Chapter 39

• "That bastard warned us never to go near you or Ryker. He would kill us, said he. We could not see you up close. It killed us. We wished so much to be in your life. And Nicole, she wanted to take you, too, so much. You must understand that. Everett wouldn't let her. He was an evil man," Samuel explained, his voice low and full of years of pain and regret. He looked hunted, and the burden of all that he had carried within himself so long was written in the drooping of his shoulders and the luster of his unwept tears.
• "Please, come into the kitchen. I'll make us some tea, and we can talk. I think there's a lot that we need to talk about," Lilith says gently, her voice soft but firm, trying to offer a sense of comfort amidst the sudden storm of emotions swirling around us.
• "I would like that," I say, my voice a little shaky but grateful. It was such a world of the unknown to me, and I could hardly believe that here at last I was going to get some of the answers I had been so anxious to know.