Chapter Eight
Betrysforcedherselftorelax, and she must’ve done a decent job of it because Leo’s breathing deepened.Despite being tired herself, her brain wouldn’t stop jogging around her problems.
What was she going to do?If she were honest, there was one option open to her.She knew it, she kept coming back to it, even as her mind rejected the choice.She needed to find Iseult her next lover, and she couldn’t take one of the men who worked in the resort because of the family vibe.
Leo—despite the odds—had managed to survive and had suffered enough.
She had to figure out some other way.
Leo turned onto his side, and she took the opportunity to escape.She snatched up the green robe and tiptoed until she was safely outside.
If only she could take her son and disappear, but Iseult was too clever for her, always one step ahead.She never let Betrys go out alone with Ricci.There was no chance for real quality time because her interactions with her son were monitored.
She walked over to a broken wall and sat on the cold stone.An intense longing to see her son and hold him filled her, the wave of pain so sharp she almost cried out.Instead, she screwed her eyes shut and swallowed hard.Crying wouldn’t help.
“Mother?”
Now she was cracking up—her mind imagining her son’s presence.Impossible since he was at Spiderus Mansion on Dalcon.
“Mother, why are you crying?”
Betrys blinked to clear her vision.“Ricci?Ricci, what are you doing here?How did you get here?”
Her son’s somber face creased into a frown.He glanced to his left and his right.“I don’t know.Where are we?”
“We’re on the planet Tiraq,” she said, her mind racing.She could take Ricci and leave.It would mean leaving her nest egg, but that was a small price to pay.“What have you been doing since I left?”
“Iseult is grumpy.She made me stay in my room.”He frowned again.“Iseult doesn’t look well.She’s not pretty anymore.”
A sliver of panic struck Betrys.“She hasn’t hurt you?”
“No, I obeyed her orders like you told me to.”
Betrys wrapped her arms around her son and fought to act normal despite her lack of understanding.“Good boy,” she murmured against his straight brown hair.
“Mother, you’re holding me too tight.”
“I’m sorry, son.”Betrys forced herself to relax her grip on Ricci.
“I’m hungry,” her son said.“Do you have any food?”
They needed to go now, before Leo woke.She doubted the man would help them, not after what she’d done.She peered into the darkness.With no idea of their location and no food, she couldn’t just leave.It was too dangerous, which left her no better off than she’d been before.
The door to the old cottage opened, and Leo stood in the illumination that spilled outside.“Betrys?Betrys, where are you?It’s dangerous out here, woman.”
“Who’s he?”Ricci whispered.“He looks awful grouchy.”
The overloud whisper carried on the night air, and Leo’s gaze settled on them, hard and implacable.
“Who’s the kid and where did he come from?”Leo asked.
“This is my son, Ricci.”
Another dreamscape.It had to be.Somehow, she’d fallen asleep and hadn’t realized.Maybe stress was getting to her.Maybe Leo wouldn’t remember or he’d think the dream was crazy or maybe…
No, that wouldn’t work.One of the things she enjoyed about him was his intelligence.
“Your son?”Leo stalked closer, and Betrys glared at him.
