“What? How? You work so long as it is.”
He nodded, taking an exit. “I know, but the other people we work for—” He paused, turning around to face me as much as he could without losing track of the road. “They’re my family. Kiznitch is your mother’s family.”
My eyebrows drew in, my blinking rapid. My muscles tightened at the information he was about to lay out for me. “Your mom is a real-life princess, Zaika, well at least she is with Kiznitch. She’s a Dragavei. She has dragon blood in her. When your mom was ten years old, she ran away from Kiznitch after her parents disowned her and she found herself with my people. We took her in and raised her, that’s how she and I met.”
I gulped. My throat was tight and the air felt hot.
“When we were both fifteen, we returned to Kiznitch, but when your grandparents met with your mom again, they didn’t want anything to do with her anymore. More your grandmother, and she hated me more than she hated your mother. We were on the street when Mr. Cornelii took us in. He was not like the other Fathers. Nothing at all like them. He was kind and allowed us into his home, which was more than what we could have ever hoped for, your mother and I, because we were back in Kiznitch for a reason, and that reason was a group called Patience.”
I sat stunned, my mouth agape and my fingers tingling. My thoughts were fuzzy, but I knew Papa was about to drop a bomb.
“Patience is the archenemy of Kiznitch, Zaika. They are very, very bad people. When your mother and I figured out that we actually liked the Corneliis, we cut off contact with Patience. We tried to dodge them and we knew that as long as we were with the Corneliis, they wouldn’t come near. Until, the Corneliis found out who I was.”
“They know?” I asked, just as he pulled into an abandoned playground.
Papa pulled up the emergency brake, looking around frantically. There was no one here. I was surprised to see that we had been driving for a couple of hours, too. “They know, Zaika. Oh they know everything.”
“But Mr. Cornelii isn’t a bad man. Maybe he will talk to you?”
Papa searched my eyes. I could see that he wanted to rage at my naivety, but he suddenly sagged back, rubbing his hands over his face. “No, baby. He may be a touch better than the rest of them, but they are The Four Fathers, Saskia. They rule with an iron fist and have no problem eradicating people, especially Patience.”
His eyes flew over my shoulder as a dark SUV pulled up beside us. I panicked, but he hushed me. “It’s alright. That’s Hope, your godmother.”
“I have a godmother?” I asked, confused.
“Well, she’s actually my sister. I guess I can say that now.” He reached for the door handle, but I remained in the car. Motionless. Shocked. Nighttime was bleeding into the day and all I wanted was to stop time. Maybe rewind it to before I was born.
My door opened and a small, petite woman with short blonde hair bent down to grasp my leg. She looked nothing like Papa. Papa was tanned, quite brown, she was very much white, like Mama.
“Hello, Zaika, I’m Hope.”
Papa dropped a bag beside Hope’s feet. “Stop calling her that now.” He tossed a passport onto my lap. I flipped it open. “It was the name that your mother and I always wanted to call you.”
Saskia Estel Royal.
I looked up at Papa just as Hope was putting our bags in the SUV. “Are we going to be alright, Papa?”
He leaned down as Hope got into the driver’s seat and started the car, leaving her door open.
His hand came to my cheek, his lips to my forehead. “Always.” I relaxed, my muscles slacked. I would always have Papa.
I heard it before I felt it.
Pop!
Hope screamed.
Warm liquid fell down my forehead as particles sprayed across my arms.
My father’s body slowly dropped to the ground in a thump.
I don’t scream. I sit stunned. Looking to the left, I remained emotionless against reality.
“Zaika!” Hope grabbed me, threw me into the passenger seat and crawled to the other side, starting the car. My breathing was heavy. My heart raced. My brain was dead.
Hope reversed and headed out of the parking lot, but not before we passed a black limo that sat across the park with its window down.
Everything slowed. I wanted to close my eyes. I knew they would for sure kill me too. The closer we got, the harder my heart pounded.
Thud.
Thud.
Thud.
I saw the gun pointed out of the car; the barrel aimed right at us.
And then I stopped breathing, because the person who was holding it, wasn’t Mr. Cornelii, or any of the other Four Fathers.