He bit his lower lip, closed his eyes, and bowed his head. I didn’t need him to say the words. I already knew.
“Fuck. Francis, fuck! What the fuck?”
“I’m sorry you had to… see me like this.”
“See you?”
“See the real me. I never meant for this to happen. We don’t get to choose the family we’re born into. You know that. You should know better than anyone.”
“What do you mean?”
He was taken aback for a second. “All these rumors about the prophecy, and you don’t know? Lorna’s little trick at the Yule Ball? And you haven’t put two and two together?”
I shook my head and took a couple of steps back. I was getting ready to sprint up the slope and never look back.
“What Lorna showed everyone… it’s not real. I know who my parents are. She was just trying to… I don’t know. Make me look bad. Convince everyone my mom was a tramp. As if they’re not all calling me bitch, and slut, and whore already.”
“Why do you think Headmaster Colin stopped her?”
“To protect me?”
“No. Because the woman was holding her baby and showing it to someone. And that someone was about to be revealed. He didn’t want you to see his face. He didn’t want more people to know. There are already enough parents and students involved, and if Headmaster Colin isn’t careful, word will eventually get out and all will be ruined.”
“You’re saying words again, and I just don’t…” I sighed. “Speak clearly, okay? Enough with the mystery!”
“Valentine Morningstar is your father, Mila. And the prophecy says a human Reaper will finally retire him. Who else, if not you?”
The ground was slipping from underneath my feet. The world was spinning. I started running up the abrupt slope as fast as I could. I didn’t look back. I heard Francis calling after me, but I ignored him. He’d said enough. He’d done enough.
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
I burst into Headmaster Colin’s office, paying no mind to his secretary, who jumped out of her chair and ran after me. She caught me when I was already through the door. I must have looked like hell, because when he saw me, he motioned for the woman to leave us alone and close the door.
“Ms. Lazarov, how may I help you?”
“Practice starts in May.”
“So it does. Right after the finals. One more month, and you’ll be assigned to one of the twenty-two Grim Reapers. I thought you were looking forward to it, just like everybody else?”
“You’re going to assign me to Valentine Morningstar.” It wasn’t a question, it was a fact, and when I saw him go livid and clench his jaw, I knew I’d hit the nail on the head. Francis had told the truth. Hell! Lorna had told the truth! “It doesn’t matter how I do at the finals, it doesn’t matter how many worth points I have. You will assign me to Valentine Morningstar because you believe in the prophecy. Because I’m his daughter. His human daughter.”
He closed his eyes for a moment. When he opened them, I could tell he’d accepted that his initial plan hadn’t worked, and now he was ready to adopt a new one. I could only hope this one would also come with some much-needed honesty.
“That is right, Ms. Lazarov.”
I waited for him to say more, but he didn’t. He placed his hands behind his back and looked at me curiously, studying my every move and reaction. What was he doing? An impromptu assessment of my character? Which made sense, really, since he was teaching Psychology and we had one class a week with him.
“You can’t do this. You won’t,” I finally said. “I will take my finals, I will keep working for worth points all through the semester, but you can’t force me to go to practice. Not yet. I can’t…” I swallowed heavily. I almost couldn’t believe the words I was going to say. “I can’t meet my father. I’m not ready.” I took a step toward Headmaster Colin, as if I was ready to jump at his throat and tear him to pieces if he refused to grant me my wish. “You kept me in the dark! You knew who my real parents are! You know more about me than I know myself, and it just isn’t fair. I have this right. I have the right to say no, I will not play this sick game of yours anymore, and I will not go to practice.” I was panting. After all that had happened in the past hour, I was feeling lightheaded, too. “I will do it when I’m ready,” I added. “I will meet Valentine Morningstar when I’m ready.”
To my surprise, he nodded.
“Good,” I said. I straightened my back and made to leave the room.
“On one condition,” he stopped me.
I turned to give him the deadliest look I could muster.
“I understand your distress, Ms… Morningstar.”