In His Keeping (Slow Burn #2)(95)

Shock registered in her mother’s eyes, and she quickly dropped her gaze to hide her response. Though Ari could no longer see her father, she could feel him close, could feel the instant coil and snap of tension within him. It went against his every instinct to willingly allow his daughter to go into a dangerous situation while he hung back waiting to be “saved.”

He would be the one hardest to convince and this is where she had to win her mother over so she could rein him in.

She sent her mother a pleading look, begging her to understand. Begging her to trust Ari. To have faith in Ari’s abilities.

Her mother’s hand tightened around Ari’s, squeezing just a little.

“Go on,” her mom said without moving her lips.

“I am very powerful,” Ari said honestly. “These men are no match for me and I need you to trust in that. To know I’ll be safe and to understand that the way I came to you was my choice. I had to know where you were. That you were still alive. Because when the time comes, I’ll be able to provide a protective barrier around you, but you must stay. No matter what you see, what you hear, what you think. You have to stay here while the house is destroyed around you.”

She could hear her father’s sudden expulsion of breath and then the acceleration of his respirations. Again, she glanced pleadingly up at her mother, asking for her help in convincing her dad.

Once more her mother squeezed her hand, this time with no hesitation. And what Ari saw reflected in her mom’s eyes staggered her. Love—of course. But also trust. And . . . pride. It shone like a beacon in her mother’s eyes. It lit her face, etched into every facet of her expression.

Ari blinked back tears, squeezing her mother’s hand and holding on. Simply holding on to that tangible link between mother and daughter. A bond like no other. Irreplaceable. Unwavering. Old as time itself. There truly was nothing like the love of a mother. Unconditional. Solid. Indefinable and limitless. Capable of surviving anything. Able to triumph over the impossible.

And Ari would triumph. She believed in herself, just as her mother believed in her. She wasn’t a freak of nature. Some accident of birth to be studied, examined or controlled. She did have a purpose. She was special.

It had taken her twenty-four years to understand her purpose. To accept it and embrace it. Not to shy away from it, duck it, or suppress or ignore it. Never again. It was an integral part of who and what she was.

And now it would save the people she loved and the people who loved her more than anything in the world.

Blood didn’t make a family.

Love did.

“Dad,” she called softly, not loud enough to be heard but enough that her mother would somehow let him know to get within hearing range.

“Gavin, come here, please,” Ginger said in concern. “Did you see she bled from her ears? Why on earth would something like this happen?”

Ari wanted to smile. And then she felt the warmth seep into her chilled body as both mother and father flanked her once more.

“Dad,” she whispered again.

“I’m here,” he murmured.

“You have to protect Mom.”

It was a manipulative, dirty trick, but she knew by appealing to the protector in her father that while he might be forced to stand down and not take an active role in his daughter’s protection, he certainly wouldn’t do anything that would bring her mother harm.

Her mom’s lips twitched suspiciously as though she knew exactly what Ari was doing. But then her mom had given her useful information over the years on how to handle a male. Particularly his ego.

“You have to make sure she doesn’t move once I leave,” Ari continued, driving her point home to her father. “If she were to move even a little, if a gap formed between the two of you, then she could very well end up outside the barrier and she could be killed.”

Though she was certainly trying to do anything she could to convince her father of the necessity of his remaining behind, she was not lying about his need to protect her mother.

Her mother was fierce when it came to the defense of her only child, and God help them all if she thought Ari was in need or danger, or worse . . . hurt and defenseless.

She felt rather than heard the soft expulsion of his breath in a resigned sigh.

“It was never an issue of me not trusting you,” her father said gruffly, emotion thick in his voice.

And there was something else in his tone. Something that warmed her to the bone, warding off the aching chill that seemed a permanent part of her now.

Pride.

She could hear how proud of her he was just by those few words he spoke. It was often the way he spoke of her mother, talked to others about her mother, though God knew, they didn’t exactly cultivate any social acquaintances.

“No matter what happens, know I love you both. There is no one in the world I’d rather have as my parents—my family.”

She swallowed back further words before she exposed what she knew to be true.

They shared something far more precious than blood. Something she’d never take for granted again.

They shared love. And family. More than anything she wanted Beau to become a part of her family. Her dad would hate him on sight—of course. He wouldn’t be doing his fatherly duty if he didn’t scowl, threaten and try to intimidate the man he’d swear wasn’t good enough for her.

“And there is no one other than you we’d love more as our child,” her mother said fiercely.