Page 178 of Degradation

Pailtyn

My mother’s words ring out in my head.

Devin shifts, as if he wants to try to outrun her, only, I’m certain there’s nowhere for us to go.

“Put me down.” I whisper.

He does it reluctantly, and I squeeze his hand, trying to give him a silent message that I’ve got this, even though I’m not so certain I have.

I know she has a gun. She has to. It’s the only reason Devin hasn’t launched himself at her already.

I turn to face her, and she grabs hold of my arm, wrenching it quickly so I lurch forward.

Devin is quick to move, to grab my other arm and I feel like I’m in some sort of tug-of-war with me as the rope.

“I swear to god,” My mother hisses over my head.

“You really think a bullet would stop me?” Devin laughs back.

I can tell it unnerves her. He must be three times her size. Did she really think that waving around some pistol would be enough to make him backoff?

“We can talk about this.” I say, trying to take control. I’m certain if it escalates, she will pull the trigger and while Devin is many things, he is not bulletproof.

Her laugh is a bitter thing, devoid of the warmth I remember from my childhood. “It’s too late for talking, Paitlyn. Besides, you never wanted to listen before.”

Rage and hurt twist inside me, like a tempest I suddenly can no longer contain. “You’re wrong,” I spit out, trying to yank my arm back, only it just makes me stumble and I nearly fall over, down these stupid stairs. “I listened. I listened to every twisted word you said, every lie you whispered. You pretended to help me, but you were just like Pearce. You saw my bloodline as a thing to use, a thing to profit from.”

“That’s a lie.” She snaps back. “I always protected you; I always had your best interests at heart. And I never lied to you, even when I knew I should have done, that it would have been safer for you…”

“You knew who my father was.” I scream back. “You knew his real identity. You kept that from me, you kept it all from me. You ensured I was ignorant because it made me easier to control.”

She stills, dropping her hold just a little and I swear I can hear the sound of her blackened heart thumping in her chest, the sound of those clogs turning in her head too.

“Who told you?” She says.

“Does it matter?” I retort. “I heard you and Pearce talking before the wedding. It all makes sense now. What you said,what you were planning. You wanted to use my bloodline, to control Gunther, to take over this whole Chapter through me and separate from the rest of the Brethren.”

She doesn’t say anything and not for the first time, I wish I had my sight back. I wish I could see her face, see the expression on it as she realises I know everything now.

“You’re not my mother.” I hiss. “Nothing you’ve done for me is what a real mother would do for their child.”

Her hand strikes before I can react, the slap echoing in the silence that follows. “Shut up, Paitlyn.” She screams. “Just shut up.”

Behind me, Devin explodes.

I hear the gun go off, I duck with no clue as to where the barrel is even pointing at, and I end up falling down a stair and have to dig my hands into the stone wall to keep myself from tumbling further.

I can hear my mother’s screams. I can hear the sound of someone landing punches.

Is he hitting her? Beating her? God, I want to see this, to see her pay.

“That’s enough.”

Antonio’s voice echoes up the stairwell. He must be a few more steps down. How Devin reacts, I don’t know, but I hear the scramble of my mother’s shoes as she tries to get to her feet.

Strong arms wrap around me, the smell of something cold, of oud and tobacco fills my nose and I know it’s Devin how has me. That I’m safe.

“What’s happening?” I murmur.