Arrival of the Beast (Lucifer's Clock Series, Book 2)

Teamwork

A warm breeze woke Angelica up. She opened her eyes to a bright blue sky high above her. She sat up and knew she was having that bizarre dream again. The dreams hadn't made sense to her at the time, but now she had a feeling they weren't a coincidence. She thought about what Nala had said about the dreams. Could the mystery man be her father?

Angelica's stomach turned into butterflies at the thought of this. Well, she would never find out if she just sat there. She stood up and started walking in the direction of the house. This time she wasn't afraid, but she was curious. As she approached the house, she heard the same piano music and singing as before drifting out of the house.

Instead of knocking on the front door, Angelica turned the door knob to find the door unlocked. She entered the house and followed the sound of the piano and singing. The sounds led her to the room she had visited in the past. The mystery man was again seated at the piano. She stood there and waited for him to stop playing and acknowledge her presence.

He didn't. He kept playing as if he hadn't heard her. She cleared her throat as loudly as she could. He still ignored her.

"Excuse me!" she exclaimed.

He stopped singing and his fingers paused. "We meet again," he said, without turning around.

"Who are you?" asked Angelica, anxiously.

He chuckled in a deep, velvety tone. "Why do you ask a question you already know the answer to, Angelica?"

"You are my father," she whispered.

As soon as the words were out of her mouth, he disappeared from the seat and was standing in front of her. She would have screamed, but she was speechless when she saw his face. All she could do was stare. She was looking at a reflection of herself, only he was ten times more beautiful than her. His face lit up with the most beautiful smile she had ever seen.

"Are you going to stand there and stare at me, or give me a hug before the witch tries to whisk you away from me?"

She looked behind her, expecting to see Connie running into the room at any moment. Not even realizing what she was doing, she walked into his outstretched arms. When Angelica hugged him, the scent of burnt baby powder engulfed her. After a minute or so, he pulled away from her and looked her up and down.

"Look how my angel has grown up."

Angelica blurted out the first thing that came to her mind. "Are you the devil?"

He flashed another dazzling smile. "That depends on who's asking. All that you need to know is that I'm your father and it's about time that we were together."

"Why now? Where have you been all this time?" asked Angelica skeptically.

"The individuals you are with did not want to see me happy. They turned your mother against me and took you both away from me. You have been hidden from me all this time. Once you went through the change, I knew I would be able to contact you."

She was surprised to hear him mention her mother. "You and my mother were... together?" Angelica hadn't really thought about her parents' relationship. Come to think of it, she hadn't thought much about either of them, until recently.

He chuckled at her question. "Your mother has not informed you of how she and I met?"

Angelica shook her head. "She never got a chance to. She died when I was a baby."

She watched as several emotions crossed his face. He went from being in disbelief to being puzzled. She felt bad that he didn't know that his lover, ex-girlfriend, ex-wife or whatever her mother had been to him, was dead.