‘You hungry, Tania?’ Her father’s voice made her jump. He was being so solicitous. He was like a fish out of water with her; he had always been there for her, but he had believed that a girl needed her mother. Her mother, on the other hand, had done all she could to make sure she was protected from the Life. Now, ironically, she was as much a part of the Life as the rest of them because it had finally drawn her in; the circumstances of her mother’s death had guaranteed that. The sheer violence of it, the complete disregard for human life, had meant there was no other choice.

Tania and her father needed each other now. Tania needed his strength and his desire for revenge. She was looking forward to seeing it done.

She shook her head. ‘Not really, Dad. I’ve not got any appetite.’

He placed a huge hand tentatively on her leg; he was so uncomfortable showing affection. He was trying his utmost to do right by her, and it was at times like this she understood just what her mother meant when she had said that her dad might be a man of few words, but was deeper than people gave him credit for. Until now, Tania had honestly believed that her mother had only said that to make her feel better about her father’s inability to show affection. He had never quite managed the knack of actually talking to her, but that had never mattered before, because she had had her mum. If she was really honest she had always been a little bit wary of her father and his propensity for anger over the slightest thing.

She suddenly remembered the day of her First Holy Communion, and what she had witnessed in the men’s toilets. There had been other times over the years when she had seen that side of him unleashed on the general populace. Friends at school had heard the stories about her dad. He’d killed a man and his little child. He’d crippled another man for no good reason. Like everyone else, Tania had heard the rumours, but she had a different perspective to the people outside her family – she knew him as a dad. He would move heaven and earth for her if she asked him to. He might not be the most demonstrative man on the planet, but he was still her father and she knew he cared about her deeply.