Free Shadow Light (Beautiful Beings #3) by Kailin Gow Page B

belts?  How easy had it become to slay a demon?
    Gordon finally softened his gaze somewhat and took a step toward me.
    I wasn’t fooled by this gentler approach and remained on guard.
    “The last thing we want to do is hurt you, Lux.”
    The hairs at the back of my neck instantly rose at the sound of my name on his lips.  Though I might have mentioned it to Markus as we’d sat down to pizza, I knew beyond the shadow of a doubt that it had not been told to Gordon.
    “We really don’t want to hurt you at all,” John added.  For the first time, his gaze remained steadily on me.  As harsh as he’d been since our arrival, his eyes softened and even he looked concerned and moved.  For a moment of hesitation, he turned a quizzical gaze to Gordon then faced me with a warm smile.  “I can hardly believe how you’ve grown into such a beautiful and smart young woman.”
    The foreboding chill that’d spiked the hairs at my back now sent off a series of alarms throughout my body.  There was more going on here than the mere attempt to slay Moore and Brax.  This was more than a simple attempt to close the portal.
    “I’m so pleased with how you turned out, Lux.”
    “Somehow I doubt you’ve earned the right to call me Lux in such a familiar way, and you certainly have no right to show any pride in the way I’ve grown up.”
    “I beg to differ,” he said.  “And I’m sure Ida would agree with me.”
    His riddles were playing with my nerves.  “Ida?” I grunted with open irritation.
    He came to face me and reached out to grasp my shoulders, but I quickly back away.  There was something increasingly disturbing in the familiar way he’d suddenly taken with me.  As cold and remote as he’d been earlier, he now showed too much interest in me.
    “I’m sorry,” he said.  “But I neglected to introduce myself properly.  My name is John.”
    “Yeah,” I snapped.  “So you said.”
    “John Collins.”
    My breath choked me and darkness closed in, leaving me with barely a narrow tunnel of vision.  I didn’t want to hear more.  I didn’t want to know.  My mind flew back across the Atlantic, across the United States and I was back in San Francisco, back in my parents’ house.  I didn’t even want to hear the connection I could have with this man. Could this man who was going to slay two of the friends, my loves even, be related to me?
    “Yes, Lux, we share the same family name, and I know that’s shocking to you.  I hadn’t really expected that we would meet like this, under these unfortunate circumstances.  It’s funny how you look forward to an event in your life, yet when it comes it leaves you breathless; maybe a little unsure.”
    I frowned.  Was he the one left breathless by our encounter, or should I be?
    “To you, this encounter is the first, but I’ve known you for ages, Lux.  I’ve known you all your life, if only from a distance.  And though it’s been quite a while, I would have recognized you anywhere.  There’s an aura, a spirit that surrounds you that’s unmistakable.”
    “Could we get past this lopsided reunion and just get to the gist of it?  Who are you and how do you know me?”
    “Lux, I’m your father.”
    I laughed; laughed so hard it startled every man in the room.  My laughter, an odd sound that bordered on hysteria, echoed throughout the room and through the maze of corridors.  “Right,” I finally muttered breathlessly.  “My father.”
    My gaze, maniacal as it felt, circled the men around me.  “And who are you?” I asked Gordon.  “My long lost brother.”  I nodded at Markus.  “Some estranged uncle?”
    “Lux,” John said in a tone meant to soothe.  “I know this is a bit difficult to take in, but…”
    “Difficult to take in?” I said.  I wanted to hurl something at him; something heavy, something blunt.  “I think you’ve been watching too many movies, Mr. John Collins… too many George Lucas movies.  How ‘bout we get back