Her cry reverberates through the walls, making a chill crawl up my spine.
“Jesus,” Mave mutters from next to me.
“Jayce,” Dorran calls, then throws the cigarette on the floor and looks at me. “And you – come here.”
I walk over to him, just as he straightens in his chair. When I’ve reached him, he gestures at his thighs. “Sit.”
I do, and wrap an arm around his neck. He places one of his arms over my thighs, and rests the other one on my lower back.
“Remove the ties from around her wrists,” he says to Jayce. “Let’s give her a final fighting chance, even though she isn’t merited to one.”
“You aresick,” Mom grits out, directing her words at Dorran as Jayce unties her.
“What I am, isdangerous,” he tells her. “And the man who’s about to put a full-stop to the never-ending chapter of your life.” He nods at Jayce, who moves behind Mom, pulls his curb chain out of his jacket, and wraps it around her neck.
I hold my breath as I watch him, and my nails dig into my skin as my anticipation grows.
Mom’s frail body jerks at the initial contact of Jayce’s weapon, but when she realizes what’s happening, she starts clawing at the chain. When that doesn’t seem to work, she tries to break Jayce’s grip by banging her fists against his hands. He in turn pulls at the chain, tightening it, and with a very subtle twist of his wrist, he ends up breaking Mom’s neck.
Her body goes limp, and her hands fall on her lap. Her mouth opens in a silent scream, and her eyes roll upwards.
She’s gone.
I let go of the breath I was holding, and let the rapid beating of my heart soothe me as I stare at my mom’s dead body. Gone – she’s fuckinggone.
“Cigs.”
I force myself to look away from the sight before me, and face Dorran.
He assesses me slowly, as if he wants to make sure I’m still with him.
“I’m fine,” I say, then swallow. “I promise.”
“You just lost the only parent you had, Cigs. And even though she was a monster, Miranda was still your mother.”
“True, but would you blame me if I told you that all I feel right now, is relief?”
He smiles. “Of course not. I’d never blame you for feeling liberated.”
My eyes turn misty at his choice of word. Wanting him closer, I slide my fingers into his hair and touch my forehead to his. “Thank you.”
He tilts his head and presses a kiss on my lips. “I’ll do it all over again, and then some, if it’ll result in you not having to get hurt again.”
I’m speechless, helpless against his devotion. And so, instead of answering him – because I don’t think I can – I kiss him, relaying my gratitude the only way I’m able to right now.
My mom is dead, and that’s going to change things. It may not seem like it right now, but I’m pretty sure the impact of her death will hit hard. And when it does, it’ll put me, and the people I’ve come to love, in serious danger.
57.
Riley’s hands, his breath – she can feel them on her body.
His words, his threats of dirtying her – they consume her mind, paralyzing her.
He’s naked, hovering over her, but she can’t move. She’s frozen; drowned in shock.
There’s laughter, and then there are screams. None are her own, she realizes.
Riley is closer – too close. He’s smiling down at her, and it’s making her insides burn. He bends to kiss her, but she shakes her head.
