he did. Men like him often wrapped their obsession for control in the language of knowing best and the chains of that control were described as parental guidance. I had known men like this all my life. Some had been my employers, some my targets. It never ended well for either when they crossed the line with me.
She lifted her chin just a little, that spark I had seen in the cafe flickering back to life.My brave little dreamer.
“A friend from class,” she answered in a way that I could tell she was biting her tongue.
“Friend.” He spoke the word like it tasted foul before continuing with his scolding. “You are not here to make friends. You are here to study. To do what is expected of you. You know the rules.”
I remembered the way she had said that word to me earlier…Rules.The bitterness underneath it. The resignation. It sounded different now from his mouth, turned into a weapon.
“I know,” she said, and there it was, that thread of fear tightening her voice. “I was just getting something to eat.”
“With a male student, no doubt,” he pressed. “You are already on thin ice with your little daydreams. Do not addreckless behavior to the list. This city is not a damn playground. Do you understand me?”
She nodded quickly. Too quickly.
“Yes, Father.” She swallowed the rest of the words I knew she wanted to speak. Any argument she no doubt wanted to give. The part where she might have said that she was nineteen, not a possession. That she could go outside without a fucking chaperone! That the boy she had called Luca had not even been the one she had truly been with. No…I was the one who had walked her home. I was the shadow he did not yet know to look for.
My demon wanted to break him.
‘Let me in.
Let me spill blood.
Let me feed from his fear.’
It snarled, pressing hard against the inside of my skin.
‘Let me show him what it means to be afraid.’
“Not yet,” I told it, forcing air between my teeth.
A woman drifted into the room then, elegant in that way that meant everything about her had been curated, just like this prison in the sky. Perfect hair, flawless make-up, clothes that matched the apartment. She barely glanced at Alora as she crossed the space, instead going first to the man, touching his arm, brushing a kiss against his cheek. Staking her claim before only then allowing her eyes to move to the girl standing with her shoulders hunched…our girl.
“You are upsetting your father again,” she said in a tone that implied this was simply another inconvenience.
