26. ~Skylar

I groaned as I slipped into my silky gray pajama pants, then pulled my white strappy tank on, getting ready for bed. I'd taken a shower when I'd arrived home a couple of hours ago, but all my muscles and, honestly, every part of my body, was still aching.

I smiled to myself. It was worth it.

I could feel the boys everywhere.

It was like they were still here with me.

Like there's no room to breathe, you mean?

I gritted my teeth against that thought.

Thankfully, my phone buzzing on my nightstand helped me out there and refocused me.

I headed over there and snatched it up to find a bunch of text notifications had come in since I'd been in the shower.

Caspian: Stocked up on raspberry cupcakes with fondant. Bastian tells me they're your favorite. Anything else you'd like here to make you comfortable?

Bastian: Miss you, beautiful. Maybe I'll climb in your window again. No fucking, I know you're sore. Just wanna wake up to you again. Nothing else like it. Although, with your dad home, gonna have to go the full on stealth route so he doesn't shoot my dick off. Like my dick. Almost as much as you do. *Winky face emoji*

Caleb: You were amazing last night. How you feeling? Packed some of our ointment in your bag for you.

I dropped my phone, stepping back unsteadily.

Where to start with all of that?

Overwhelmingdidn't even cut it.

Why couldn't I just lean into it, just accept everything they were offering me? Just fall into it all and never look back?

Because then you'll be vulnerable. Then they can hurt you.

A rap sounded on my door, startling me.

I cleared my throat and managed to call out, "Just one second!"

I hastily ran to my bathroom and grabbed my robe. I slipped it on and tied it, then looked down at myself to make sure all the marks I'd sustained earlier were hidden.

Phew.

And then I unlocked the door and opened it to find my dad standing there, in his checkered pajamas and looking all sleepy.

"Did I wake you when I came in?" I asked quietly, making sure my voice didn't carry down the hall and also wake up my mom.

He walked in and closed the door behind him. "No, pumpkin. Every now and then, you know I just wake up in the middle of the night. This was one of those times, then I heard your shower running as I was about to head downstairs to sneak a midnight snack. I just wanted to see you. We haven't seen a whole lot of you lately."

"Sorry, yeah, I've just been really busy with everything."

"With the boys?"

"Uh… yeah," I said, feeling my cheeks heating. Dammit. I wished I could control that shit.

"And everything is still going well there? They're treating you well?"

"Everything's fine there, yeah." I rolled my eyes at him. "You know, you didn't need to get so heavy-handed with Caspian, Dad. I mean, he doesn't have the fear gene anyway."

"I'm aware. I wasn't trying to scare him. I was trying to affect him… emotionally. I looked very deeply into him since I learned of your involvement with the three of them, and it's become apparent that he is actually very sentimental toward those in his inner circle. I was merely pulling at those heartstrings of his to ensure your safety."

"Wow, that's manipulative."

"And worth it to protect you."

"You do realize I can actually protect myself, yes?"

"If I didn't recognize that, my response to learning you resurrected Onyx and are even now working alongside The Jackals would have been very different."

"That's true." Oops.

He laid his hand on my shoulder. "Everybody needs a helping hand once in a while, baby girl, that's all."

No. it was more than that. I could see it in him and that, combined with his conversation with Caspian. "You're worried that what happened during my time at Vista Ridge could happen again."

"What happened clearly destroyed you. It upturned your entire life."

"It's different now. I've moved past it."

"It doesn't help that I don't actually know what happened, aside from the wipe out aspect."

"I know. I'm sorry. I couldn't actually talk about it before."

His face fell as he clearly thought I was going to shut it down again.

I squeezed his hand on my shoulder. "But I can now."

He cocked an eyebrow. "Yeah?"

I nodded. "I mean, it won't exactly be easy and it's going to be awful for you to hear, so you need to prepare yourself, but if it will take some of your worry away, I'm ready to do it. But I can't give you the name of the person involved."

"Sky—"

"Dad, that's the one condition. It's too dangerous. I know you. Once you hear what happened, you'll want to hunt them down and do a whole lot worse than that. I can't let that happen, given who they're connected to. The idea of you being hurt because of me terrifies me, okay?"

It took him a moment, then he nodded. "Condition accepted."

