Page 97 of Where We Ended

I understood it was the middle of the night, but I also wasn’t fully in control of my body…I felt like I was in a nightmare, watching myself walk and maneuver through the dark as if I’d already lost Natty and there was no reclaiming her.

The porch light came on, and my mother’s door swung open, revealing a very pissed off and angry Simon Stone.

“The fuck are you doing here at nearly three in the morning?”

“I need to speak to my mother.”

His jaw flexed, the muscle in it jumping as if he were deliberating on kicking my ass. I wouldn’t put it past him. He might be fighting cancer but the fucker was hard as nails and ruthless.

“She’s asleep, Silas. Come back tomorrow when she’s awake.”

He was about to close the door but I stopped it with my hand against the wood. “It’s important.”

“Silas?” My mother’s groggy voice came from inside the house. She came into view a second later, tying the sash of her robe and wincing at the porch light.

“I need to speak with you.”

She let out a sigh but gave a small nod.

Simon reluctantly moved and secured the door behind me while I sat down on my mother’s couch.

She took the seat across from me in an armchair while Simon walked back to the room, muttering a few curses as he went.

“This is the second time you’ve woken us up, Son.”

I wasn’t in the mood to be the dutiful son, or the one who grew up loving and cherishing my mother for her sacrifices. I felt betrayed by the two women who had loved me unconditionally and my gut told me the core of that deceit started with the woman in front of me.

“You never told me what Dirk did to Natty.”

My mother’s blue eyes went from sleepy to alert in a single second.

She didn’t respond, so I continued.

“When she was traded, you alluded to it being for the sake of her staying safe and told me I couldn’t do anything because it would start a war.”

Her dark hair dipped as she agreed. “It would have.”

“You failed to mention that it’s a war I would have gladly fought. One I would have endured, sacrificed, and readily ended from.” My voice shook with rage and hurt. They wound together like a knot at the base of my throat.

“Silas, at the time, you needed The Death Raiders. You were working on taking your father down. You did the right thing by allowing her to stay with the Stone Riders.”

My gaze was frozen, so ice cold that I don’t think I imagined it when my mother flinched. “Fuck the right thing. Fuck The Death Raiders and fuck my father. This is the only warning you’ll receive from me that I’m leaving. Don’t try and find me. Good luck with the rest of your fucking life.”

I stood, ready to leave when she bolted after me, grabbing hold of my shirt.

“Silas…wait. You can’t just show up and lay this entire thing on me. I was doing the best thing?—”

I spun on her, my voice rising. “You removed me from the equation. You didn’t give me a choice. You encouraged my wife to lie to me for years, Mother! Fucking years. She endured abuse…do you have any?—”

My voice broke, tears welled and my heart broke.

“Do you have any idea what it was like to discover from someone other than her, or even you that she had to turn to other people for protection? While you may be right that you were trying to do the right thing, you were also pushing me to leave. You consistently told me to sabotage Fable, and what good did it do for any of us? He’s back and now he’s after my wife. I lost her for two motherfucking years, Mother.” I was shaking from how angry I’d become and when she only pursed her lips in defiance, I screamed, “TWO YEARS!”

Simon slammed a door from inside the house and began walking toward us with a shotgun.

“Get the fuck out.”

My mother’s eyes watered as she put a hand on his chest but the gun was leveled at me.

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