Page 18 of Outlawed

I open my mouth and shut it again. He killed his father to keep me safe and orchestrated his brother’s death to avenge me. A part of me might always hate him for what he did to me, but there is another part that doesn’t know how not to love him.

“I could do with losing my memory myself right now,” Shepard groans, earning a glare from Austin. “Too soon?”

Riggs laughs as he reaches for my ankle, his face turning serious. “Better fill Shepard in on the rest.”

“Fuck me, there’s more?”

“Remember when I said I’d circle back to Dawn?” I look over my shoulder at him, and I can practically see his eyes moving a mile a minute. “You notice the similarities between Dawn’s story and my mother’s?”

“Wait. You’re saying Dawn’s a witch?”

“I’m saying, there is likely some in her blood. Not all witches have powers as I do.”

“She’s not kidding. Most witches can’t do a fraction of what Calliope can,” Austin adds. “But the blood of her virginity would still be potent…” he lets that hang in the air.

“So Hannah has witch in her, too?”

“Possibly, yeah. But that’s not all Hannah has.”

“What else does she have?”

“A sister.”

“Wait, what? Who?”

I look at him and swallow, revealing my final truth.

“Me.”

The ride back home is tense. Each of the guys has a vehicle, so we’re forced to ride separately. I end up riding with Shepard, mostly because he still has a million questions.

“For Hannah to be your sister, and if Dawn was her mother…”

That has me rubbing my chest. “Then we share the same father.”

“So Martin wasn’t your father.”

“No, he was.”

“I’m so fucking confused.”

“You ever really looked at Hannah’s eyes? I know you’ve looked at mine.”

“They’re the same. Huh. Some fucking cop I am.”

“Who else has those eyes, Shep?”

He frowns, but the answer is right there. His mouth drops open as he turns to look at me. “Porter? Porter’s your father? But how?”

“He faked his death, had Dale frame me for it, and then spent a lot of money on changing the way he looked.”

He blinks at me, waiting for more before shaking his head and looking back at the road. “Why?”

“Now that’s a loaded question. If you caught the parts where Austin was explaining my birthmark and my powers coming in, then you’ll understand that my father would have noticed it too.”

He grimaces. “You mean the part where he would have raped his own daughter just so he was immune to her gifts?” he spits.

I look out the window, hating that it hurts still, even knowing what a fucking bastard my father is.