Page 12 of Insurrection
Not because I cared about it, but because I could tell my dad wouldn’t have asked me if it wasn’t important. I didn’t want to disappoint him, and I did feel a bit of pride that he trusted me with such a monumental task, even though it was highly likely that I’d fuck it up on accident.
I frowned in realization, “Wait, how many souls are we talking about?” The concept that we didn’t have enough Reapers to spare meant we were talking about amassiveamount of people dying. That…that was horrifying.
Just then, food arrived, and I felt my mood improve considerably as several plates were placed in front of us, along with some of my favorite wine. I poured myself a glass and dug into my alfredo pasta as I finally resigned myself to my fate.
I suspected my father had timed this food thing on purpose in a bid to make me more agreeable.
He finally answered, his eyes filling with sadness, “You don’t want to know, Ama.”
Fuck. It must have been really bad.
“I’ll go,” I grumbled as he offered me a thankful smile, “Of course, I’ll freakin’ go. But if I mess this up, I am going to say ‘I told you so’ until you find a way to remove the phrase from common use vocabulary. You will bethatannoyed by how often I say it.” I punctuated my tangent by stabbing my fork in his direction with my words.
“Deal.” My father held his glass out, and I moved my own towards it in a cheers motion before digging back into my pasta, letting out a sound of contentment. There was nothing better than a tasty meal, wine, and good company.
“Wait,” I tilted my head, remembering one small detail, “Why was Drayven supposed to be here?”
My dad offered me an amused smile, “You didn’t think I would make you go completely alone, did you? Plus, the other royals insisted I send someone with you. I felt like he was a good compromise.”
I swallowed a lump of pasta that was suddenly lodged in my throat, “So, Drayven and I are traveling to the Summit, together?”
“Yep.” My dad nodded and offered me an inquisitive look, as if he didn’t quite understand my issue. I grumbled under my breath about how I would probably end up killing him, but I didn’t think my dad caught that. Which was good because it wasn’t an idle threat, and I didn’t want him ruining my plans.
After a few more minutes of comfortable silence, my dad reading over some documents as I considered the questions I would probably need to ask my tutor tomorrow, he looked up at me with an indecipherable expression.
“What?” I arched my brow.
“Prince of Runes...he’s the assassin one, right?” My father mused good naturedly.
I nearly smiled at the relaxed way he said that, showing he really did like the man. I had no idea what Finias had said in their brief conversation to win him over, but color me impressed. The man was far better at people-ing than he realized. And yes, that was a word.
“So I’ve heard,” I confirmed.
He nodded, “Nice kid. Parents suck though.”
“I can’t wait to meet them,” I responded dryly.
My dad’s smile grew, “Maybe they won’t be that terrible. The prince didn’t seem awful.”
I narrowed my eyes, “You know I am not talking about boys with you, right?”
He barked out a laugh. “Good, because I would probably kill most of them. Unless they would defend your honor while also respecting how powerful and unique you are and never putting you down. Then Imightlet them live. But it is a big maybe.”
That comment was so obviously about how Finias had stood up for me to Drayven.
I loved my dad. Seriously, the man was not only extraordinarily supportive, but in his own way, also a bit dorky. I mean, this man had raised me all on his own when my mom had ditched out. He’d been with me every step of the way, and although he was teasing me, I couldn’t help but let him know how much I appreciated him.
“I love you, Dad,” I offered.
He reached across the table and squeezed my hand. “Love you too, Ama.”
The door to the meeting room slammed open. Drayven, soaked to the bone and looking a bit terrifying with blood dripping down from his face, came to a complete halt when he saw us. He met my gaze and exhaled—probably in disappointment that I was alive or something—before looking at my dad.
Yikes. I guess it had started storming again during his nap. What a shame.
“My apologies.” He bowed, water dripping onto the floor from his face as he did. “I was concerned about Ama’s safety.”
Liar, liar, pants on fucking fire.
