The illusion is so good that it takes a moment before I realize I’m looking at a wax figurine.
I do a quick check of the room, making sure there’s no one under the desk, then leave and go to the next room. It’s a copy of Ares’s office at Huxley & Webber. A wax Ares leans against the edge of the desk, smiling at a wax Lareina. It’s so realistic—like Mom’s taken a slice of life from Ares and Lareina’s marriage—that chills skitter along my back.
The next room is Bryce’s bedroom. I’ve never seen it, but I’m sure it’s a precise duplicate. A Bryce figurine has his arms wrapped around a Fiona figurine with a barely there baby bump. Their fingers are linked, and the genuine love in their eyes seems very real. The chills now turn to sheer dread.
I rush into another room—hoping it’s where Klein is. But instead, it’s a copy of Akiko’s kitchen—except it’s a total horror show. A figurine stands at the counter, its head missing. Its height and the elaborate kimono indicate it’s supposed to be Akiko. A knife is stuck to the chest, and on the wall is spray-paintedDIE, YOU FUCKING BITCH!in a bright blood red. I swallow, nausea roiling in my belly. Is Mom going to hurt Akiko too?
I spin around and dash to the last room. I blink, unable to process what I’m seeing. Mom has recreated the meditation room from my home, including the tatami mats and the stone garden. Even the individual rocks are the same. A small copper pot is on an old-style stove—also something I have in my home.
Where’s Klein?
I swivel my head, my heart in my throat. She has to be here!
Shit.Has Mom already done something awful? Tossed Klein overboard, maybe? My skin turns clammy with panic. I’m going to jump in the water and search until I find her. I’m not going anywhere until—
In my peripheral vision is a blonde tied to a chair in the farthest, dimmest corner of the room.Klein!Her eyes are open, but she can’t make any sound. I start toward her, but Mom steps out from a hidden exit behind Klein and puts a gun to her head. “Hello, Josh.”
Horror and loathing pound at me. “Put the gun down!” I grind out, desperately fighting the terror rapidly swelling in my heart.
She chuckles. “Or what?”
I clench my hands. I have no weapons. Trying to jump her would be stupid. If I get shot, who’s going to save Klein? Dad’s probably arranging for some backup, but it won’t be instant. I need to do whatever I can to buy some time. “Is this how you greet your son?”
“You didn’t even offer me tea.” She shrugs. “I hear you’re good at making matcha.”
Impatience shoots through me, but I feign a smile. “If you wanted some green tea, all you had to do was ask.” With more willpower than I’ve ever mustered, I force myself to walk over to the tatami mats and start the tea. Mom follows, the gun still in her hand. She sits across from me on the mat.
“You don’t have to look at me like I’m a monster.”
I shake my head. “Just a kidnapper.” I wait for the water to heat. “Did you drug her?” My voice shakes with barely suppressed fury as I glance at Klein, who still hasn’t tried to say anything, not even through the gag.
“Nooo… Contrary to rumor, I’m not a complete psycho. I have my code.”
Coulda fooled me.
She sighs. “I just want us to be together. Be happy.”
“Hell of a way to go about it.” I check the water temperature. Have to make sure it doesn’t boil. Although I don’t really give a shit about feeding her properly prepared matcha, I don’t want her to find fault and lose control.
“Regardless of what you might think, I do still love Prescott. You hate my father because he didn’t put me in jail. I hate him for not having the guts to confront me. Instead, he took what I love the most from me. He doesn’t understand what it’s like. His stupid sons don’t know anything, either.”
Finally, the temperature is right. I carefully pour the water into a cup, add the appropriate amount of powdered green tea and start whisking.
“Because of him that I lost the love of my life to that cunt. I lost you toher!” Mom raises her voice shrilly. “She poisoned you against me!”
“You did that all on your own,” I mutter under my breath. I hand Mom the tea, then make myself a cup.
She holds the cup in both hands and stares at the frothy surface. “He told me a year ago that he took my family away because I took away his. He blames me for Roland, you see. But is it my fault that Roland is weak and pathetic? He thinks he can be somebody, but he’s nothing. Same for Harvey. They think they’re so clever, just because they were born with penises.” She laughs, like it’s a particularly funny joke. “But even now they’re drinking the poison I formulated specifically for them. Actually, there might be enough accumulated in their bodies that it might be kicking in.”
“And Vincent? Are you going to murder your own father?”
“Sweetheart, in our family it’s not murder. It’s clearing the path. We all must do what we must. He held me back, so I’m repaying his interference tenfold. He should thank me, really.Now he can go join that slut who bore him Roland.” Mom sneers, then soon smiles.
I hold my cup, warming my hands without drinking. She might’ve tampered with the matcha powder. Or just this cup.
“I killed her, too, by the way,” she adds, looking at me expectantly.
“Because she was in the way?” I say finally.
