Silver Dew (13 page)

“No,” I cut in. “It’s not like that at all, Dahlia. I love him – I want to be with him and he hasn’t gotten me into anything. This is actually all my fault,” I admitted, the truth of my words dragging down my heart. It really was my fault. If I hadn’t made Sebastian remember his past, if I hadn’t performed the Binding spell and in doing so, reawakened the forgotten magic inside of me, none of this would be happening. I couldn’t very well tell Dahlia all that though.

“I don’t understand what’s going on.” Dahlia’s brown eyes were wide with what I felt to be genuine concern. I could tell she really did want to help, I just wished I could trust her.

The bathroom door swung open and Sebastian stepped out into the room. He looked amazing – I shouldn’t have been surprised. He’d brushed his black hair back from his face and it shone as if it had been freshly washed. His hands and face were clean, and he’d traded the shirt he’d been wearing for a “fresh” one from his bag that was impossibly white and wrinkle-free. He met my eyes with a smile and I instantly relaxed. My renewed calm lasted for only a heartbeat though as we all heard the sounds of the office door downstairs being unlocked.

“Gordon must be here.” Dahlia quickly rose, looking quite anxious herself. “I’ll go and greet him, and let him know that you’re here.” She quickly disappeared around the corner and down the stairs. Sebastian came and sat by my side. He took my hand (the one that wasn’t nervously clasping my pendant) and linked his fingers through mine. His grip was warm and firm and reassuring.

“It’ll be alright,” he murmured. We could both hear my father’s voice rumbling downstairs now and Dahlia’s soft soprano, tinkling in response. My heart began picking up in pace, my throat and lips becoming far too dry. “Just want for him to believe us. Want him to help us.”

“It won’t work,” I whispered back. I could hear heavy footsteps on the stairs now.

“He’ll want to help you, Gracelynn. It’s going to work. I know you can do this. Just focus – you’ve got to really want this.”

“I do,” I assured him, my throat too tight for my voice to come out any louder than a whisper even if I’d wanted it to as my father entered the room.

The last time I’d seen my father in person, he’d been furious with me. He had kicked me out of my home for dating Sebastian and “tarnishing” our family’s reputation, and he had practically disowned me. We’d spoken on the phone many times since then and though neither of us had ever apologized, I felt like we’d come to a mutual understanding. I wasn’t sure how our relationship stood now though. When Sebastian had erased my memories last Spring, I had gone back to being the “perfect daughter” and since my father wasn’t around anymore, that had meant catering to my mother’s needs. She had banned me from speaking to my father, so I’d only stayed in contact with him through the occasional email sent quickly from a school computer. And I hadn’t contacted anyone in my family at all in the past month and a half since my memory had been returned and we’d be running from the Others. I could understand why my mother would say I’d run away from home – it would certainly appear that way to her.

My father looked momentarily stunned to see me even though I was certain Dahlia had told him I was waiting upstairs. His eyes rapidly scanned me over, taking in my shorter, messier hair and tanned skin. I smiled nervously and for a second, he almost smiled back. Then his eyes fell upon Sebastian’s hand linked together with mine on my lap. His eyes immediately moved to the tiny curl of the black tattoo peaking out beneath my shirt sleeve and the heavy amber ring nestled so innocently on the fourth finger of my left hand. I felt like cursing under my breath as I could almost see the thoughts flashing through my father’s mind. I could guess at the conclusion he was coming to. His color was already starting to change, a scarlet flush rapidly spreading across his round cheeks. I knew I had to do something to take control of the situation – fast, so I did the only thing I could think of.

“Daddy!” I cried out, forcing a broad grin to stretch across my face. I quickly dropped Sebastian’s hand and jumped up from the couch, skipping across the room and joyfully throwing myself into my father’s arms. In that moment, I wanted so badly for my father to just love me, to be happy to see me and to give me one of those big bear hugs that I remembered from my childhood. I felt him hesitate, sensed his momentary stunned surprise and then the next thing I knew, his big, strong arms were wrapping around me, squeezing me tightly against his round belly. A sob began rising on a strong wave of emotion within my chest. “I missed you Daddy,” I whispered against the smooth fabric of his dark blue suit. I smiled as I realized he smelt like brandy and cologne, the scent surprisingly nostalgic.

