Chapter 238

Tessa’s POV

My father looked awkward as he stood in the living room, talking to Patty Davis who seemed to be chatting his ear off. It was no secret that Patty always had a thing for my father. I couldn’t help but roll my eyes at her painfully obvious efforts.

When he saw me, he looked relieved from the distractions.

“Tessa…” he breathed.

I wasn’t sure what to say to him. I’ve been thinking about it a lot lately and no words came to my mind. My father hurt me in a way I never thought he would. He betrayed my trust and broke my heart in only a day. I didn’t think I could ever forgive him for what he did… and yet, there was still a part of me that missed him.

“Hey,” I found myself saying, lamely. “Why did you want to see me?”

I knew I was getting straight to the point, and I probably sounded rude, but I didn’t want to beat around the bush. I wanted to know what his motive was and why he was here. He looked at Patty and then the others who were seated around the couch.

Lucias walked down the stairs and when his eyes found my father’s I could feel the tension thickening in the air. It made it difficult to breathe and I could tell my father felt the same way because he swallowed audibly, and I saw some sweat beading on his forehead.

“Is there somewhere we can talk?” He finally asked, meeting my eyes. “Alone.”

I looked around at everyone before I looked up at my father and nodded. I motioned for him to follow me and walked through the house and toward the back door. I think we could both use some air, and nobody was outside right now. It would be a good place for us to speak. The back patio was a nice area and there was plenty of breathing room.

When we sat down, it took a minute for my father to collect his thoughts. He stared at the ground for what felt like an eternity, and I stayed in silence, waiting for him to get himself together so we could have a discussion.

His eyes finally found mine and he sighed.

“How have things been going here?” He asked.

“Fine, I guess” I shrugged. “I’m learning a lot.”

“That’s really good, Tess. I’m glad to hear that.”

I stifled an eye roll. I still didn’t understand why he was here and why he was making this random small talk. I wanted him to get to the point and just say what he came here to say.

“I’m surprised Penny didn’t come with you,” I pointed out.

My father stared down at his hands again.

“I didn’t want her to get mixed up with any of this,” he admitted. “And I also wanted to talk to you alone anyway.”

“Okay?”

“I shouldn’t have ambushed you like this…” he said in a mere whisper, surprising me. “It was wrong of me… It was a mistake…”

“You’ve made a lot of mistakes lately,” I said, raising my brows. “How's your hand by the way.”

He was still in a cast and his face reddened when I pointed it out.

“I deserved that,” he said, lifting his gaze to meet mine. “Despite what you think, I really was looking out for your best interest. I was only trying to do what’s best for you.”

“You were trying to do what’s best for me? Or what’s best for you?” I asked, surprised by how firm my voice sounded when all I wanted to do was cry.

“You,” he said, keeping his eyes locked on mine. “I was doing what I thought was best for you. I promised your mother that I would keep you safe and that was all I was trying to do. I wish I could remember what happened all those years ago so I could know how to better protect you. But my memories are gone from that night. The only thing I remembered was some of the battle… especially Joseph’s face. I don’t trust him, Tess.”

“Don’t you dare speak his name to me,” I said through my teeth. It was like a dam that had broken inside of me because soon tears were welling up in my eyes. “You don’t have a right to say his name.”

His brows furrowed and he looked genuinely confused.

“What are you talking about?”

“You know exactly what I’m talking about,” I said with a clenched. “You had him killed because of your petty hatred for him. Because of you, I lost the love of my life…”

It was the first time I had spoken those words out loud. I had been in denial about it up until that point and now that I spoke the words out loud, I couldn’t stop the tears from pouring out of my eyes. All of the hurt I had felt over these last couple of weeks was pouring out of me and I could no longer contain myself.

“Tess… I never had him killed. I didn’t even know he was dead…”

“Stop lying to me,” I growled, quickly standing to my feet. “All you’ve ever done was lie to me, Dad. I’m sick of it. I’m not going ot sit here and listen to your shit anymore. This is all your fault… I would be with him right now, planning our lives together and now it’s all ruined. It’s all gone. It’s over…”

My father stood and I knew he was about to hug me or say something to try and reconcile, but I didn’t want him near me. Before I could step away from him and out of reach, Lucias was standing in front of me, protectively.

“I think it’s time for you to leave, Rick,” Lucias said firmly.

“What?” Rick asked, his eyes narrowed. “You’ve hurt her enough for today. It’s time for you to leave.”

My father looked furious, and he looked as if he was about to swing Lucias. I might have found that funny honestly. But then his gaze softened, and he stood down, nodding his head once before turning his gaze to me.

“I’m sorry, Tess…” he said sadly before turning and walking toward the doorway.

Some others from the coven were standing at the door, watching him. I knew Patty was going to try and make him feel better, I didn’t want to stand around and watch that.

“Do you want to talk about it?” Lucias asked.

I shook my head and started to walk back toward the house, but Lucias grabbed my arm to stop me and pull me into his embrace. As soon as my face hit his chest, I was repulsed. I was pissed. I wanted nothing to do with anyone.

“Get away from me,” I growled and shoved him as hard as I could.

Just as I did a crash of thunder sounded above our heads and rain poured down. I knew I did this, and I didn’t care. He stared at me wide-eyed as I turned and ran into the house and up to my room, slamming the door shut behind me without even touching the doorknob.

I couldn’t stop the sobs from escaping my lips. My heart and my soul were both shattered and all I wanted to do was run away. I wanted to run screaming for the hills. But I couldn’t leave this wretched place for some reason. I was trapped here and there was nothing I could do about it.

Nobody was coming for me.

Just as I sunk into my bed, I heard a tapping sound on the window, startling me. I half expected to see Lucias somehow floating outside. But when I looked, I saw no one.

Great. I was going crazy too.

Then, I heard the tapping sound again; I was louder this time. I actually feared it was going to break the window. I jumped to my feet and rushed to the window, peering out into the dark void outside. The moon was facing the other direction of the house, so it was very dark on this side. I couldn’t see anything.

I unlatched the window and pushed it open. Just when I thought I was really going crazy, I heard a light “whoing” sound and then I saw white wings flying directly at me.

I stifled a scream as it flew me and then I realized it was an owl.

“Holy shit,” I gasped, stumbling away from the window as it flew directly into my room and flapped around for a couple of seconds like it was trying to find the best place to land. It dropped a rolled piece of paper on my bed while it was flying around like a crazed animal. Then it landed on the top of Mother’s vanity, making itself comfortable and watching me with a curious gaze.

“What the hell….?” I whispered, staring at the owl.

Its eyes flickered to the paper on the bed, like it was telling me to go to it. I raised my brows and looked at the paper.

Sighing, I walked over to it.

I grabbed the paper off my bed and began to unroll it. Once I saw the writing, I recognized it immediately and my entire world stopped around me.

The note said:

I’m coming for you. Be Ready.

– Joseph.

He was alive.