Kissed by Death (Their Soul to Keep Book 2) by Harper Frey

Author:Harper Frey [Frey, Harper]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2022-10-20T00:00:00+00:00

Fatherly Advice

Harlow

“They sound like good men, just perhaps a bit… inelegant in the way they’ve dealt with things.”

I chuckled, fully at ease after an hour of chatting with Osiris. He’d listened to my ramblings with patience, thoughtfulness, and not an ounce of judgment. I’d grown so comfortable that I’d alluded to more than I had initially intended. Not going so far as telling him about the Shadow Realm or the supernatural things the guys could do, but I’d told him how they had saved me from being raped, how they’d been ruthless in their defense of me.

To my relief, he didn’t greet my story with judgment or horror, though his eyes had grown dark. He was definitely a dad. He had that whole protective thing going on that only a parent could master so fully.

“Inelegant is one way to describe it,” I agreed. “Dickish could be another.”

Osiris laughed warmly, his head tilting back as the sound carried on the cool breeze. “Fair. Though it sounds like they care deeply for you.”

“I’m not suggesting they don’t,” I agreed. “But caring deeply about someone shouldn’t be a carte blanche excuse to keep things from them.”

He looked thoughtful at that, head tipped to the side as his eyes grew unfocused. “No, I suppose it’s not.”

I yawned, arching my back to stretch. The ground and Hattie’s headstone weren’t exactly soft or forgiving surfaces, and we’d been sitting here for quite some time. “I guess that’s what I’m struggling with. Where do you draw the line with something like that? Does it matter if they have the best of intentions? They’re still keeping secrets, and after everything the last couple of weeks, I’m not having the easiest time handing trust out like party favors.”

My surrogate dad for the night bent a knee, resting his elbow on it. “I believe intentions matter. At least on some level. But it sounds like the lot of you need to sit down and lay as many of your cards out on the table as you can. Maybe they can’t tell you everything, but maybe that’s ok. No one ever tells the entire truth.” He looks thoughtful, eyes taking on a far-off quality that speaks to personal reflection. “Total honesty is far more dangerous than most give it credit for.”

Brow pinched, I studied him. “How so?”

“Even the strongest among us are afraid, Harlow. Afraid that if we let others know the truth of us, they’ll give us their backs and walk away.” He paused, letting the words sink in like rain waters on parched, cracked ground. “And sometimes total honesty is dangerous because it opens up to situations we’re not equipped to handle. It throws us into the deep end of some plot that would easily drag us under.”

I pursed my lips, considering everything the guys had told me, everything I’d been through in the last few weeks. The attacks, the monsters, the body snatcher using Pike as its own personal meat-suit. I could hear the wisdom in Osiris’s words, yet I still balked at being kept in the dark.

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