exposed I was physically.
There was a large bonfire a hundred yards in front of me, and I followed the light. When I got nearer, I expected to feel warmth, but I was only dazzled by its brightness in contrast to the moon.
A woman stood on the opposite side of the pyre, so I skirted the protruding edges until I stood beside her. With the orange flame lighting her face, she looked younger than I remembered her being last. The glow softened the anger in her features some, but the hate-deadened expression in her eyes showed clearly.
“Mercy,” I acknowledged her.
“You never could call me mom, could you?”
“That would require you to act like a mother first.”
Mercy McQueen turned to face me, and at this angle her age showed in sharp relief to the flames, wrinkles I’d never noticed before looked deep. “What is it some mothers say? I brought you into this world, I can take you out of it?”
Alone with her, carrying no weapon except a half-decade of training, I thought maybe I should be frightened. I wasn’t. Mostly I felt a pit of loss in my chest where a mother’s love was supposed to go.
“I have no fight with you,” I said.
“If only it was that simple.”
“It could be.” I stared at her for long enough she looked back into the fire. “You could leave me alone.”
“You’ve taken everything from me.”
“I did what had to be done.”
“And so will I. I will have you dead.”
“I’d like to see you try.” My jaw was so rigid it was hard to speak.
“You will,” she promised. “You will.”
I sat with Lucas and Dominick at the dining room table in our suite and recounted my dream to them. Dominick did his best to hide his disbelief over the validity of clues found in dreams. Lucas, on the other hand, knew firsthand how unusual my resting mind was.
“We never considered the Mercy angle,” he admitted. “I assumed if there was a trap, it would be related to Callum’s attempts on my territory.”
Dominick tore a chunk off a cheese Danish and popped it into his mouth, chewing thoughtfully. In the meantime, his blue eyes spoke volumes. When he voiced his opinion, he treaded lightly. “Not that I’m doubting you, Secret, but we can’t exactly go to our meeting with Callum and accuse him of luring us here so your mother can kill you. I mean, she almost did it in New York. Why would she need you here?”
“Pack support,” I suggested. “She had none at the end, after I removed Marcus’s pack. Here she’s royalty.”
“So are you,” Lucas pointed out.
I snorted. Very princessy of me.
I began to work up another argument as to why I thought the dream should be considered with more seriousness, but my ringing phone interrupted us. Lucas tried to hide his smirk over my ringtone.
“Hello?” I got up from the table and moved into the master bedroom for some privacy.
“Took a little vacation, did you?” Sig’s tone could have been mistaken for cheerful. I wasn’t fooled.
A shiver ran down my spine and I tried to gather my thoughts before speaking again. “Pack business.”
“Imagine my surprise,” he went on like I hadn’t spoken at all, “when I received a phone call last night…a phone call …from a frantic Oracle convinced you were in immediate peril. In Louisiana .”
Oh my God. Calliope had called him? Not only did the half god, half fairy never use the phone, she also hated Sig more than anyone I’d ever known. Broken hearts will do crazy things to people.
“Sig, I’m sorry. I had no choice.”
“Choice is a lie we tell ourselves when we do things we feel people won’t like.”
I said nothing.
“You won’t come back if I tell you to, we both know that.” He sighed.
“Not until I’m done here.”
“I expected as much. So I sent you something. It took a lot of time, money and favors to get it to you, though I somehow doubt you’ll appreciate the effort.”
Why didn’t I like the sound of that?
A knock at the door sent a shard of fear
There was a large bonfire a hundred yards in front of me, and I followed the light. When I got nearer, I expected to feel warmth, but I was only dazzled by its brightness in contrast to the moon.
A woman stood on the opposite side of the pyre, so I skirted the protruding edges until I stood beside her. With the orange flame lighting her face, she looked younger than I remembered her being last. The glow softened the anger in her features some, but the hate-deadened expression in her eyes showed clearly.
“Mercy,” I acknowledged her.
“You never could call me mom, could you?”
“That would require you to act like a mother first.”
Mercy McQueen turned to face me, and at this angle her age showed in sharp relief to the flames, wrinkles I’d never noticed before looked deep. “What is it some mothers say? I brought you into this world, I can take you out of it?”
Alone with her, carrying no weapon except a half-decade of training, I thought maybe I should be frightened. I wasn’t. Mostly I felt a pit of loss in my chest where a mother’s love was supposed to go.
“I have no fight with you,” I said.
“If only it was that simple.”
“It could be.” I stared at her for long enough she looked back into the fire. “You could leave me alone.”
“You’ve taken everything from me.”
“I did what had to be done.”
“And so will I. I will have you dead.”
“I’d like to see you try.” My jaw was so rigid it was hard to speak.
“You will,” she promised. “You will.”
I sat with Lucas and Dominick at the dining room table in our suite and recounted my dream to them. Dominick did his best to hide his disbelief over the validity of clues found in dreams. Lucas, on the other hand, knew firsthand how unusual my resting mind was.
“We never considered the Mercy angle,” he admitted. “I assumed if there was a trap, it would be related to Callum’s attempts on my territory.”
Dominick tore a chunk off a cheese Danish and popped it into his mouth, chewing thoughtfully. In the meantime, his blue eyes spoke volumes. When he voiced his opinion, he treaded lightly. “Not that I’m doubting you, Secret, but we can’t exactly go to our meeting with Callum and accuse him of luring us here so your mother can kill you. I mean, she almost did it in New York. Why would she need you here?”
“Pack support,” I suggested. “She had none at the end, after I removed Marcus’s pack. Here she’s royalty.”
“So are you,” Lucas pointed out.
I snorted. Very princessy of me.
I began to work up another argument as to why I thought the dream should be considered with more seriousness, but my ringing phone interrupted us. Lucas tried to hide his smirk over my ringtone.
“Hello?” I got up from the table and moved into the master bedroom for some privacy.
“Took a little vacation, did you?” Sig’s tone could have been mistaken for cheerful. I wasn’t fooled.
A shiver ran down my spine and I tried to gather my thoughts before speaking again. “Pack business.”
“Imagine my surprise,” he went on like I hadn’t spoken at all, “when I received a phone call last night…a phone call …from a frantic Oracle convinced you were in immediate peril. In Louisiana .”
Oh my God. Calliope had called him? Not only did the half god, half fairy never use the phone, she also hated Sig more than anyone I’d ever known. Broken hearts will do crazy things to people.
“Sig, I’m sorry. I had no choice.”
“Choice is a lie we tell ourselves when we do things we feel people won’t like.”
I said nothing.
“You won’t come back if I tell you to, we both know that.” He sighed.
“Not until I’m done here.”
“I expected as much. So I sent you something. It took a lot of time, money and favors to get it to you, though I somehow doubt you’ll appreciate the effort.”
Why didn’t I like the sound of that?
A knock at the door sent a shard of fear
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