Page 161 of Devoured

He stares at me. Still unable to move. “You’re… you’re…”

“A monster,” I say. “I know.”

“No. You were magnificent.” The words blow through me, almost threatening to buckle my knees. I blink rapidly as my father smiles softly. “I’m sorry we came here. I thought—I thought it would help you. After the crime scene at the department, I… I couldn’t live with myself anymore. I couldn’t be a coward. I had to fight for you.”

I reach out and wipe a speck of blood from his cheek, but all I do is smear more in its wake. His warmth burrows into my skin. He smells like soap and blood and dirt and rain.

He smells like home.

I swallow hard. “I would have told you more on the phone if I could.”

“Don’t worry about that.”

But I can’t help glancing at the carnage. I can’t help thinking of Sin. “It’s my fault.”

“Somehow, I don’t believe that.” He struggles against my compulsion, undoubtedly wanting to stroke my hair or hug me. But it’s easier this way. It will be easier for both of us. “You know what I saw? A girl saving her friend. A girl fighting a monster. My girl, grown up and defending her people.”

Another sob rises in my throat, but I stifle it.

His words are honest—he believes them wholly, fully—but I just don’t know that I do. “Dad, you need to get your officers out of here, and you need to leave. You can’t come back again. Cora might be dead, but this place is too dangerous for you. Werewolves and faeries and god knows what else. You’ll never be safe knowing what you know now.”

He scowls. “I have silver bullets, and I’ll find wolfsbane—”

“It won’t be enough.” It will never be enough. And I will die if anything happens to him. My father is the last pure thing I have in the world.

“Sounds like a lot of unfortunate what-ifs to me.”

“Yes, well.” I sigh heavily, dreading what’s to come. There’s no way around it, however. What happened today can’t ever happen again. “What else do you expect from a werewolf?”

He seems to sense something is coming. “Let me go,” he whispers. “Let me hug you before I leave.”

“No.”

“Why?”

“Because I’m not done compelling you yet.” Another tear slides down my cheek as I clear my throat, as I force that power to roil within my veins, as I let it surge to the surface of my gaze. His eyes lock on mine. He has no other choice. “You are going to forget you ever came here. When you and your officers remember this day, you will think it was just like any other.”

His bottom lip trembles. A familiar crease wrinkles his forehead. “B-but… no…”

“You are going to return to your life, and you are going to be happy. You are Officer Rufus Hart. You used to live at 1004 Lakes Edge in St. Augustine, Florida. You used to live alone, but you’re dating now. You’re trying to find someone. You are Officer Rufus Hart, and you never had a wife. You never had a daughter.” My voice almost cracks, but the compulsion forces it to remain strong. I stare into my father’s eyes, stare and stare even as the rest of me breaks.

“No,” he whispers. “Don’t do this. Vanessa—”

But there is no other way to protect him.

“You will not remember me. You will not remember anything to do with my existence. You will not have any grief or sadness hollowing your chest. You will find your own happiness in another state or country. You will move away from here, and you will never come back. You will forget me entirely.”

I can’t contain my sobs now. They spill silently over my bloodied face.

“I love you, Dad, and you will forget everything.”

Just like that—he blinks. His pupils contract. A blank expression washes over him, and his gaze slides to our feet. Then it moves back to mine. “Who—who are you?”

Oh god.

“Leave,” I compel him. “Forget everything, and leave with your officers.”

He obeys without a second thought.