My father loosened his grip on me and awkwardly patted my head.

“Hi, sweetheart. I missed you too, Gracie,” he answered, gruffly. I thought I heard Dahlia sniff away a tear behind him.

I took a small step back and looked up at my father. His color had returned to normal – just the slight red flush to his cheeks that was always present. I could see the emotion sparkling in his eyes but with each passing second, his expression grew sterner, the lines in his face deepening and his joy at seeing me fading.

“Dad, I’m sorry to just drop in on you like this but we really need your help,” I began, speaking softly and uncertainly. I tried to remain focused, I tried hard to want for him to help us but it was difficult to concentrate with so many conflicting emotions grappling around inside of me.

My father frowned, narrowing his eyes suspiciously at Sebastian who now stood slightly behind me.

“Why don’t we all sit down,” Dahlia suggested. She gently placed her hand on my father’s arm and he reluctantly moved towards a large leather recliner in the corner of the room that I had assumed would be his chair. Dahlia moved into the kitchen and began making my father a drink while I resumed my seat beside Sebastian, keeping a carefully calculated distance between us this time. My father’s eyes were on me the whole while, his expression stern.

“Good evening, Mr. Stevenson,” Sebastian greeted him in a polite and respectful tone. My father fixed him with a hard stare, not immediately answering. The tension in the room grew.

“What kind of trouble have you gotten my little girl into?” my father eventually demanded, sitting up a little straighter as he spoke. He could be quite an intimidating man with his broad shoulders, the hard angles of his features and his sharp, hazel eyes. It was impressive that Sebastian didn’t shrink from his glare.

“We need your help, Dad,” I repeated, redirecting my father’s attention onto me. I forced myself not to drop my eyes, to meet his hard, unwavering stare. I decided just to launch into it, grasping my necklace tightly in my hand for strength as I spoke. “We need to get out of the country as soon as we can – tonight if possible. There are people following us,
very
dangerous people. The less you know the better. I wish we didn’t have to involve you at all but you’re the only one who could possibly help us get away…”

My father didn’t speak, he just continued to stare at me, his face completely expressionless. I focused my thoughts, my emotions, my desires – I focused with everything I had to want him to help us. I silently pleaded with him in my mind. I begged him with all my heart but still, he didn’t answer, didn’t respond.

“Here you go, dear.” Dahlia stepped between my father and I to hand him his drink, breaking the tense moment between us and offering me just a few moments to recover and refocus. I glanced to Sebastian who gave me a quick, encouraging nod. It was all up to me, I had to do this. My father really was our only hope.

Dahlia sat down on the loveseat near Sebastian and I, and we all waited in silence for my father’s response.

“What exactly are you asking me for, Grace?” my father demanded, his voice harsher and gruffer than I’d hoped. But still, at least he was speaking.

“I’m asking for your help. I want you to help us – I need you to. We need travel documents, identification and passports. We need to be booked on the next flight to Ireland. And we need it done as soon as possible.” There was no way to make my request sound reasonable. My expectations sounded ridiculous as I spoke them out loud but I tried to sound confident nonetheless. I tried to believe that my father would want to help us, that he would find a way.

“And what makes you think I can accomplish all of this, if I had the inclination?” My father fixed me with another hard stare, he appeared not to even be blinking. The small apartment was becoming increasingly warm with the number of bodies packed inside and a small bead of sweat began forming on my forehead. I resisted the urge to brush it away, focusing all of my attention on the task at hand.

“You can do it. You have the power and connections to make it happen. You can do anything you want to,” I added, hoping I didn’t sound as desperate as I felt.

