“I had everything under control.” She bites her lip nervously when Ava suddenly goes limp. Her body has finally given out on her, but she’ll be fine. Well, except for the killer headache she’ll have when she wakes back up.
“Fuck no you didn’t.”
“Yes, I did.”
“Get the hell out of here, Kenzi,” I growl. “We’ll talk about this later when she wakes up and is feeling less homicidal.”
“Good luck with that ever happening,” she mutters as she limps toward the exit. Kenzi pauses, looking back at her sister passed out in my arms. “This place has memories,” she whispersto me. “Painful ones. You might try and dig a little into the past while you can. Might find something useful.”
Then she is gone.
For fuck’s sake.
Another cryptic warning is all I need.
Gently, I lay Ava out on a small bed of semi-clean hay. Not that it matters much since she is covered in it herself, but I can’t bring myself to just lay her out anywhere.
Then I do exactly as Kenzi tells me and I start to dig.
eighteen
A solitary scream pierces the stagnant air.
I huddle closer to my wolf, hugging the stuffed animal in my arms with all my might. The door to my hiding place is locked from the outside. I can’t get out. Tears stream down my cheeks, the sound of crashing furniture coming from downstairs.
“Stupid bitch,” a woman screams. She is closer now. The sound of her voice comes from my left where the stairs are. “You had everything I wanted. Everything. Why couldn’t you just lose for once in your fucking life?”
“Stop,” my mother’s voice is shaky and terrified, but I can hear the sheer determination behind the terror. She doesn’t want to die. She can’t. My mother wouldn’t leave me all alone. “What have I ever done to you? We were friends. Best friends.”
The other voice scoffs. It is dark, filled with a burning hatred. There is a soft lilt of an accent to her words. Like momma’s. “Please. I was never your friend. The only thing I wanted was what was promised to me.”
“And what was that, Mar?” Mother asks tearfully.
“Liam and your empire.”
It is momma’s turn to scoff. “Liam would never have you,” she sneers. “And no one but blood can inherit my empire.”
Mar laughs. It is dreadful and full of corruption. “Everything’s about to change, Kat,” the woman is still chuckling. “The McDonough empire is done for. No more of this ethics and value bullshit your father tried to implement.”
“You honestly support people trafficking women and children?” My mother is disgusted with the thought.
“Why not?” the woman asks. “I was.”
There is a pause.
“Didn’t know that, did you, little Kat?” Mar mocks. “There are plans in place that run far deeper than you will ever know. Soon, the world will belong to the corrupt and those who stand in our way will perish.”
“You should really see to that God complex you’ve got going,” my mother snarls. The woman just laughs again.
“I am a God,” the woman whispers. “They called me Hera.”
“They should have called you delusional.”
That’s when my mother screams again.
My head hurts like a fucking bitch.
Have I been mauled by a truck?