Chapter 8
Grandma Sto said nothing else. She simply left me staring at the dark paneling of the study. The room was too small for such darkness, but in that moment it fit my mood. Dark.
What lay ahead of me?
Was I really going to be a piece of a long-ago prophecy?
How would I meet this Ez?
Would he even like me?
Did he have another he’d rather have than me?
Did I care if he did?
What if I didn’t like him? What if he was a total asshat?
“Nacal,” Ranko’s voice sounded as if I stood in a spinning tunnel growing tighter and tighter around me. “The ghostly figure is asking for you.”
Right. Couldn’t keep the newly discovered biological father waiting. My entire life was out of my hands. I had no control over anything. Mom set my life in motion before I was created. She wished me to accept my fate if it came true. I controlled nothing, not even my breathing at that moment. It rushed in deep and hard, leaving a solid ache in its wake. My arms were heavy, and my legs were rubbery, refusing to hold me up any longer.
“Nacal!” A solid, sharp pain shot through my head, and darkness surrounded me as Ranko’s face hovered above me. “You okay?”
“What is wrong?” Uncle Lal’s voice thudded through my skull as I shut my eyes tight, squeezing them tight, trying to rid myself of sparkling lights. “Why is he on the floor?”
“Think he’s had too much.”
“Understandable.” Uncle Lal must have come over to kneel beside Ranko, because he sounded much louder, but at least Ranko was no longer in a tunnel when he spoke. “You going to be okay, boy? Rough road ahead of you, but you are strong like my sister.”
“I don’t like none of this.” Ranko sighed, running his hand across my hair, a movement he’d never made. “I don’t think Mom would have wanted this. It’s not like something she would have allowed for any of her children.”
“Grandma Sto can speak for her.” I groaned and covered my face with my hand as I used the other one to push myself upright. Ranko placed a hand on my back in aid.
“What’s that mean?” Uncle Lal stood.
“She left Grandma Sto a letter, explaining all this to her.”
Ranko’s face shot red, and his hands clenched. “Why would she not tell me? She knew I’d be the one to take over your care.”
Had no answer. Mom had made some stupid decision, in my opinion, regarding me. Only she could answer for those, and there was no way to get them.
“Doesn’t matter why Jilyss did anything she did.” Uncle Lal said. “It’s done and over with. We have to face the actions of it.”
So true. It awaited me inside my bedroom. And in the Underworld. At least it wasn’t the Graveyard. Wasn’t my death in a few short years.
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