I pulled away and took a seat on the foot of my bed, trying to settle in to what I was about to confess—for the second time now.

After the first, it had been a lot to take because I'd kept it bottled up for so long.

But then had come the relief, a definite weight lifted from putting it out there.

It was why I felt like I could actually finally tell my dad what had happened, to finally put his mind at ease.

He pulled my rolling chair out from under my desk in the corner, then took a seat on it backward, folding his arms over the back.

I sucked in a breath and steeled myself.

And then I got to it.

I told him the whole deal.

Exceptthe text messages and the fact that Jett Bane was still bothering me.

I left it at him having disappeared into the ozone.

I had to.

I couldn't let my dad go after him. It was way too dangerous. On so many levels. I'd never forgive myself if something happened to him because of me.

After I'd finished recounting everything, he looked absolutely sick.

He didn't say anything for such a long time.

And I let him have that. I knew it was a lot to absorb.

"My daughter," he was rasping after a while. "Not my daughter."

I reached out and rubbed his arm. "Dad, the fact you taught me all that you did enabled me to survive all of that, to counter it and fight back. Without that, it would've been a whole lot worse. I honestly doubt I would've made it."

Tears spilled down his cheeks and it wrenched at my heart. I'd only seen him cry once, after he'd come home from a really long deployment and things had gone really bad out there.

"Dad," I choked, starting to sob myself at him breaking down.

In the next second, he was wrapping his arms around me and holding me tight to him.

And then we were both crying our hearts out, letting it all out.

Despite how painful it was, I felt that relief again.

My dad and I had always been so close and I'd hated having this secret between us.

Now it was finally out there, that awful weight left.

I had no idea how much time had passed before we finally eased apart.

He stroked my hair as he wiped his eyes and evidence of his emotion with his free hand. "I'm so proud of you. You're more than even a survivor, Sky. You're a true warrior."

I smiled. "Thanks for saying that, Dad." It meant a hell of a lot, especially coming from him.

His eyes darted around my room and landed on my bedside table clock. "Three in the morning."

"We've been talking for over an hour?" I asked, incredulous.

"Looks like." He pushed my chair back under my desk and the motion inadvertently knocked some books and papers off my desk.

I grimaced as he picked up the brochure that I'd had hidden under one of my architecture textbooks.

He put the book and papers back on my desk, but kept the brochure in question and started scanning over it.

"Another design school. Here in Rossun this time."

"Yeah."

His whole face lit up as he put the brochure down on my desk again. "You're going to get back to it?"

I nodded. "I am."

"This is fantastic news!"

"Well, it's months away from the intake period right now and—"

"Small details. You're still getting back to doing what you love and what you're so very talented at."

"I'm glad you're taking it so well, because I really doubt Mom is going to be on board."

"She'll come around."

"Come around on what?"

We both swung our heads to see Mom now standing in the doorway, her hair down and wild in her sleepy state, her thick robe pulled tight around her.

"Uh… Mom… what are you doing up?"

She eyed my dad. "I woke up when you weren't there. You know I don't sleep well when you're not right next to me."

She didn't, no. And that had really been an issue when he'd been deployed, before he'd retired from the service.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to be so long," he said, going to her and wrapping his arm around her. "We were just having a little chat in here."

"Is this about my reaction to you taking on that job with Jeremy? Becoming his partner in his private security business?"

"You… what? You got a job, Dad?" I exclaimed, excitedly. I knew he'd been going stir-crazy, but he'd also wanted to find the right fit and not just jump into something.

He grinned. "Yeah, Jer and I are working out the details, but it's a go."

"That's amazing!" I looked out at Mom. "Why haven't we been celebrating this? Why didn't you tell me?"

"Your mom is just taking some time to get on board."

Of course. "Mom, this is right up Dad's alley."

"It's also dangerous work, the very thing he just got away from."

"It's not the same," my dad told her, rubbing her arm. "I promise."

"I guess we'll find out either way seeing as though you already took the job," my Mom rebutted.

"Maria, listen, I—"

"It's the middle of the night. Not the time to have this discussion." She frowned as she looked between us. "So, if it wasn't the job, what were you two talking about that I'll apparently come around on?"

I sucked in a breath and said, "Mom, there's something I need to tell you about Luxe."