“Bren. Sweetheart.” He drew me off of him, setting me on my feet, while at the same time taking my knife in his own hand. He moved, touching my shoulders and guiding me to the door. “Go, Bren. I don’t want you to see this.”

He thought I went to the door.

He thought I left.

And he turned, the guy had made a gurgling sound.

My dad didn’t look to make sure I was gone. He just knelt and finished what I’d been about to do.

It all hit me right then, all at the same time.

I’d forgotten what he said exactly, and the aftermath, how he saw I hadn’t left, but he wasn’t mad. He took a deep breath, the sound of both of us panting in that quiet room, sounding like deafening echoes to my eardrums.

He crossed the room, took the phone, and dialed 9-1-1. He held it to me, saying, “You should be the one to call.” He nodded to the guy. “I’m the one who did it all. Not you. Got that?”

I swallowed all those emotions as I was brought back to the present, feeling tears threatening to fall. I said, my voice shaking and in a whisper, “Hi, Dad.”

“No.”

Channing broke the tense silence that had fallen over the room.

He moved forward. “No. This is enough. You came here? To her house? Just go.” He rubbed between his eyes. “We will come to you. I’ll bring her to you.”

Derrick.

I was going to use his first name because it felt wrong to call him Dad. He wasn’t, not really, not anymore.

Derrick turned to him, a gleam of pain tightening his features, but he masked it. His jaw clenched, and his Adam’s apple moved up and down. “Channing—”

“Don’t Channing me either. You’re here for her, not for me…and by the way, are you actually here for her? I had a word with her boss yesterday. He filled me in a whole bunch about Red Demon activity. Your timing is suspect—”

Derrick glanced my way but didn’t say anything.

Well, leave it to me because I would say what I needed to. “I called him. Channing—”

“No.” Channing looked my way. His eyes were burning, blazing. “I knew you would, Bren. He knew you would because that’s who you are. You handle things eventually, but I told him.” He swung back to Derrick. “I told you to call me before even thinking of heading her way. I told you.”

“I know.”

Channing tipped his chin up, his anger radiating off of him in waves. “Then why are you here?”