Page 41 of Come to Head

My mother stood on the other side.

I couldn’t hear her, but I recognized her expression. She wasn’t scared, she waslivid.Her temple pulsating with rage, her eyebrows raised to her hairline, as she began to wave her hands above her.

It was clear she couldn’t see us, though, as she kept turning her head. She didn’t focus in any direction as she continued her tantrum.

I flinched back, years of being on the receiving end of her anger had left a wound. Another reason I kept my distance.

Was it weird that I was grateful for the wall’s separation?

Except… What was this? What was Stephen’s angle?

I did my best to stamp down the shock of the series of events that had played out, I would process this. When I wasn’t being held captive. When all was said and done.

Shifting back, I refocused onStephen.Examining him, I tried to garneranyinformation I could.

“Well, this hasn’t been quite as amusing as I wanted it to be. Maybe it’s time to spice up the party. Isobella. Who do you love better? Your mom or your dad? We always have a favorite don’t we?”

Even now, knowing that the man speaking was a tangibly bad man.

I couldn’t tell.

Stephen was a blank wall. An empty palate. A Skinwalker.

I didn’t want to answer his question, but my eyes flickered to my dad. To the man who raised me into my early teenage years. To the man I had missed more than I realized.

To the man who I had an endless list of questions for.

“That’s what I thought. I don’t blame you, your mother is rather difficult.”

Bang! Bang! Bang!

I knew exactly what gun shots sounded like.

I braced, willing myself to turn towards the noise. It came from behind me, from Yara’s direction.

My dad snapped at me. “Isobella, do not look. You don’t need to see it.”

I instinctively listened to him, but I needed to make sure my best friend was okay. “Yara?”

“I’m fine,” she murmured. I could barely make out the “for now.”

My step-father huffed, gesticulating into the air, and a moment later, the same rattling from earlier filled the space. Two of his men stepped forward, one of the beefy goons kept a tight hold of my shoulders while the other untied me.

“Since you’re a coward, I’ll just rip the bandage off. Your mom’s dead, she was just shot because you chose your dad over her. Now time to say goodbye to your dad and Yara. This will be the last time you see them both alive.” There wasn’t any inflection in Stephen’s tone. He could have been discussing the weather for how he sounded.

I didn’t acknowledge his words. I didn’t process them. I needed to emotionally detach from anything else he said.

My mother wasn’t dead.

I swallowed down the bile that came up my throat.

My dad wasn’t alive.

I breathed in the musty air.

My best friend wasn’t in grave danger.

I squeezed my eyes shut, scrunching my nose.

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