The Salvation of Daniel (The Blue Butterfly Book 2) (7 page)

“ARE YOU AN angel?”

Annie’s question floored me. Her wide eyes were on my face, waiting for my answer, but all I could do was blink at her. Daniel snorted from where he was still huddled in the chair as Annie and I sat on the bed watching cartoons. I flicked him a glance, my narrow eyes giving warning. I wasn’t sure I could do what was needed. I was already at my tolerance limit with the arrogant fuck, and my plans now seemed more daunting than they had.

“No, Annie. I’m not an angel, sweetie. But you most definitely are.”

Her brow pinched, confusion shadowing her pretty features. “But…” She huffed and twisted her lips in thought. “My daddy says you’re dead. He told me that.” She turned to look at Daniel angrily. The pain in his eyes caused a lump to shift from my chest up my throat.

“Annie.” She turned back to me when I said her name. I sighed and took her hand in mine, my thumb stroking across her little hand to soothe her pain. “Your mummy was my sister. My twin sister.” I smiled at her, encouraging my words to make sense to her. Sometimes it was hard to remember that she was only four, her attitude and aptitude way beyond her short years.

“You should have just been honest with her from the start.”

My eyes shot to Daniel. Anger surged through me and the struggle to hold back and unleash many of his untruths was proving difficult in front of my niece.

“Honesty is not always the truth, Daniel. I’m sure you’re aware of that. Remember how you told Annie that you and her mummy built sandcastles on the beach when you met?”

His eyes widened, his throat bobbing rapidly as he shifted his gaze between me and Annie. “How…?”

“Well, Annie Belly, your daddy didn’t tell you the truth…” He shot upright off the chair. “They made little caves because your Daddy is rubbish at castles.”

He stood stock still as Annie giggled, his hands fisted by his side as he glared at me. His jaw was rigid, his lip flanked by his teeth as he angrily gnawed on the flesh. I recognised the need for death and destruction in his eyes, the mirror to my soul.

I tipped my head slightly. “We must always tell every – single – detail, Daniel!”

I would never tell Annie the story of how she was created but damn him and his double standards. I had hidden my truthful identity from Annie for numerous reasons, firstly because I didn’t want her disclosing who I was to Daniel and Frank, but also if I was honest with myself, I wanted her to love me, and stupid as I had been, it was the only thing I could think of at that time.

Annie turned to Daniel, her hands on her hips and her head tilted. “Don’t worry, Daddy. Connie…” She smiled widely at me before turning back to her father. “Me and Connie will teach you how to make sandcastles. They’re super, super easy but we need a special bucket to help you.”

Daniel grinned at her, his face lighting up. I had to admit he really was quite stunning, the depth of his chocolate eyes not only hiding many secrets but holding masses of love for his daughter. Life wasn’t biased; it didn’t grant you what you deserved. I knew Daniel didn’t deserve Annie, or Mae’s love come to that, but we were given what we were given and who was I to oppose that? At the end of the day, I deserved a much bigger punishment than Daniel ever did. But I accepted that, often choosing to discipline myself rather than waiting for it to find me.

“I’m hungry,” Annie said, bringing me out of my musing.

“Of course you are, you slept in rather late this morning.”

She nodded but then her little face creased up. “Connie.” Nodding to her, encouraging her to ask what she needed to, I noticed Daniel’s eyes close with the pitch of anguish in Annie’s voice. “Will they… will they come back?”

I knew she referred to the Phantoms and although I didn’t want to lie to her, it was a necessity to ease her worry. “Well… for one.” I took both her hands in my own and squeezed them tight. “I’m a superhero, and I promise to protect you.”

Her eyes widened as a huge excited grin erupted over her pretty face. “You are?”

I nodded firmly. “I am. I have powers that will keep the baddies away. Like the Toad King, I will stop anyone from hurting you. You have to be a big, brave girl for me though. You need to listen to your daddy and me and promise me that whatever, you will be good and listen to us.”

She nodded eagerly. “I will. I promise.” She took a lock of my hair and twisted it around her finger, sealing her pledge. Wrapping her in my arms, I pulled her little body to mine, feeding from her love for me and strengthening my resolve to do what was needed.

“There’s one thing I need you to be brave for.” Her eyes narrowed, along with Daniel’s. “I need you to go stay with your Auntie while your Daddy and I sort some things out.”

“What the…?” Daniel spat out. “No way!” I turned to him, my eyes narrow and accusing.

“Who?” Annie asked, her confused little face staring at me.

I turned to her, giving her a reassuring smile. “Your Auntie Helen. Your daddy’s sister.”

I BIT MY lip, forcing back the acid that bubbled in my gut and trying to force itself free up my throat. How dare she do this? This wasn’t her choice. Although a part of me agreed with her, Helen was the safest option for Annie. Nobody knew of her, and the fact that Connie did was quite surprising.

“Did you pack Herbert?” Annie gasped as she leaned forward in her seat, her little face appearing in the gap between mine and Connie’s seat.

