No, not someone. James.Fuck.
The trees ahead thin into a clearing, and I shift behind a thick trunk, peering into the night. James moves into the clearing, his hand curled around our mother’s arm as he yanks her toward Jonathan. A few of the dogs snap at their heels in excitement. But it’s not all of them, meaning some are still lurking in the woods around me.
He throws her to the ground, her knees slamming into the dirt in front of Jonathan. Instead of staring at the dead grass, meek and subservient like a good woman, she tilts her head back and stares at him with defiance. Their side profile is visible to me, the moon a spotlight for their showdown. Jonathan positions himself at a ninety-degree angle to them, facing my direction.
“Where is she?” Jonathan snaps.
“Gone. Out of your reach and set for a life of love and acceptance, choosing her own path without fear.”
“Your daughter will only know fear, Katherine. I should have fed you to the ring the second you bore a daughter. Your defiance is infectious.” His body nearly vibrates with his intensity, his eyes never leaving Mama. “Don’t worry; I’ll snuff that out of her. She will breathe becauseIallow it. She will eat on my command and know her place is in my bed, with her legs open.”
“My daughter can read. She can write. She can manipulate equations and knows her worth isn’t in the hands of a man who doesn’t deserve her. You cannot bend her to your will, Jonathan.She is educated, smart, and she will thrive in the world you have tried to keep out of her reach.”
I suck in a breath as Jonathan’s face twists into something terrifying. He lifts his head and scans the trees. His gaze passes by me, but I still feel scalded to my soul.
“The dogs will find her trail, Katherine, and you have sealed both your fates.”
My mother laughs, the shrill sound echoing around us. What is she doing? “Your dogs will be in a frenzy following a false trail of blood and pain you yourself created.”
George emerges from the trees, a shadow congealing from the darkness. He bares his teeth as he carries one of the bloody rags in his hands. The remaining dogs follow him, snarling at the cloth.
“Eleanor,” he calls. “If you value your mother’s life, you will make yourself known.”
“Sorry, Jonathan, but she’s long gone,” my mother says with glee.
He takes a menacing, measured step towards Mama.
He’s going to kill her.
My body trembles as he removes an object from the waistband of his pants. A gun flashes in the clouded light from the moon.No, no, no.The brand on my hip throbs—a reminder of his brutality.
“If you come out now, I will spare your mother.”
Lies. Like the devil, Jonathan is an expert deceiver. When your life depends on understanding the subtleties of a man who can snuff your life out, you learn to read him. And right now, I am one hundred percent certain Mama is about to die, regardless of my actions.
“Get it over with,” my mother snaps, showing a backbone I never knew she possessed.
“She’s out there, Katherine. You expect your daughter to abandon the one person she has ever received love and comfort from? This is why we allow the parental bond to flourish. It ensures mutual obedience. You threaten one, the other conforms.”
Silence settles around us as my mother churns over his words. He’s right. But mutual obedience also fosters a love he can’t touch. Jonathan doesn’t understand the boundlessness of that love, because he’s never experienced it.
He lifts the gun and presses it against my mother’s forehead. “Last chance, Eleanor.”
Panic settles in my chest, urging me to act in contrast to the weight cementing my feet to the ground. My hands twitch, desperate to do something. Anything.
“Mama,” I breathe, my lips forming the word as a gust of wind whips the dead leaves from the ground and sweeps away my plea. My body shifts, wanting to go to her, even though I know it’s hopeless. But at least I will have tried. Not taking the chance would fill my heart with crippling guilt.
James jerks his head, his gaze finding my exact location. He’s too far away, and it’s too dark to make me out, but his unnerving stare makes my knees tremble. Supernatural sibling power. I understand everything he’s saying without one word spoken—don’t let our mother’s sacrifice be in vain.He’s trapped, the noose already too tight around his neck. I am not. I must live for all of this to mean something.
Jonathan releases the safety, the metal click making me jump. “You are going straight to Hell, Eleanor, for allowing your mother to die in your place,” he says.
“No, Jonathan, but my daughter’s freedom is the beginning of the end for you. Hell has a special place for men like you. Weak. Sick. Perverted. Greedy.” My mother tips her head back and laughs.
A deafening shot rings out. She jerks, her body suspended for an impossible moment, then slumps to the ground. Gunpowder and blood taint the air, and wild animals flee in terror. My hands slam across my mouth, and a scream of pure anguish lodges tight in my chest, suffocating me, stealing my worthless life. My forehead pushes against the coarse bark of the tree to keep from falling to the ground. I’ve lost the only person who loved me. I’m alone. Tears trail over my fingers, my body sapped of every ounce of strength. I can’t do this without her. But if I stay, I will be found, and all this pain will be for nothing.
I force my legs to move. One step, two steps… then I’m running swiftly as a burst of pure adrenaline makes me fly toward the mountain. I don’t pause to find out if I am being hunted. Closed in on. Chased. I keep moving. The burn in my legs spurs me on rather than slows me down. Mama would want nothing less.I burst from the woodland onto a road, spotting a black truck sitting in the darkness, like she promised. Except in her plan there were two of us, not one.
A tall man around my mother’s age lifts his head from his position leaning against the hood. His eyes widen as I pause. Eyes the same color as Mama’s, the same as mine. He cradles a shotgun, his fingers flexing against the glinting weapon.
