Page 6 of In the Line of Fire
“I sure do.” She stacked the empty plates before picking them up. “Do you want it heated with ice cream?”
“Nope, just plain.” I dug in my backpack for my wallet. “If you could bring my phone and the check with the pie, I’d really appreciate it.”
About ten minutes, a slice of incredible cherry pie, and a ten-dollar tip later, I left the diner and walked toward the gas station. Without anyone around to eavesdrop, I pulled up my recent calls and tapped on my dad’s name at the top of the list. He picked up on the first ring. “I’m so sorry my genes were dominant, and you took after me, Soleil. If you were human like your mom, last night never would’ve happened.”
I hated that my dad felt responsible for what the dark practitioners had done. “Yeah, but then me dying would be a permanent thing, and that would royally suck. Being a phoenix like you gives me a heck of an advantage in any battle, Dad.”
“But—”
“Stop beating yourself up over something I wouldn’t change even if I could,” I interrupted as I walked past the gas station. “The bottom line is that I’m okay. Focus on that.”
He heaved a deep sigh before asking, “Did you get some food?”
“Yeah.”
“Caffeine, too?”
My lips curved into a grin. “You know me so well.”
“Damn straight,” he agreed. “Hopefully your full stomach has put you in a good mood because I have a feeling you’re not going to like what I have to tell you.”
My dad wasn’t one to overreact, so I braced myself for what was coming. “What happened?”
“I spoke with Damien Veles last night about your situation with the dark practitioners.”
I shook my head in disbelief. Even though I had very few ties to the shifter community, I’d still heard of the guy. He had the kind of reputation that was whispered about in all circles. “You talked to the head enforcer for the shifter council?”
“The last time you and I spoke, I told you that I thought it might be a good idea to reach out to them,” he reminded me, as though I wouldn’t remember our conversation from half a day ago. His tone dropped to a growl as he added, “And that was before I listened to those fuckers kill you again.”
I probably should have known the ordeal would have pushed him to do something extreme. He’d been patient about this whole mess much longer than I’d expected him to be. “But I didn’t think you’d actually do it.”
“It turned out that I didn’t need to. Damien was the one who called me.”
My head reared back, my eyes going wide. Finding out that my dad had reached out to the council was surprising enough, but having them contact my dad out of the blue was even more of a shock. There was no reason for them to know about my situation. I hadn’t asked for their help, and the witches certainly wouldn’t have called them on my behalf. Plus, they shouldn’t have known how to get a hold of my dad, even if they had learned about what had been going on with me. “How in the heck did he get your phone number?”
“Connor Tigre made the call for him.” The name was familiar, but it took me a moment to place him as the son of dad’s tiger shifter friend. “Or I guess I should say calls because he tried four times before I picked up. I was worried something might’ve happened to his dad.”
It was hard to believe that his friend’s son had betrayed my dad’s trust when they’d kept our secret for so many years. “Why did he do something like that?”
“Because he thinks Damien might be your fated mate.”
“What the fuck?” I didn’t swear often—and never at my dad—but that was the only response I could come up with to his little bombshell.