“I did.” Connie expressed quickly to appease her. “He’s tucked in securely, sleeping off the adventure as we speak.” Annie nodded and relaxed again, the worry on her face making my heart pang. “Annie.” Connie spoke softly again. Annie looked into the mirror to her. “I promise you that you will love Auntie Helen. She’s fun and very, very good at making scrummy cakes.”

My head snapped in her direction, my glare furious and full of hatred. “You’ve already met her?”

She sighed and snorted at the venom in my voice. “Of course I have. You don’t think I would take Annie to her if I hadn’t vetted her, do you?”

“I don’t know anything about you. I can’t believe we’re even doing this.” My stomach churned the closer we got to Helen’s. I hadn’t seen my sister in over fifteen years. I had no idea who she was anymore. “Are you sure she’s capable of looking after Annie?”

“Yes,” Connie said slowly as though already bored with me.

“Don’t patronise me. You have no idea about my life.” I wanted to take her throat beneath my palm and squeeze the fucking life out of her. “You storm in and blow things all over, yet you still expect me to follow your every word. I’m afraid you don’t know me, Connie. You have no idea what I am capable of.” I kept my voice quiet, hiding my ire from Annie.

Connie reached into a bag of nuts between her thighs, shifting gears with her other hand as she popped them lazily into her mouth. My patience was running thin. I couldn’t wait to drop Annie off and finally show this bitch who was the one in charge here.

She finally nodded but turned her head to the side to watch a man standing on the edge of the road, his eyes watching us pass as his girlfriend bent over the grass, vomiting furiously. “We’ll discuss this later.” There was no tone that gave me a reading of her mood, but I noticed her finger tap the steering wheel rapidly, the tap, tap, tap annoying.

Silence descended for a while, Annie asleep in the back as Connie and I tried to deal with the close proximity of one another.

“So.” I sighed, needing information and hating the quiet. “How long have you been a Phantom?” I didn’t expect her to reply so when she did my eyes widened in shock at her answer.

“Ten years.” It was said bluntly. I wondered if she had any emotions, any feelings inside that cold, frigid body of hers.

“But that…” I quickly did the math in my head and stared at her. “That would mean you became a Phantom at thirteen.”

“Uh-huh,” she confirmed without looking at me.

Jesus Christ. My heart squeezed at the thought of a child training to become an assassin at thirteen. “Why?”

She clicked her tongue and shifted slightly in her seat, flicking a glance at Annie through the mirror. “The why doesn’t concern you, nor does my past, only the now.”

We remained quiet for the rest of the journey until we pulled up outside a two-storey house. It was modern and large, surprising me.

“You’d better stay here. How do I put this?” Connie said as she smirked at me and lifted an eyebrow. “Your sister doesn’t like you very much.”

“Yes, I’m well aware of that.”

“Might be something to do with you killing your mother, eh?”

I snatched out, seizing her neck in my hold. She continued to smirk at me, regarding me with boredom as I pulled her towards me. The bitch showed no fear whatsoever, and that made her dangerous, but I pushed that thought aside, concentrating on the now like she had told me. “You know nothing about me, so keep your judgements to yourself.”

She chuckled, causing me to tighten my grip. She lifted her hand, curling her fingers around my wrist. A pain so potent fired up my arm, stabbing my chest when she pushed against a certain point on the inside of my wrist. My grip loosened instantly, shocking me when she winked and moved out of my hold.

“You never learn, do you?” She tutted and shook her head in disappointment.

She said nothing more, ignoring me and heightening my anger further. Opening the rear door she took Annie in her arms and lifted her from the car.

I climbed out, needing to kiss my angel and inhale her sweet scent once more before… before whatever came to be.

Her eyes flickered open when I ran the tip of my nose down hers. “Sleep, baby. I love you to the moon.”

She snuggled into Connie and gave me a faint tired smile. “Love you to the sun, Daddy.”

Connie caught my eyes, anguish held in them for the first time. I swallowed back the pain threatening to tear me in two then gave her a small nod. She smiled at me, she actually smiled, causing me to stare at her. Although Mae and Connie were twins, for the first time there was something unique in Connie. She had her own soft smile, one that lifted the whole of her face, lit her eyes and took away the sadness that was forever hostage in them. I blinked, refusing the feeling that came over me, and turned, sliding back into the passenger seat of the car.

I watched them walk up the path to the house, Connie holding my daughter and pulling her little case behind her. Connie had insisted that she entered my house alone to fetch Annie’s things. It had been the perfect opportunity for me to take Annie and disappear but I knew deep down that I needed Connie to end this. I couldn’t put Annie in danger for the rest of our lives, forever looking over my shoulder was something I refused to do and I wouldn’t do that to Annie. She deserved to witness the sun every morning with no fears, only happiness and comfort.

The door slid open and I leaned to the side to catch a glimpse of Helen, but from the angle we had parked and the bushes edging the front path, I couldn’t see her. It opened wider, allowing Connie to step inside, and removing my daughter from my care.

Pain overtook every part of me with our separation. Apart from school and the times she was with Frank, I was never away from her. Anguish curled deep inside me, my throat closing in with fear. What if they found her? What if they had followed us?