The tenderness in her blue eyes. The gentle smile on her lips. Her light fingers stroking my chin and neck.
I love you the most.
Maybe she was scared she might not see us again. Dad always says he doesn’t make threats, only promises. It’s the way of the family, and Grandma and Dad always told us that Huxleys don’t use empty words.
But would Dad keep Mom away from us forever? Shelovesus.
Right?
A soft sob comes from behind us.Mom. My heart feels funny, like a splinter’s gliding into it. I slow down a little to look back at her. I don’t want her to cry. I need to let her know I’ll always love her because she’s our mom. I’ll never abandon her.
She grabs my shoulder. I wince, but swallow a pained cry. She probably doesn’t mean to hurt me.
“Got you!” The smile on her face isn’t normal. It’s a little scary, her eyes too bright and wide.
“M-Mom…?”
“No!” Ares yells. He runs toward us, headbutting Mom hard. She loses her balance, but she doesn’t let go. Ares bites Mom’s hand. That loosens her grip, and he shoves me toward Josh.
“Get outta here! Now!” Ares screams, then bites Mom’s hand again.
Blood and saliva seep from the wound. Mom screams, then knees Ares in the belly. He doubles over, but he doesn’t loosen his jaw. If it’s possible, the muscles clench tighter.
I freeze, sick to my stomach. It’s my fault Ares is hurt.I have to go help him.But Mom… How can she be like this?
Josh grabs my arm. “We have to go.” His eyes are wide with shock and fear.
Mom was always so gentle. And beautiful. The person who held and comforted me when I scraped a knee. Read me stories. Told me legends from her home country of Nesovia. Slipped me an extra cookie when I begged, saying, “Please! Please, Mommy. You know I love you the most!”
But the woman in front of me, restraining and attacking Ares, is nothing like the one I’ve known. Confusion and horror turn my mind blank, unable to process what I’m seeing.
Holding my hand tightly, Josh starts running. I follow, my body moving on autopilot. I can’t look back and have Josh get taken, too.
Ares, I’m sorry. It should be me she’s hitting, not him. A hot fistclenches around my neck. I struggle to suck in air, and the sound of my breathing grows louder and more ragged.
“Bryce, no! Don’t leave me!” she screams, then lunges for me, her arm stretched out. Somehow she catches the hem of my shirt. I fall face-first, my hand slipping out of Josh’s grip.
The impact makes me see stars. She flips me over and lowers her head until her nose is touching mine. “My baby. You know I love you the most. We should stay together. Remain a happy family of five. Don’t you want that?”
Then her hands wrap around my neck and start to choke me. I struggle, my arms and legs flailing. My vision dims.Am I going to go like this?Fuck. No matter how I struggle to inhale, nothing can get past the tight hands around my throat.
A dog barks somewhere. A girl screams in a voice so familiar it sends a chill down my spine. “Let him go!”
Her shout penetrates the terrifying fog. Mom’s hands lose their strength, then fall away. The weight on me vanishes.
The girl holds my prone body, her presence wrapping around me like a shield. Her warm hand cups my cheek, the gold-ringed green eyes looking down at me with concern and care. The tension inside me eases. I can finally breathe.
“Fiona,” I whisper, clutching her. “Fiona.” I repeat her name as though I can find salvation through it.
“Bryce.” She looks down at me, the sweetness in her gaze leaching away, replaced by cold mockery. “I always found you disgusting,” she says, her voice choppy and harsh. She shoves me away.
“No!” I roll and fall into a pit, falling and falling and—
I jackknife up in bed, sucking in the cold, dry air. My heart races with the vestiges of panic. Clammy sweat covers me from head to toe.
Fuck. Another nightmare.I press the heels of my palms against my eyes, willing the spasming nerves behind them to settle. I can’t go into the office like this. The Fogeys—the elders of the family—will worry, even if they don’t say anything too overt. Ares and Josh will notice and wonder if I’m okay.
We all know what Mom’s kidnapping did to us, even though we don’t delve too deeply into it. We’re lawyers, not psychotherapists. AndThe Fogeys hired the best therapists money could buy for us. They probably did a decent job. I quit waking up crying and having nightmares every night. Now I don’t cry. And the nightmares are only occasional.
