24. Izzy

Chapter 24

Izzy

M y step-father—no, his name was Stephen. He turned to the side, allowing me an unobstructed view of what was behind him.

Of the newest prisoner to join our foray.

“Dad?” my voice broke.

I can’t be strong. This isn’t happening. This can’t be real.

He can’t—

How is—

But that means—

I grieved for my dad for more than half my life. He can’t be alive. I didn’t even look for him. I didn’t even try to find him. I just trusted my mother. A fool I was, a fucking idiot.

My ears pounded painfully as regret sliced through my brain attempting to break me apart.

I couldn’t let it.

Fuck. Fuck! FUCK!

“Isobella?” James, my dad , broke through the chaotic noise of my mind unraveling. He attempted to escape his restraints, but the two men holding him overpowered his attempts. My dad’s voice was a memory that pulsated to the front of my mind.

A hundred times he said my name in that exact way after I had hurt myself. When he came home from work and found me crying. I never told him how mom was when he was gone. I didn’t want to worry him.

And then he died.

That hadn’t been true?

My mother had lied to me? About my dad dying? What kind of sick, fucked up—

My mind unraveled as every excuse I told myself about my mother fell apart. She didn’t love me, she didn’t do anything for my sake. She was evil , selfish , a raging fucking cunt.

She had taken me from my dad. From the man that had raised me. Had loved me. Had taught me to be strong.

My vision blurred as tears fell on their own accord.

I didn’t want to cry here, I didn’t want to show weakness.

I wanted to be strong.

But seeing my dad in this situation after years apart was my undoing.

“Finally, together at last. Are those tears of joy? I can’t believe your sweet mother isn’t here for the reunion.” Stephen snapped his fingers and rattling echoed around the room. “When she drunkenly told me what she had done? I grew curious. How could I use this secret? Because that’s what it was–a dangerous and powerful secret. I think I did the best I could with it. But imagine my surprise when I sent James to lure Yara back to me and instead? He falls for her. He fucks her. He—”

“Stop it!” Yara, who had been uncharacteristically silent, broke, interrupting her father’s speech.

Through it all, I stared at my own father, at James. At my long-lost dad. As the confusion marked his face. A mix of a furrowed brow and his lips pressed into a harsh line.

He had aged, but he was still unmistakable. His mannerisms. His voice. His eyes.

They were a mirror to my own.

Stephen’s words eventually processed .

My dad and Yara?

I broke my stare down and diverted my attention towards Yara. The wall behind her was opened up. Before, it was panels, but now, it was a glass pane that I could see through.

My mother stood on the other side.

I couldn’t hear her, but I recognized her expression. She wasn’t scared, she was livid. Her temple pulsating with rage, her eyebrows raised to her hairline, as she began to wave her hands above her.

It was clear she couldn’t see us, though, as she kept turning her head. She didn’t focus in any direction as she continued her tantrum.

I flinched back, years of being on the receiving end of her anger had left a wound. Another reason I kept my distance.

Was it weird that I was grateful for the wall’s separation?

Except… What was this? What was Stephen’s angle?

I did my best to stamp down the shock of the series of events that had played out, I would process this. When I wasn’t being held captive. When all was said and done.

Shifting back, I refocused on Stephen. Examining him, I tried to garner any information I could.

“Well, this hasn’t been quite as amusing as I wanted it to be. Maybe it’s time to spice up the party. Isobella. Who do you love better? Your mom or your dad? We always have a favorite don’t we?”

Even now, knowing that the man speaking was a tangibly bad man.

I couldn’t tell.

Stephen was a blank wall. An empty palate. A Skinwalker.

I didn’t want to answer his question, but my eyes flickered to my dad. To the man who raised me into my early teenage years. To the man I had missed more than I realized.

To the man who I had an endless list of questions for .

“That’s what I thought. I don’t blame you, your mother is rather difficult.”

Bang! Bang! Bang!

I knew exactly what gun shots sounded like.

I braced, willing myself to turn towards the noise. It came from behind me, from Yara’s direction.

My dad snapped at me. “Isobella, do not look. You don’t need to see it.”

I instinctively listened to him, but I needed to make sure my best friend was okay. “Yara?”

“I’m fine,” she murmured. I could barely make out the “for now.”

My step-father huffed, gesticulating into the air, and a moment later, the same rattling from earlier filled the space. Two of his men stepped forward, one of the beefy goons kept a tight hold of my shoulders while the other untied me.

“Since you’re a coward, I’ll just rip the bandage off. Your mom’s dead, she was just shot because you chose your dad over her. Now time to say goodbye to your dad and Yara. This will be the last time you see them both alive.” There wasn’t any inflection in Stephen’s tone. He could have been discussing the weather for how he sounded.

I didn’t acknowledge his words. I didn’t process them. I needed to emotionally detach from anything else he said.

My mother wasn’t dead.

I swallowed down the bile that came up my throat.

My dad wasn’t alive.

I breathed in the musty air.

My best friend wasn’t in grave danger.

I squeezed my eyes shut, scrunching my nose.

I whipped my head back and forth as I shook it, emptying my mind of anything and everything I could .

I repeated the lies in my mind, attempting to believe them.

“I’m sorry!” Yara screamed. “I’m so sorry Izzy. I love you!”

Her terror, her agony, her sadness. It broke through my mantra. It ate me alive. I wanted nothing more than to save her at this moment.

But I was helpless. Just like I had been with Sebastian.

I knew Maddox, Oliver, and Emilio would come for me. But would it be too late?

My dad grunted in pain and I whipped my eyes open.

James fought against his captors, but just like before, it was fruitless. “I will see you again, we both will. I love you, I never stopped looking for you.”

“I love you too.” I spoke the words to both of them, turning to get one final look at my best friend.

“Oh shut the fuck up!” Stephen lost his cool and the last I felt was the hard metal of a gun hitting me against the back of my head— that's going to leave a mark —before the world went dark again.