Page 96 of Revenge of the Forgotten

“Not for long,” he answered

Katrin frowned. “What is it?”

“Why don’t we head inside?” Bridger motioned to the house.

She looked him over, a glimmer in her dark eyes. She nodded and strode back to her home. Katrin’s guards never left her side, putting themselves in between the commander and his mother as they approached her study, but Bridger’s power blocked their access. They turned rapidly, ready to defend.

“You two are to stay outside the door,” Bridger announced.

“We have been given orders to—” one of the guards started to chatter.

“Orders to keep my mother safe from danger, yes. I’m aware. I’m the one who gave the orders.” The two men stepped out of Bridger’s way as he crossed into the room. He turned around to face the men, speaking to them before shutting the door with a small gust of wind. “I assure you, Katrin isn’t in as much danger as she could be.”

His mother stood on the other side of the room. “Bridger.” Her face scrunched with unease.

Bridger turned slowly to face the woman who’d raised him beside a father who never actually loved him. It had always been obvious to him. Lucius looked at having children as a job, a way to train the next generation of rulers. It was why he only had one. Bridger was nothing but an obligation to his realm.

“They can’t hear us. I have a question for you.”

“Son, are you okay?” Sometimes it seemed as if his mother cared—maybe losing her husband had forced her to sit back and see what she had left in her life. Her husband was dead, her family in Fraus saw her as a traitor for choosing to rule over a territory that wasn’t hers, and her son kept her on the outside of his life.

“Fine,” he insisted.

Bridger watched her lean against the front of her desk. Her black dress sat at the top of her black shoes, gold soles the only color on her. “You don’t seem it. Are you sleeping?”

Again with the fucking sleeping thing. Bridger rolled his eyes. “Who has time for sleep?” he asked her, dismissing her question with another. “I’m not here to talk about my sleeping patterns, Mother. I want to know what happened the day Father was murdered—the day Marlena killed him.” His dreams were consumed by Vega, but the few times his father made an appearance stuck with him, reminding him of all the things he’d forced himself to forget about the man.

Her face went pale, her spine rigid. “I’ve told you I don’t want to talk about that.” She straightened and moved to the other side of her desk, pretending to busy herself with the paperwork scattered around.

“I don’t care about how he was killed. You and I both know he wasn’t worth saving.” They’d never talked about the way his father acted towards them, how he’d beat them when they didn’t fall in line or how he belittled Katrin for not being the strongest of her line. His mom wasn’t a saint, and she liked to wreak more havoc than help, but she didn’t deserve the abuse.

“Bridger!” Katrin scolded, her eyes wide and mouth ajar.

Bridger hadn’t moved from his spot across the room, his posture stone-like as he ignored her reaction. “He was dead. You could’ve saved me.”

Katrin huffed but stayed quiet for a beat too long—to come up with her next excuse. “From what? Your destiny?” She continued to ruffle through the stacks of papers.

Bridger flicked his wrist, and a tiny gust of wind knocked them to the floor. “Look at me.” He pleaded. This wasn’t the Commander of Tolevarre talking—this was Katrin’s son.

Katrin cleared her throat and forced herself to meet his gaze. “What is this all about?”

“You and the choices you made.” Bridger’s face fell. “You and the Ignises were going to make Meyer commander. You were going to let me stay with them, with Vega.”

His mother’s expression became unreadable. “Who told you that?”

It’s true… Not that Bridger thought Meyer would lie to him, but he held out hope—hope that he’d been wrong.

He felt smaller than ever. “It doesn’t matter who told me. It matters that I know.” Bridger felt like a teenage boy again, telling his parents that he was in love with Vega and not Marlena—the wrong sister. The sister who hadn’t promised them endless power.

“You were never meant to be with Vega, Bridger.” Katrin’s voice didn’t waver.

“I don’t think you truly believe that.” His words shocked her. “I think you were afraid of what it would mean for you if you didn’t side with Father.”

“How dare you!” she fumed, her lip curling at the edge.

He saw tears, real tears in her eyes. Bridger had never seen her shed a single tear in his entire life. She cried for a man who’d never truly loved her but wouldn’t cry for the son who lost everything he cared about.

“When Marlena killed him, why didn’t you leave? Why would you stay and assist her in my capture? Assist her in my torture until I broke?” Bridger’s teeth were gritted.

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