I chuckled. Traffic lights over Beast City reflected over its sea. Everything twinkled. “It’s really pretty from up here,” I said.
“Only on the outside.”
“Why?”
“Because we’re not free inside its gates.”
“I’ve seen humans in the City. They seemed free.” And wealthy.
Daddy tsked. “They’re careless. Most of them swim in money, hardly even know what life’s like outside the gates. Idiots. The beasts could devour them anytime they want. We are food.”
“Speaking of food,” I said and hooked my thumb over my shoulder. “You hungry?” Dinner plates filled with fish and chips waited for us at the table. Daddy nodded, and we sat down to eat. We ate in silence. Comforting and much of the same. Daddy wasn’t a big talker. He answered if asked but otherwise kept to himself. Once finished, he slid his plate to the side, pulled out a roll of paper and some tobacco.
“You’re still smoking.”
“Mm-hm.”
“It’s not good for you.”
“Mm-hm.” He rolled a cigarette.
I stood to leave.
“Where to?” he asked.
“Look for Torrent.”
Daddy lit up and walked back to the window. “Don’t you worry about him, baby girl. I know my rights. We’re going home.”
“What rights?”
“Don’t worry about him.”
“You gonna kill him?” Daddy kept quiet, a veil of smoke around him. “I’ve seen things out there. Don’t treat me like I’m twelve. I’m not the same girl I was before.”
“That’s why I gotta get rid of him.”
“I don’t think he should die. Lots of people died. I’m tired of death. I don’t want any more people to die, and I don’t want to be responsible for it.” I’d tried to kill Torrent. When I thought I’d killed him, I had time to think about things. Revenge didn’t make me feel better. I thought it would, but it didn’t. I was still out here, and without him, I felt truly alone. However, Torrent had come crashing into my life, and now he was a part of it.
Daddy crossed the room and hugged me. He kissed the top of my head. “I’m sorry I couldn’t help you that day. I hated failing you. That’s why I let them integrate some of their tech shit inside my brain. It gives me strength, night vision.”
“Superhuman powers,” I said and looked up.
Daddy smiled. “Cyborg.”
I ran a hand down his forearm. Under my palm, the skin was smooth instead of rough with hair. “You didn’t have those scars before,” I said.
“Burned down that shelter you were in. There’s nothing I wouldn’t do to find you.”
“I know. You joined Men of Earth.”
“Mm-hm. Creepy bunch, but it got the job done. Here we are, and soon we’ll be home. We’ll forget about everything and move on.”
“You think we can go back to before?”
“We can.”
Something pinged. Daddy looked around the well-lit room.
Ping. Ping.
“A doorbell?” I asked.
He shrugged.
Behind me, the doors slid open with a whoosh, and Vice came in. He wore dress pants and a pale-blue button-up shirt. A pen stuck out behind his ear. “Alpha Beast, my brother, wants a word with you.”
A beast stepped around us and inside the small room. He wore jeans, boots, and a simple white cotton T-shirt. At the sight of him, my heart started pumping. Torrent was big, a monster of a male, but this one? I whimpered. This one made me want to crawl under a rock. Daddy seemed unperturbed. He said nothing.
Alpha Beast snorted, flipped a chair around, and sat. His frame dwarfed the chair, and he folded his powerful tattooed arms on the chair’s back. The doors closed, and Vice sat across from the Alpha Beast. He crossed one leg over the other and stretched out a hand. “Have a seat.”
Without protest, Daddy sat down. He pulled out a pair of shotgun bullets and put them on the table. “I want my gun back,” he said.
Vice ignored him. “Sienna, how are you feeling?”
“Better. All healed and fed.”
“Dewlyn would like to see you. An escort outside will take you to our quarters.”
A polite way of telling me to leave so they could chat with my dad. “How is Dewlyn?” I hadn’t had a chance to speak with her in the pod.
“She’s doing great. Go and see her.”
“Maybe later.” I stacked our food plates.
“Go on, Sienna,” my dad said.
“Later,” I said a bit more firmly. I didn’t know where I got this sudden burst of defiance, but I wanted to hear what they had to say.
Alpha Beast tapped his knuckles on the table. “Up here,” he said. An order directed at me. I felt it down to my bones. I snapped my gaze up, and our eyes locked, briefly, before I found a tribal tattoo at the V of his T-shirt to look at. “We’re here to speak with your dad about Torrent and your pairing. Among other things.”