What could possibly be so important so many people are foaming at the mouth to take what I’ve been given?
Mom and Dad always insisted it was for their survival. Some sort of insurance they had to guarantee Nero couldn’t take out Dad. He needed him so long as Dad alone knew the whereabouts. Nero just hadn’t anticipated he’d used his daughter as a means to hide it.
But when I made my choice to protect Caelian and run off with Mom and Ignazio, I was under the impression I was saving everyone. I was helping Mom and Dad escape the clutches of Nero while also ensuring Caelian stayed with the key, giving him leverage and drawing attention away from him.
What if it was never about Mom and Dad’s survival? What if this was always about money? Some get-rich-quick scheme of theirs?
As I lay and listen to the cadence of Caelian’s deep snores, I go searching in the recesses of my mind. I find old memories Ihaven’t thought about in so long, they almost feel like they aren’t mine.
Memories of being taught by Dad to run if loan sharks with greasy hair and cheap leather jackets ever accosted me on the street about his debts. Techniques by Mom how to slide an item here and there into my pocket at the store then walk out without ever being caught.
I think about the times landlords pounded on our doors and we’d flee through the fire escape, clutching our possessions, as they hurled accusations about back rent at us.
An onslaught of these types of early childhood memories crashes over me like an avalanche. All the times I was a clueless, confused child as we fled from a mess that had been made and had to start over again.
The day they sat me down and explained I had been signed into a contract comes back to me—I hadn’t even understood what they meant at first when they said I’d be going away. I was going to become a part of a dance company and train to be a ballerina.
Among other things.
“For our survival,” Mom had said, patting me on the back. “If you want your father to be safe, it’s what we have to do, honey. We’ve all made sacrifices…”
I clench my eyes shut to block out the memories I’ve buried deep. I’d accepted their explanations and told myself for years that there was no other choice. I was getting off easier than most girls sold into the flesh trade. At least I was training to be a dancer; at least I wouldn’t be married off until a couple years into early adulthood…
But what if it was never necessary? What if they just saw me as yet another con to pull?
“Nevi,” Caelian says, sleep thick in his voice. He’s woken up without me noticing, I’m so deep in my head. He reaches out tostroke my arm and draw my body closer to his. “You’re sniffling in your sleep? What’s bothering you?”
“Hmmm?”
I’m startled by him until I settle into the groove of our bodies pressed together. Caelian’s already caressing me, cuddling me to him, as if he’s fully aware I’m upset and he wasn’t just sleeping a second ago. My heart warms at how natural it comes to him, like he must make things better as soon as he notices something’s wrong.
I reach up to stroke his stubbly cheek and give him a good-morning kiss. “I was just thinking about my childhood.”
“About how you were made to leave your parents so young?”
“Sort of… just things that I haven’t…” I pause to take in a breath and figure out what I’m trying to say. “Have you ever blocked out moments from your childhood? Or made yourself forget about them?”
“Yes,” he answers. “Many things. I had a miserable, sick, lonely childhood. It’s better that I have.”
“I have too… more than I realized.”
“Bad things?”
I nod. “My parents aren’t what I’ve always told myself they are. I’ve never really seen it until recently. But it’s making me question just what has been the truth and what’s been lies they’ve fed me.”
“What does your gut say?” His large palms run possessively, though comfortingly, over my hips.
I think on it for a second. “Almost all of it, Cael. I think… almost everything they’ve ever told me has been a lie.”
“You were told the dance company was necessary.”
“For my father’s life.”
Caelian’s wolfish eyes narrow. “It’s possible they bargained you for him. Or other things.”
“The key in the snow globe,” I say. “We have to find out what it opens. Together.”
“Together.” He kisses me on the mouth to reaffirm our plan. “But not today. I have a treatment with Tulio.”
