Page 4 of Sinful

“I’m not sure what you mean.” Mom sounded flustered now. “Are you having some sort of emergency? Should I call someone for you?”

“No,” the other man said. He had a strange accent too. “We need you to come with us. Now.”

“I’m sorry, but I can’t do that. My husband is on his way. He should be here any minute.”

I frowned. Why was Mom lying to these people? Dad wasn’t on his way here. He was still busy at the hospital back in the city. Unless he forgot to message Mom to let her know he was on his way.

“It’s for your own good, Miranda. Come with us right now.”

“I really can’t do that. Why don’t we talk tomorrow?” Mom replied. There was a creaking sound, and I realized she was closing the door.

“I’m afraid we must insist,” the first man said. He must have stuck a foot out to block the door. “As I said, it’s for your own good.”

“Augustus, I can’t possibly imagine what you’re talking about. I really cannot—”

He cut my mother off. “No more pretending. You know exactly why we’re here,” he said. His voice had risen, and he sounded angry. “You tried to let the Darkness out, Miranda. We must work to contain it before it’s too late.”

“I don’t—”

He cut her off again. “Come with usright now,”he spat out.

From my hiding place, I spied a mixture of shadows and lights dancing over the floor. More headlights.

“There, see?” Mom said shrilly. “My husband is coming, just like I said. Now, I think it’s best if you leave.”

“Grab her!” Augustus said. “There’s a backroad leading out of here. We’ll take that. He won’t see us then. But we have to hurry!”

“Augustus, please—” My mom’s voice was abruptly cut off, replaced by a scuffling sound.

Heart racing, I flattened myself on the ground and peeked through the tiny gap between the tablecloth and the floorboards. One of the men had grabbed my mom, and his big hand wascovering her mouth. She was clawing and kicking at him, but he was huge, like a bear. She couldn’t fight him off.

I wanted to run out and help her. Hit the man with my fists until he left her alone. But I couldn’t move. Something was keeping me frozen on the floor, like an invisible force had locked my body in place. The more I tried to move, the heavier I seemed to become.

My mother let out a muffled cry through the man’s fingers, and her feet scuffed on the floor. She was still trying to escape his grip.

Tears welled in my eyes, blurring my vision. Cold sweat was trickling down my back. I could hear the pounding of my own heart echoing in my ears, almost drowning out the sounds of my mother’s cries and the gruff voices of the men as they held her down and restrained her arms and legs with a rope.

I had never felt so ashamed and helpless. Why couldn’t I move? I knew I should be brave, that I should run out and help, but the fear was too strong.

A few seconds later, I heard tires crunching on gravel. The men were leaving. I couldn’t see them, but I knew my mother was with them, bound and helpless.

Soon, the sound of tires on gravel resonated in the air again, followed by a familiar voice a moment afterwards. “Miranda!” Dad called out, feet pounding up the steps that led to the front entrance. “Miranda, where the hell are you? We need to—wait, why is the door open?”

“Daddy?” My paralysis seemed to be gone. I tentatively crawled out from beneath the table. “Daddy, what’s happening?”

“Sebastian!” His eyes widened, and he hurried over to me, scooping me up in his arms. “Why on earth were you under there? Where’s your mom?”

“She went away. I was supposed to hide.” My throat felt like it was closing up. “I wanted to help, but—”

He cut me off. “Where did she go?”

“The forest men took her.”

“The forest men?” Dad looked taken aback for a second, and then his eyes narrowed. “Is this a new game you’re playing?”

“No. The men she was working with took her away.”

His brows shot up. “You mean the Covenant?”

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