The Single Undead Moms(84)

“Don’t start,” I growled, shoving a hand against his chest as he moved closer. “How did you know what my vampire talent would be?”

Finn frowned, but I could see a flicker of dread in his eyes. “I told you, I saw you at the—”

“No, don’t feed me your bullshit story about seeing the fragile cancer patient at the hospital and feeling moved to help her. Vampire powers don’t manifest in humans, no matter how powerful. Everything I’ve read says so. Now, how did you know I would be able to suppress your wonky brain-walking?”

Finn took a deep breath and started again. “I saw you—”

“Nope!” I shouted at him.

“I knew you—”

I shook my head. “Nuh-uh.”

“I read your ad—”

“Try again.”

“What do you want me to tell you?” he demanded.

“I want you to stop lying to me!”

“Fine! Fine, you want to know why I turned you? I turned you as a favor to your father!” Finn shouted.

The world seemed to tilt on its axis. I felt a strange, tight pressure at my chest and sank into the desk chair, my hands cold and numb. My fangs slid out so quickly it hurt. “I’m sorry, what?”

“Libby, let me explain, please.”

Finn took a step closer, and I shot him a vicious look. “Don’t you come any closer to me.” He froze in his tracks, hands raised. “Now, talk.”

“I’m a friend of your father’s.”

I couldn’t even begin to give voice to all of the questions bouncing around my brain. How did he know my father? How did my father know about me? Why had he never come forward to meet me? Why had he sent Finn to spy on me? Why was Finn telling me this now? What did this mean?

“If you’re making this up, Finn, so help me, I will find a way—”

“I know. I don’t have to be a psychic to see how violent your reaction would be. I’m a friend of your father’s,” Finn said.

“And his name is . . .”

A frisson of doubt slid over his features.

I bared my fangs at him and growled.

“Max!” he exclaimed. “His name is Max Kitteridge, and for right now, that’s all I should tell you.”

Somewhere, in a less angry, frantic corner of my brain, I remembered Finn telling me stories to comfort me while I was being turned—stories about his buddy, Max, and the trouble they used to get into. He was telling me stories about my father, and I hadn’t even realized. Betrayal, hot and acidic, burned through my chest.

“And you didn’t think this was something you should tell me? You didn’t think I should— I’ve never even met my father. I don’t know what he looks like. I know nothing about him. And you knew this whole time? How am I supposed to feel about that?”

“I know, it was wrong. I tried to find a way to tell you, but there’s no easy way to fit ‘By the way, I’m your long-lost father’s best friend since we were both human’ into the conversation. I barely got the chance to get to know you myself, so how was I supposed to tell you that? Libby, from the moment I saw you, I wanted to know you. And that had nothing to do with your father or you being sick or your talent—”

“What do you mean, ‘since we were both human’?” I interrupted him in a tone that made Finn wince. “Are you telling me that my father is a vampire, too?”

He cleared his throat and took a cautious step closer. “Yes.”

“And the whole thing about my talent being able to suppress yours? Was that a lie, too?”

Finn ran his fingertips along my arms, and I jerked them out of his grasp. He cleared his throat again. “Oh, no, that’s true. Just being near you has given me a whole new grasp on my control. But I didn’t realize that was what was happening until after you were turned. Your father sent me to town to check on you. And I did see you at that coffee shop, and I did see inside your head and see how desperate and sick you were. I went to your father, told him what you were thinking of doing, and he sent me to intervene. He wanted to turn you himself, but he thought you might find that confusing, meeting him and going through all the changes at once. He wanted to make sure you were safe, not left with some creep you met over the Internet.”

“Yes, it would have been tragic being saddled with someone I couldn’t trust as a sire,” I deadpanned.

Finn cleared his throat. “I was supposed to leave you alone after I turned you. But I couldn’t.”

“Right, because I was a solution to your problem.”

“But that’s not why I couldn’t leave you. I want you, Libby. I want to spend time with you and be part of your life. I know you’re upset with me now, but if anything, this is something to celebrate. Your father, Max, he wants to be part of your life so much, but he wanted to give you time. You can have more people in your life who understand you, who love you. How is this bad news?”