Page 81 of Deadmen's Queen

I stood there, overwhelmed with horror and pity and what she had done and what she had gone through.

“So, now you know,” she said. “And now, I hope you can see why I need to end this. To end them. I’ll drag all of their nasty little secrets out into the open, and they’ll be ruined too.”

I swallowed hard. “What about Dad… he was part of it.”

“Oh,” she said, looking down at the knife in her hand. “Dad’s dead, Paige.”

“What?” I gasped. “How?”

“Got drunk and fell down the stairs.” She looked up at me, a chilling grin on her face. “Happened in the middle of the night a few days ago. Tripped over something and bounced all the way down. Broke his neck.”

My blood ran cold as I realised what had happened. Fear settled on my heart as she grinned up at me. She’d completely lost it.

“Mum, I’m so sorry about what you went through,” I said, moving closer. “But if he’s dead, then it’s time to let it go. Start again.”

“No!” she snapped. “No, they all must pay. Carver and Blake. And you’re going to help me.”

“No, I’m not,” I said.

She blinked, looking at me as if seeing me for the first time. “What did you say?”

“I'm not going to help you, Mum,” I repeated. I felt a cold shiver up my spine, but I kept my voice steady. “The guys... they're good men. They didn't do any of this. I won't be a part of this.”

“Good?” She laughed; a horrifying sound devoid of any real mirth. “Those monsters are anything but good, Paige. And they are using you. Just like they used me, just like they use all the girls they get their hands on.”

“No,” I said again, shaking my head as I stepped back. “That's not true. They care about me.”

She snorted loudly. “Really? And what makes you think that?”

“They've shown me,” I replied simply.

“They've shown you?” She repeated with a derisive sneer. “By fucking you? That's how they show their affection, Paige! By using your body for their sick pleasures, just like they did with all the others!”

“I'm not just anyone to them,” I whispered fiercely, feeling my cheeks flush with a mix of anger and embarrassment. “I mean something to them.”

“Oh please,” she scoffed, rolling her eyes dramatically. “Wake up, Paige! You're nothing to them but a piece of ass! A hole to fill when they feel like it! That's all you'll ever be to them!”

Her words stabbed at me, painful and cruel but I forced myself to keep looking at her.

“Maybe so,” I said quietly after a moment of tense silence. “But even if that's true... at least they have made me feel wanted, feel valued. More than you ever did.”

Her face twisted into a mask of rage. “Your ungrateful little bitch!” she shrieked. “You are his spawn, rotten to the fucking core!”

She lunged at me suddenly, raising the knife now gripped tightly in her hand and swinging at me. I jerked back, my hands coming up instinctively to protect myself and I cried out as the blade sliced across my palm.

“Fucking whore,” she screamed, raising the knife and bringing it down hard. I reacted better this time, Nate's training kicking into play as I swung my arm, grabbing her wrist and using the momentum of the swing to slam her down onto the edge of the granite worktop.

She shrieked with rage and pain, and her fingers loosened just enough for me to twist it away from her. Fury raged through my veins, as she came at me again and I raised the knife myself.

“You wouldn’t fucking dare, you pathetic little worm,” she sneered. I squeezed the handle tightly, fighting the urge to sink the blade into her chest and finally silence her, but then I took a shaky breath and lowered my hand. I threw the knife behind me, towards the kitchen door.

“I’m not pathetic, Mum. I’m strong. I’m stronger than you ever were, and I refuse to be controlled or manipulated by you anymore. It’s over. I’m calling the police.” I turned and reached for the phone on the top, and she snarled, grabbing my hair and yanking it back painfully so that I cried out.

A dark shape blurred past me, knocking me to the side, and I saw the gleam of metal as he raised his hand. The blade flashed in the light as he brought it down with a sickening thud. He raised it again, and I saw the crimson gleam for a moment before he slammed it down again and again. My mother made a sickening moaning noise as he stabbed her repeatedly, violently, and I rushed forward, grabbing his arm.

He hit me hard across the face and sent me flying sideways into the island. My head crashed against the granite edge, and everything went black.

Chapter Twenty Nine

---