Finally, he wandered into Demetri’s study. He sat in the older man’s chair and gazed at the phone. Demetri had left Abaddon’s phone number scrawled on a piece of paper on his desk. His only wish was that Justin not go anywhere and to alert Wulf when he made the phone call so Wulf could watch over Justin in case Abaddon tried to dazzle him.
“Hey, Wulf!” Justin called out as he worried his lower lip. Was he really going to make the call? The bodyguard stuck his head into the study. “I’m calling him.”
Wulf stood in the doorway as he nodded. “Do you wish me to stay in the room with you?”
“Wow,” Justin teased with a smile. “You’re using all your words for the year. Better slow down, or you’ll end up a mute until next year rolls around.”
“Brat,” Wulf said, but there was affection in his tone and mirth in his eyes.
Justin really liked Wulf. The guy reminded Justin of a big teddy bear…with sharp claws and teeth.
Justin’s eyes slid to the phone once more, and he wondered if he was really going to do this. If he didn’t, he never get the answers he was after, and he’d put it off long enough. “No, I think I’ll be okay by myself. But stay outside the door just in case. Please.”
Wulf nodded and stepped out of the room. The bodyguard hadn’t closed the door, but Justin couldn’t see him, which meant the guy was trying his best to give Justin some privacy while still watching over him. His thoughts turned to Abaddon.
Would his father want to talk to him? Would he be a prick? Justin stared at the phone as if it could give him answers. He stared harder at the phone, willing it to tell him what he wanted to know. “This is ridiculous.” Justin sighed as he rubbed his forehead. “It’s just a lousy phone call. If the guy is a jerk, then I’ll hang up.”
His stomach flipped around nervously when Justin picked up the receiver and then dialed. His palms became sweaty, and his breathing quickened. He was about to pass out as he waited for someone to pick up the other line. His pulse pounded so fast that the rushing sound in his ears was almost deafening.
“Lord Abaddon Vane’s office,” a pleasant-sounding woman answered the phone. “How may I help you?”
It was as though he’d called a doctor’s office or something. The woman sounded so professional and…normal. Justin scratched as his head and glanced around the room. He could feel panic setting in. He couldn’t do this. His throat had dried up, and he couldn’t seem to talk.
“Hello?” the woman said.
Losing his nerve, Justin hung up. His hand shook as it rested on the receiver. Why had he hung up? Because I really don’t want to know if my father is as cruel as he seemed at the asylum. Justin let go of an unsteady breath. The phone rang, and he nearly jumped out of his seat. He gazed at the caller ID and saw that it was Abaddon’s phone number.
Justin rubbed his hands over his face and wondered if he should answer. Finally, on the third ring, he picked up.
“Is there a reason you hung up on my secretary, Demetri?” The voice was smooth and cultured with a slight accent. Justin swallowed roughly, his hands so wet he almost dropped the phone.
“It–it’s not Demetri.”
The silence was deafening. Justin had to glance at the base to make sure Abaddon hadn’t hung up. “Hello?”
“I am here, young one,” Abaddon answered in a softer tone. “How long I have waited to talk to you.”
Justin’s breathing became so labored that he was panting. He was lightheaded, too. “You have?”
“I—” Abaddon cleared his throat. It seemed Justin wasn’t the only nervous one. “I have…son.”
Justin closed his eyes at that single word. Growing up, he had longed for someone to call him that. He had longed to belong to someone and not be adrift in the world. Being a part of the Frost family had helped to fill a void, but Justin had always craved his true family, a father of his own. “I didn’t know who you were until a few days ago,” Justin admitted.
“And our first time meeting didn’t go as I’d envisioned it would when I finally met you.” There was regret in the man’s voice. “I truly am sorry about the werewolves. My intention was never to scare you.”
“Are you evil?” Justin blurted out and then cringed. “I didn’t mean…I was just trying to…”
There was soft laughter on the other end of the phone. “I see those dogs have filled your head, young one.”
Justin’s anger brewed inside of him. “You can’t call them dogs. I’m in love with Demetri and best friends with his son.”
Again Abaddon grew silent.
Justin cleared his throat. “Besides, you’re the one who compelled me to drain Caleb dry. You were the one who pushed your thirst on me, and now I can’t even go into the sun. So don’t bad-mouth the family that raised me since I was ten years old.”
“You’ve been with the Frost household since you were ten?” Abaddon’s voice sounded enflamed.
Justin curled his legs under him and inhaled deep drafts of Demetri’s scent that clung to the chair. It helped center him and soothed his nerves. “Yeah, but no one knew who I was. I mean, what I was until a few weeks ago.”