Page 42 of Hers to Rule

Pain, no matter how devastating, had never been able to compel Cisco. Mari remembered the horror of watching her father break Cisco’s bones, only to let them heal over agonizing minutes to do it again and again. Cisco had roared and bellowed until his voice broke but never relented, never submitted—until her father had found out that he could get Cisco to do anything if he hurt the people Cisco cared about.

“That was the first time I almost killed him.” Cisco reached around her and clutched the back of Rio’s neck. “It was fucking awful.”

Mari let herself draw strength from both of them as they huddled around her. “I think he started to get worse after my mother was gone.” It had been about half a year shy of her sixteenth birthday when her mother had suddenly ceased to be. Nobody asked why, not even Mari herself. They were all too terrified of what the answer might be. Those were dark days in the compound, when her father’s wrath balanced on a razor-sharp edge; anything could set him off, or nothing at all.

Cisco rested his forehead against her. “I tried to find her. Quietly, so that he never knew I was looking. There was no trail. No sign.”

Mari didn’t know whether she hoped her mother had gotten away or not. Part of her was angry at the idea that her mother might have left her behind to suffer while moving on to a better life herself. “I don’t think she’s dead. Or at least I don’t think he killed her. He was so angry afterwards. I don’t think he would have been if he’d killed her.”

“That’s what I thought,” Cisco said. “I always wondered if she left because she found out about the ritual.”

A part of Mari recoiled at what he was proposing. She had always thought that her mother’s departure was what started her father down the path to the ritual, but maybe it was the other way around. “That’s when I needed her most. You think she left willingly when she found out what he had planned?”

Cisco rubbed her back to soothe her. “I think it’s possible.”

Tears started to fall again, and Mari couldn’t have stopped them if she’d wanted to. “You stayed. You helped me through it. As much as it gutted you.”

Cisco pressed a kiss against her temple. “Maybe I shouldn’t have. Maybe I should have killed him then.”

It was her turn to soothe him. “You were only a little older than me.”

“None of us could have done anything then,” Rio said softly, reaching to touch Cisco’s hand. “He was so deep in all of our heads, and it took us years to work him out.”

Cisco paused, interweaving his fingers with Rio’s. “You’re right. He hurt all of us, Serena included. All that matters is that we’re here on the other side. We survived it.”

“Except for her,” Mari said quietly.

Cisco nodded. “I’m not sure there’s any way we’ll know what happened to her.”

“Unless she comes back now that he’s dead,” Mari suggested. She couldn’t decide which of the two options was the more painful.

Cisco held them both for several minutes before pulling away reluctantly. “I have another call in a few minutes. I checked the background of the sex witch Esmé recommended, Pricilla Fortineaux. She’s clean and doesn’t seem connected with anyone who would call us enemies. She lives in New York, so it will take her a few days to arrange a trip out here.”

Mari nodded, wiping the tears from her face. “And Esmé?”

“Spoke to her as well. We’re set to meet the day after tomorrow with a law witch we both agreed on. Which means we’d do the club that night, if you’re still amenable to that.”

“I am, unless you think it’s a terrible idea.”

“Oh, I think it’s fucking awful idea, but you’re calling the shots on this.”

Part of her wanted to back away, to insist she didn’t want that responsibility, but Cisco waited patiently for her crisis of confidence to come to its inevitable conclusion. She had insisted she was ready for this step. She had pushed, and Cisco was respecting her decisions and giving her the opportunity to figure things out. “I want to do it. We need to get the club taken care of.” She straightened her back. “I can’t stand the thought of them suffering any longer to shelter me.”

Cisco tangled his fingers in her hair briefly. “Mi tesoro.” He kissed the side of her face. “Rio, can you give us a minute?”

Rio stood fluidly, pausing to give each of them a kiss before heading for the door. “I’ll be just outside.”

Cisco repositioned her on his lap, running his talons along her thigh. “Take Rio up to your room to collect what you want from there.” He leaned to nip her shoulder. “Then take him for a ride. Enjoy each other.”

Mari ran her hand over his horn and smiled. “You want me to cherish him.”

“I do. You both deserve it after all this, and I’m busy for the rest of the day.” He bit her jaw. “I also want you hungry and brimming with magic when I finally have time to enjoy you later.”

She chuckled. “Any requests?”

“You know exactly what he likes by now.” He kissed her tenderly but with just a bit of an edge of his fangs. “And he trusts you. He looks to you for approval as often as he does me now.”

She searched Cisco’s face to see if that made him angry or jealous, but the only expression there was affection, boundless as his untamed heart. “I’ll give him what he needs.”

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