𝙹𝚞𝚜𝚝𝚒𝚌𝚎 | 𝚊 𝙺𝚘𝚝𝙻𝙲 𝚂𝚝𝚘𝚛𝚢 | 𝚋𝚢 𝙽𝚘𝚟𝚊

Chapter Four

"Wraith?!" Sophie exclaims. Biana has her hand over her mouth. Keefe and Fitz start yelling out questions as Dex stands there (weirdly calm?) with a contemplating look on his face.

"Oh, no," the rock man says. The blurred-out guy face palms (I think).

CeCe and Esmeray are gaping at my father like they've never seen him before.

And me? I'm in shock. My father, part of the Black Swan? The Black Swan's Collective? How long has he been a part of them? Before I was born?

"Aliza?" Baba - Wraith? - repeats. "What are you doing h-" he stops himself, curses in Arabic, and throws his cloak off his shoulders. He vanishes, and I don't know what he's doing until Forkle cries out and is slammed against the glass walls. 

Baba reappears, gripping Forkle's tunic collar in his hands. "Did you not seem to find it important to tell me that our possible new recruit  is my daughter?!" he bellows.

"Wr- Jamal, please," Mr. Forkle says, wheezing. "Put me down." His voice is surprisingly calm for a guy being pinned against his own office's wall.

"This is my daughter we're talking about!" Baba yells, face red with anger. He shakes Mr. Forkle. Is he going to kill him? No, I think. I'm not worth anyone losing their sanity for.

"BABA, STOP!" I shout. He lets Mr. Forkle go, and Forkle drops to the ground. Groaning, he slowly gets up. Sophie rushes to check on him.

"Your dad is my new hero," Keefe breathes out, wide eyes still on my father. Sophie slaps him, and he breaks out of his trance. "Foster, come onnnn," he whines. "You know you love me."

"Shut the hell up," Sophie replies. She's smiling and blushing though. I see something going on between these two. And I love it. Anyway, back to more important matters...

"Baba, since when were you part of the Black Swan's Collective? Does Mama even know about this?" I ask.

My father sighs and turns to me. "Aliza," he says. "I joined the Black Swan just after I graduated from the Elite Levels." The Elite Levels? That was years ago... "I didn't become a part of the Collective until I married your mother. And yes, she knows." Wraith. Then he became Wraith. 

"So all of those times you said you were going on missions for the Council, you were going on things for the Black Swan?" I press on. Anger bubbles through me. Did he lie to me my whole life?

My fear comes true. "I do go on missions for the Council, but most of the time," Baba sighs again. "Yes. Aliza, I'm so sor-"

"So you joined the Black Swan and lied to me for sixteen years?" 

"It was for your own safety!" he shouts back. "I joined a rebel organization to change things! To make things better for our world! And now you're joining it too, and..." he breaks off. 

"What?!" I bark back. Everyone is staring at us. CeCe and Esmeray are looking at my father to me and back again.

"You don't understand what danger you're putting yourself in," my dad continues. "I've nearly died multiple times trying to save the Lost Cities."

I have tears in my eyes now. "I know! And I don't care! I don't freaking care! We're living in a crappy society where I have to hide the fact that Mama's Talentless and have to deal with being bullied about being Muslim to save our freaking reputation!" I yell. "And for what?! I don't freaking owe anyone anything!" The tears are running down my face now. "I'm joining the Black Swan, Baba. This has been going on for too long." CeCe walks up to me and puts her hand on my shoulder. Sophie and Biana stay silent but give me sympathetic looks as the boys stare at me wide-eyed.