“Well make yourself useful and look through that one.”
“I can’t.”
I stopped and turned to face him. “What do you mean you can’t?”
“I’m a demon. I can’t touch a witch’s spell book. I’ll get burnt.”
I groaned and flipped through pages until I found one that I figured would work.
“Can we make this quick so I can go get dressed?”
He swallowed and nodded.
I said the spell, and we set the paper on fire. I had no idea what was written on it and he never told me.
We waited and watched the fire burn on the concrete flooring.
“You look good by the way,” he said as we walked back inside.
“In a towel?” I asked walking him to the door.
“Yes. In a towel. You look hot as hell and if your sister wasn’t in the bathroom, I can promise you it wouldn’t be wrapped around your body anymore.”
I felt my face get warm as he pulled me into a kiss.
“I really wanted to do that. Meet you girls in the lobby in twenty minutes.”
I nodded as I sucked in a breath and mustered the strength to shut the door.
Holy shit. I thought as I stood there staring at the door.
I backed up and pushed the bathroom door open.
“We are to be downstairs in twenty minutes. So, get moving.”
She mumbled something as I shut the door and got myself dressed. I checked my phone and found nothing yet from our dad. I sent him a message yesterday while we were in the car, but he didn’t say a word back yet. I had no idea what possessed our mother to even marry him in the first place, but whatever it was it, it must have been good.
WE ARRIVED IN TENNESSEE and found the closest hotel we could to his house.
“Are you sure about this?” Lela asked me.
“Of course, I am. First, I want to know where the hell this man was when our mother died. Second, I need to figure out this tattoo issue.”
“Now it’s an issue?” she questioned.
“Well not an issue per say, but a thing.” I shook my head and motioned for her to come with me.
Theo agreed to hang back at the hotel while we drove our father’s house.
“Cute,” Lela noted as we pulled up in front of the address that matched the piece of paper I had.
“Ready?” I asked her.
She shrugged. “Guess so.”
We walked up the short sidewalk and onto the porch and knocked.
My stomach twisted, and I could feel my heart beating faster.
A man stood on the other side of the doorway and stared at us.
“Can I help you?” he questioned.
My blood boiled, and I wanted to scream.
“As a matter of fact, you can. I’m Kassandra. This is Lela.”
His expression changed, and he looked down to the floor then back up at us.
“How did you find me?” he questioned.
“Simple. I searched for you.” I explained.
“And your mother?” he questioned.
“Dead.” I replied.
“I’m so sorry. I didn’t even know.”
“Look, we need to talk, and I’d rather not do it outside where people can hear.”
He pulled the door open and motioned for us to come inside.
His house was clean. Nothing that I expected.
“Would you like anything to drink? I’m not really sure what to offer in this situation.”
“All I need is answers,” I said.
“And Lela?”
“Nothing,” she muttered.
For the first time since he opened the door, I looked at Lela. She was clearly hurt.
“Okay, what’s going on? How did your mother pass?”
“We don’t know exactly, but that’s not the main reason I’m here.”
“Okay.” He took a seat on the edge of the couch.
I stood up and pulled the sweater off, revealing most of the tattoo.
“You got a tattoo?” he asked.
“No. It just appeared on me, and I need to know why. Lela doesn’t have one. Do you?”
He shook his head. “Nothing that just appeared on me. When did it start?”
“Right after Mom died.”
“I really can’t help you with it. I have never seen a tattoo like that, and I have no idea where it came from.
I nodded. “Well thanks for your help then.” I turned to Lela.
“No wait. You are just going to leave?”
I turned back to face him. “Why on earth should we stay?”
“Because we should catch up.”
I laughed. “Mom lived at the same house for years. You knew how to get in touch with us.”
“Come on, girls. Stay for a bit.”
I shook my head. “No.”
Lela nodded, and we both headed outside.
“Wait!” I heard him call from the door.
We both turned and Lela noticed he was holding her phone.
She ran up the sidewalk, and I could see him whispering something in her ear.
“What was that?” I questioned as we got into the car.
She shook her head. “He was just saying goodbye.”
She was lying. She was horrible at it, but I didn’t press.
“How did it go?” Theo asked when we got back to our room at the hotel.
“Well he knew nothing.” I shrugged. I walked into the bathroom and shut the door.
I could hear Lela mumbling something.
“How did it really go?” Theo asked her.
I turned the water on and pressed my ear to the door.
“He’s not her father. He doesn’t know anything.”
“What do you mean?”
“He told me. She’s not biologically his. He just pretended for Mom. But I didn’t tell her. She can’t know.”
“She has to!”
“Shh!”
“If you don’t tell her, she may never figure out where that tattoo comes from.”
“No. I’m not telling her.”
I turned off the water and walked back out to join them.
“Everything okay?” I asked.
“Yeah. So, I guess we can go home now.”
“No. I need to figure this out. You can go home if you want. I’m staying.”
“I’m staying with Kass,” Theo replied.
Lela sighed.
“Fine.” She crossed her arms over her chest.
I wanted to scream that I knew, but it wasn’t the time.
“Let’s crack open the books and the search engines.”
“I’ll go get food.” Lela offered. She held out her hand for the keys from Theo.
“Can you even drive?” he joked.
“What do you want?” she huffed.
“Depends on where you are going. Text us a menu when you get there, and we’ll tell you,” I replied without even looking up from the laptop that I was powering on.
“Okay.” The door shut behind her.
“You alright?” Theo asked sitting down in the chair next to me.
“Yeah I’m fine,” I replied without looking at him.
He grabbed my chair and turned it to face him, putting his hands on either side of it.
“No, you’re not. Don’t lie to me.”
“I know.”