Silence settled over the room once more. My eyes were locked with my father’s as we battled wills, each stubbornly refusing to be the first to look away. Neither Sebastian nor Dahlia tried to speak or intrude upon our conversation; they both recognized that this was between my father and I, and they remained quiet bystanders.

“I could help you, if I wanted to,” my father eventually agreed. “But I don’t.”

His proclamation pierced my heart with pain from both his rejection and my own fear. I could feel my panic rapidly rising along with the hurt inside of me.

“Please… Dad, I wish I could explain but I can’t. I really, really need your help…” I begged.

“No.” His answer was firm, his expression hard and cold. “If you really are in some kind of trouble, I can only assume that you’ve brought it on yourself by the poor choices you have made.” He looked to Sebastian as he spoke. My amber necklace began to faintly throb against my chest along with the pain in my heart.

“I’ll take you to the police if you want and you can tell them your story. I’ll even provide a place for you – and you alone – to stay while you’re in Toronto but that is as much help as I can possibly offer you, Grace.” The volume of his voice was increasing as he spoke along with the color in his cheeks. I could feel my control on the situation rapidly slipping away like sand through my fingers. “I will absolutely not be taken in by some ridiculous scheme that you have let this scoundrel come up with! How can you possibly expect me to blindly commit myself to help you escape the country and commit identity and documentation fraud for who knows what reason? What the hell is really going on here?”

“Now, now, let’s all just calm down for a minute,” Dahlia interjected. “You know your doctor warned you not to get worked up like this.”

“I will not calm down!” my father thundered, his face bright red, his hazel eyes flashing. “I haven’t seen or heard from my daughter in months and then she shows up, uninvited and unannounced, looking and sounding like some crazed vagabond with this… this…
scumbag
so clearly manipulating her!” He gestured furiously at Sebastian as he spoke, a disgusted expression on his face.

I was shocked to my core. I stared at him numbly, an expression of hurt disbelief frozen on my face. Somehow, I had never anticipated that the situation might go this badly even though I had partially feared it might. To hear my father refuse my honest pleas for help, to listen to him insult us and accuse Sebastian of manipulating me – and that he would believe I could be ignorant enough to allow myself to ever be manipulated… I felt my own temper rising, the furious heat of it a match for my blazing necklace. My anger burnt away the numb shock that had initially seized me within its grip and words flew from my lips without thought.

“How dare you!” I cried, suddenly as outraged as he. “I came to you because I needed you, because you’re the only one who can possibly help us – who can save us! All I want is your help and this is how you treat me?”

“No, you don’t! You want my money, you want my connections – you’re just like your mother! What the hell were you thinking, coming here like this?” my father yelled, rising to his feet. I jumped up right along with him, his last comments a slap in the face. I could feel myself trembling with rage.

“I just wanted you to help us,” I growled.

“The only way I’ll be helping you is out the door! Now get the hell out of here before I call the cops!” my father bellowed right into my face.

I didn’t waver for a second, I was far too angry to ever back down and with my anger, a strange, calm control had settled over me. I squeezed my necklace even tighter as it burned red hot into my hand. I focused myself and my will like never before, my eyes burning into my father’s.

“I want you to help us,” I told him quietly and firmly, my voice a subtle threat.

“No,” my father answered, his voice just as dangerous. I took a step closer to him, ignoring Sebastian’s sudden hand on my arm. I hadn’t even noticed him stand.

“Grace,” Sebastian cautioned. I barely heard him speak, letting the rest of the world slip away so that there was nothing but my father and myself, and what I wanted.

“Please,” I spat out between clenched teeth. The fire from my necklace was burning into my chest, rushing out from my heart and flaring from my eyes with each word I spoke. “I need you to help us. I
want
you to want to help us.”

“N–” my father’s voice seemed to stick in his throat. I watched in amazement and numb horror as his hard, steely gaze suddenly softened. His eyes unfocused and glazed over as they started to roll back into his head.