A Handful of Daffodils (Forgotten Series, #7)

Chapter Forty-Two

I couldn't fucking believe it. They were here. Menza had stood right in front of me, looking no worse for wear. Maeve cried loudly, screeching as she reached for the SUV. She didn't know who I was and that pissed me right off. I was her father, she was my little girl and she was acting like she didn't know who I was. Not to mention Menza basically admitted that she had been helped here, that they practically hid her in the territory.

Everything had been true. Nothing had happened to them, she had run away from me and I wanted to hit something. I was glad her spiteful plan failed, I was glad she had been found. She would be returned and she would be punished appropriately. The tugging inside of me seemed almost frantic, yelling at me but I ignored it.

"Brochan O'Neil." A taller female stepped forward, her expression weary and her shoulders held as if they carried the weight of the world. I didn't care what she felt or what she had to say. She helped Menza escape, she hid her from us.

"Fuck off!" I spat it at her and she shook her head slowly, her hair swaying slightly.

"You don't need to do this. You have so much to lose if you do." Her words were weary and I bared my teeth. I didn't fucking care how she felt or what she had to say.

"I don't ca-"

"You stand on a precipice and you need to be wary of falling. Because once you do, that's it, there it nothing but pain and misery as you drag the world down with you, Brochan O'Neill." Her voice was sad but there was surety to her voice that had the hairs on the back of my neck but I shook it off. "Being wrong is okay, admitting you are wrong is hard but you can't come back from being brutal. It changes things and nothing you can do will ever make up for it." Sad eyes looked at me and I resisted the urge to spit on the ground in front of her. She was nothing but a bitch who helped keep my daughter from me. "Please don't fall because no one will be there to catch you at the bottom and it is a long way down to feel your regrets." The words echoed what Jason had told me nearly yesterday and I had me repressing a shiver.

"I don't care what you have to say." I didn't and I wouldn't listen. She meant nothing to me and her words meant even less. I shook my head as Maeve wiggled in my arms, crying loudly. "You are just as much to blame!" I spat it out before I carried Maeve around the SUV and to the other passenger side door. I yanked it open and looked at Menza. I immediately wanted to look away but she was sitting next to the car seat. "Get in the back!" I snapped it out and she glanced at me, her shoulders pulled forward but didn't move. "Back fucking seat! Now!" She jumped and with shaky hands undid her seat belt. It wasn't long before she crawled into the back of the SUV with several shaking breaths.

I got in, putting Maeve into the car seat. She cried and cried and each cry made me more and more mad. I lifted the cover before glancing at Menza. "Don't you fucking look at her and don't you fucking talk to her and don't fucking touch her." The rage made my voice shook and she gave a tiny nod, gripping her seat belt tightly in her hand as I got out of the back and stalked around the front of the SUV. I couldn't fucking believe that she would admit that she had used Altia to get away from me, to hide Maeve away from me.

She was happy to see you.

The tugging seemed to yell it at me and I shoved it down viciously. I didn't want to fucking hear it. "Brochan, you have a chance to change the course of what is coming." The female's voice was soft as it carried through the cold air. "You have a chance to change fate. Don't do this." She stressed the words and I snarled.

"Don't talk to me!" I came to the driver's side and yanked the door open before getting into the driver side. I slammed the door closed and threw the SUV into reverse. The anger rose up, making me flush as I scowled.