Chapter 106 Levi's POV

Chapter 106 Levi's POV
I stood there as his arms wrapped tight around me in a suffocating hug.
The man kept holding onto my shoulders like he was afraid I would disappear if he let go. Everything about him felt wrong. Nothing about him gives the vibe of a serial murderer. This was a man with tired eyes and a smile that looked painfully genuine. And that kinda made me even more uncomfortable.
“You’ve grown so much,” he said quietly.
He pulled away and his gaze moved across my face like he was memorizing every feature—my eyes, my nose, my hair—like he was trying to make up for years he’d never gotten. For a few seconds I felt sorry for him, but then I remembered the photographs of the dead people.
My sympathy immediately evaporated.
" Don't act like you care after killing all those people.” I said, stepping away from him.
His smile faded. The change was subtle. But
“I knew we’d get to that eventually.”
The answer irritated me. “ You're not even trying to deny it.”
“i don't plan to.”
My chest tightened. The fact that he wasn’t even pretending made it worse.
We stood near the edge of the parking lot while people moved in the distance, completely unaware of the insanity happening around them.
“You really did it.” my heart beat threatened to spike up but the thought that Lucifiel was watching somewhere was nerve calming.
His expression became thoughtful. “I did what I had to do.”
“People died and it's what you had to do?.”
His eyes shifted away briefly.“Unfortunately.”
Unfortunately. Like he was discussing bad weather.
You've got to be kidding me.
"Wow.” I muttered.
Something dark flickered across his face, but it was gone instantly. But I saw it. And suddenly I understood where the monster from the footage had gone. He was still here. Just hidden beneath layers of charm.
“I am sorry,” he said. Then his gaze settled on me again. “But not for the reason you think.” He took a slow breath. “I never wanted any of this.”
“Then why do it?”
His smile returned, “The only way to find my son was to make enough noise that everyone started paying attention.”
I blinked. “What?”
“I spent years searching for you.” My stomach twisted. Years? “Nobody would listen.” He laughed softly. “Do you know how difficult it is to find someone when the entire world thinks you’re dead?”
I didn’t answer. Because I didn’t know. And honestly, I wasn’t sure I wanted to.
His eyes softened. “I looked everywhere.”
The conviction in his voice felt real. A dangerous part of me wanted to believe him. I wanted to believe there was some reasonable explanation for everything and that my father wasn’t a murderer. Unfortunately, reality existed.
“You could’ve just looked for us.”
His smile became strained. “It wasn’t that simple.”
“Why not?”
He hesitated, “That’s a long story.”
“I have time.”
A laugh escaped him. “No. You don’t.”
Something about the way he said it made me uneasy.
I glanced around the parking lot. Still nothing. No attack or ambush signs, and no sign of danger.
His gaze followed mine. “Looking for your vampire?” My eyes snapped back to him. He smiled knowingly. “I know about Lucifiel.”
Of course he did. Everybody apparently knew about Lucifiel. The man was less of a secret and more of a natural disaster.
“What about him?”
His smile widened. “word around is that you're his human lover.”
The statement caught me off guard. “What?”
“And from what I've seen it might be true.”
Heat immediately crept into my face. I was getting embarrassed by my possibly murderous father. And what does he mean by what he has seen?
He laughed. “Im glad you have someone who cares about you.”
“i don't know what to say to that. You can just show up all of a sudden and start being a dad.”
"I'm sorry I wasn't there when you needed me. And I'm sorry for not finding you sooner.
I ignored his apologies and changed the subject instead. “What’s your name?”
“Levi,” he said, still smiling.
I blinked. “No, not my name, your name.”
His amusement grew. “You think I’m joking.”
“I know you’re joking.”
“I’m not.”
I stared at him for a few seconds then finally realization hit me. My eyes widened. “Oh my God.”
His smile widened. “My name is Levi Cross.”
The Universe definitely has a dull sense of humour. “You’re serious.”
“Very.”
I rubbed my face. “This is ridiculous.Why would you name your son after yourself?”
“I didn’t.”
That answer made me pause. “What?”
A strange sadness entered his eyes. “I never got the chance.”
I had a lot of questions I wanted to ask all at once but I tried my best to go one at a time. “What are you?”
The question slipped out before I could stop it.
His expression became unreadable. “Anither question I've been expecting."
I crossed my arms. “You don’t exactly seem human so it's only fair I ask.”
His laugh sounded genuinely amused. “No.”His eyes drifted all around the parking lot toward nothing and everything. Then he spoke. “I’m someone who got lucky.”
That wasn’t an answer. I narrowed my eyes. “What does that mean?”
“It means I became immortal instead of dying the way someone wanted me to.”
A chill crawled down my spine. The casual way he said it made it worse—like immortality was something that happened every day.
“That’s it?”
“That’s it.”
I opened my mouth to push further. Then my watch vibrated. My heart almost stopped. Rahul was probably checking in.
I glanced down instinctively. A mistake. Because when I looked back up, something had changed. For the first time since meeting him, I felt afraid—not because of what he might do, but because of how easily I’d started believing him.
His smile softened. “You’re a smart kid.”
“So I've been told.”
Suddenly the space began to smell like an awful body spray. My pulse accelerated. The watch vibrated again. Whatever they were doing to capture this man they better do it faster, because he was starting to creep me out.
My so-called father's gaze dropped briefly to my wrist then returned to my face. And suddenly he looked disappointed.
“I was hoping for a little more time.”
Every instinct I possessed started screaming. I took a step backward. He took one forward. Still smiling, looking calm like the kindest man I’d ever met.
“What did you do?”
His expression became almost apologetic. “I really am sorry about this.”
The world suddenly tilted. Just slightly. I frowned. The parking lot blurred.
What?
No.
Something was wrong.
I stumbled. His hand immediately caught my arm—gentle, supportive, like a concerned father helping his son. The irony would’ve been funny if panic wasn’t rapidly replacing every coherent thought.
“What…” My voice sounded strange as the edges of my vision darkened.
No. No. No.
His hand squeezed my shoulder. “I needed you to listen.”
The words felt distant, like hearing someone underwater. “You…”
Understanding hit. The smell worsened.
My father smiled sadly. “I tried doing this the easy way.”
I tried pulling away. My body didn’t cooperate. The ground seemed determined to move beneath me. His arm wrapped around me before I could fall.
“I’m sorry, Levi.”
The last thing I saw was his face then distant sound of a crash or something, before the darkness took over