At this point, I wouldn’t be surprised if my panic for Malia’s disappearance has officially gone to my head. Then again, I imagine it has with the body count I’ve racked up since then.
I grunt a response to Malia’s father and run a hand down my face, forgetting about the blood.
“I wanted to see how you were holding up,” he adds, his voice drawing closer as he steps further into the room, coming to a stop in front of me.
He eyes my now-empty glass and raises an eyebrow.
“But it’s clear you’re not,” he sighs. “We have this conversation every day, Liam. Malia is alive and until I see her cold dead body, we will never give up looking for her.”
My jaw tenses trying to hold back the snark threatening to tear into him. I didn’t ask him to coddle me. Once the irritation settles I meet his concerned stare.
“You know, I think I miss that smart mouth of hers the most,” I admit.
It seems like it’s been so long since I’ve heard her raspy voice, or she spewed venom in my direction. I’m afraid I won’t ever hear it again, especially that vicious giggle of hers.
The Omen smiles at my comment but it doesn’t quite meet his eyes. How he is able to hold himself together through all of this is beyond me.
“Mal has quite the mouth on her,” he agrees. “An unfortunate trait she learned from me, but if you weren’t able to handle it, I imagine you wouldn’t be here.”
He blows out a breath and swipes a hand through his hair. I wonder how much he has had to drink himself, considering how chatty he’s being. Half the time we work together trying to track down Malia and the other half he tries to reprimand me for all the recent disappearances in the city.
I need an outlet. Hunting for information through flesh and blood seems to help. Always has, it’s why I fought underground since I was a teen. Only now, there’s nothing to hold me back.
“I wanted to apologize for the role I’ve taken in your life,” he says.
I snort because I doubt he regrets anything he’s done, my master puppeteer.
A frown takes over his face and suddenly he looks more his age than closer to mine, the stress of Malia’s disappearance clear on display. It makes me wonder if my father would look years younger than forty-three himself.
“I only wanted to make sure you were taken care of. Your dad didn’t want this for you, as you know. I made him a promise and I have always been one to stay true to my word. But I had no idea your hearts would recognize each other like this.”
“I’ve failed her,” I croak, not knowing why I blurted that out, of all things.
To him of all people.
The Omen presses his lips tightly together and shakes his head.
“Come with me,” he says, turning on his heel and heading out of the room expecting me to follow.
Wordlessly, I follow, my interest piqued as he leads me out the front door. The last time I followed him out of the mansion, he showed me where my parents were truly buried—on the Olin property, not in the graveyard my sister, Nonna, and I had visited for twenty years.
As we walk down the path that leads to the cemetery and break through the surrounding trees, my chest tightens. We come to a stop in front of my parents’ unmarked graves and a breath shudders from deep within me.
“Are you trying to remind me of all the things I’ve lost?” I ask, warring between making my girl’s beloved father my next victim or dropping to my knees and giving the fuck up.
“I always knew in a way that you would find your way back here, Liam,” he says, staring at my father’s grave. “I left Joey and Nadya’s graves unmarked for you and Xana to maybe someday do what you want with them, as I have told you before. Pick out their tombstones. I was selfish for bringing them here, but I wasn’t going to take that away from the both of you should the day come. I know who I speak to when I come down here.”
Xana, my sister, the only family I have left alive. Someone I left with a vague excuse to hide herself and stay protected. Protected by a pussy of a man who was once my so-called best friend. And as much as I hate that she’s with him, it’s the best place for her for now.
Not with me. Not like this. No matter how much I might need her.
“You might have lost a lot, Liam, but you’ve gained so much. You may think you’re alone, but you still have a sister. One who hasn’t heard from her brother in months. Xana should know where her parents are truly buried. No one will bother her if she comes to visit them, but she should be able to visit the proper site.”
I don’t answer him. I just stare at the twin graves and take in his words as he stands silently next to me for what seems like hours.
“If Tawny is behind this and Malia doesn’t kill her, she’s fucking mine,” I snarl, changing the subject from my sister.
The Omen stands quiet next to me, I can feel his hard gaze assessing me before he speaks again.