Page 85 of Shattered Empire (Shattered World)

Then I did exactly as Kenzi told me, and I started to dig.

PART3

CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR

Asolitary scream pierced the stagnant air.

I huddled closer to my wolf, hugging the stuffed animal in my arms with all my might. The door to my hiding place was locked from the outside. I couldn’t get out. Tears streamed down my cheeks. The sound of crashing furniture could be heard from downstairs.

“Stupid bitch,” a woman screamed. She was closer now. The sound of her voice coming from my left, where the stairs were. “You had everything I wanted. Everything. Why couldn’t you just lose for once in your fucking life?”

“Stop.” My mother’s voice was shaky and terrified, but I could hear the sheer determination behind the terror. She didn’t want to die. She couldn’t. My mother wouldn’t leave me all alone. “What have I ever done to you? We were friends. Best friends.”

The other voice scoffed. It was dark, filled with a burning hatred. There was a soft lilt of an accent to her words. Like Mommas. “Please. I was never your friend. The only thing I wanted was what was promised to me.”

“And what was that, Mar?” mother asked tearfully.

“Liam and your empire.”

It was Momma’s turn to scoff. “Liam would never have you,” she sneered. “And no one but blood can inherit my empire.”

Mar laughed. It was dreadful and full of corruption. “Everything’s about to change, Kat.” The woman was still chuckling. “The McDonough empire is done for. No more of this ethics and value bullshit your father tried to implement.”

“You honestly support trafficking women and children?” My mother was disgusted with the thought.

“Why not?” the woman asked. “I was.” There was a pause.

“Didn’t know that, did you, little Kat?” Mar mocked. “There are plans in place that run far deeper than you will ever know. Soon, the world will belong to the corrupt, and those who stand in our way will perish.”

“You should really see to that god complex you’ve got going,” my mother snarled. The woman just laughed again.

“I am a god,” the woman whispered. “They call me Hera.”

“They should have called you delusional.”

That’s when my mother screamed again.

My head hurt like a fucking bitch.

Had I been mauled by a truck?

Mom!

Bolting upright, my chest was heaving, my body soaked with rain. Her scream still echoed in my ears. It was the kind of scream that bordered on terror. It had torn through the house and into my soul like a shard of glass. My eyes widened as I fought to take in air. I could feel my heart rate thundering like a wild drum against my rib cage.

Hands grabbed at me, and I cried out as a pair of arms wrapped themselves around me, pulling me into a warm chest.

“Shh. It’s okay, Red,” a voice whispered in my ear. “I’ve got you. You’re safe.”

Pine and leather enveloped me, and for a moment I allowed myself to relax into the familiarity of his body against mine. I clutched at the arm banded against my chest, holding me tight to him as I sobbed.

Problem was, I didn’t even know what I was crying about.

Remembering the last moments of my mother’s life. Something my psyche had apparently kept buried for all these years. Or the fact that the man I loved was holding me to him like a lifeline. As if I’d disappear if he let me go.

The man I’d thought was dead.

“Let me go,” I croaked. His arms tightened for a moment before releasing me. That was new. He rarely ever did as I asked, only doing what he wanted.

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