Fated Connection (Book 1)

Chapter 17

“D-Dominic? As in…” I began but didn’t finish as I stared in shock at Nova. His hand held mine in a death grip but I held on, knowing that neither of us could hold it together if I let go.

“As in the fae prince that knocked up two women and then abandoned both children, running like a little bitch?” Nova sneered. “Yeah, that’s the bastard.”

“Son, please, just -” Dominic began with his hands raised in a peaceful gesture, but Nova cut him off with a dark laugh that sent chills down my spine.

“Son? No, you don’t get to use that word,” he snarled and took a step forward, dragging me with him. “You are nothing to me, you get that? You're nothing but a fucking coward."

Alana looked stricken as she stood silently by, her violet eyes glistening with tears as they darted between Dominic and Nova, finally stopping on me. Her beautiful face was etched with pain, regret and sadness swirling in her eyes, just as they had in my dreams. She was real and she was here, standing in front of me just within reach. I could easily reach out and hug her, embrace the woman that had given birth to me like I had fantasized about so many times in my life.

But something held me back. I knew in every fiber of my being that these two individuals were without a doubt my biological parents. I knew I should be ecstatic to finally be meeting them, but I wasn't. Instead, I wanted nothing more than to get away from them. 

"Nova, if you would just listen to me, we can talk about this," Dominic attempted to reason with Nova who was shaking with anger beside me. "I will tell both of you everything but I need you to calm down."

"You need?! I don't give a damn about what you need, Dominic." Nova spat, his words filled with disgust. "Nothing you have to say will change what you did or make it better."

My mouth still wouldn't work, my mind racing in a hundred different directions as my emotions twisted into knots, an indecipherable code. My throat was closed, aching with tears that wanted to come but I fought back, words unable to form. I felt like I was in a vortex, a whirlwind of chaos that held me trapped in place. My eyes finally met the silvery orbs I had come to know so well.

Suddenly everything else in the room became muffled and distant, Nova's angry voice distorted as if I was under water. August looked back at me, his face a mask but his eyes told me this had been his choice. The regret that filled them sliced through me like a hot dagger.

Time seemed to stand still when I realized what must have happened. Instead of coming back to me like he had promised or even talking to me about it, he had made his own decision. He went to the one thing that was holding him back from me, the person that was keeping us apart. And then he had brought him back here, knowing it would be impossible for us to be together.

"So, this was your solution." I whispered, the agony in my voice holding the power to silence the room but I ignored them all as I held his gaze. "Of everything you could have done, this was your choice. For someone so ancient, your weakness is staggering."

"Nevada, -" August began but I cut him off with a shake of my head.

"Just don't, August. Don't." My voice was like hardened steel as the words left my lips. 

I looked at Alana, my mother, torn between her abandoning me but also wanting to know her. Understanding flashed in her eyes when she looked over at August and back to me as tears flooded her cheeks triggering my own. I felt my heart breaking as I looked at each of them in turn.

Dominic was focused on Nova, anger and remorse lining his handsome features as Nova continued to throw his power around the room. It was angry and felt like needles pricking my skin but I didn't care. He and I both had a right to our pain and anger that had been thrust upon us as infants, choices made that we had been too young to have a say in had changed our lives. Who knows what could have been had Dominic chosen to stay.