Page 45 of Omission: Part 2

Yet the sighs of relief that follow almost make me chuckle. Almost, because I watch as Lena and a recuperating Chiara are brought in wearing shackles and no shoes, their clothes filthy. The scent isn’t much better, either.

They don’t look at me, but the old witch cowers at my glare, nearly toppling her friend over in the urge to get away from me.Silly old woman.

“My king,” Annette greets me, her hand tweaking a white linen cloth atop a rolling cart. The prisoners watch her, one more nervous than the other. “I’m ready to begin when you?—”

The ringing of my phone cuts her off and I shake my head, answering the device and placing it on speaker. There’s static coming from the other end, the harsh breathing of someone very angry.

“King Leonardo Moore speaking. How can I help you?”

A laugh filters through the line, familiar—at one point this person was important to me—but now is an enemy. “You have something of mine, Nephew. Taking what doesn’t belong to you isn’t very nice. I taught you better.”

“Took you long enough to call, Marsilla. Why is that?” The thing she birthed tries to yell out for help. Her mouth is all she has as her hands are shackled to bolted hooks on the floor, but Annette stuffs an old hand towel in her mouth, cutting off the inane sound. She tapes it in place, too. “There, much less noise now. What were you saying?”

“Don’t make me hurt you, Leonardo. My heart cares for you, child…it doesn’t have to be this way.” She sounds sincere, but there isn’t an iota ofgive-a-fuckswhere this conniving and horrendous woman is concerned. Silla’s taken so much from me, my siblings, and the woman I love. The only thing that will calm the raging thirst for her blood spilled on the ground is her head on a pike; either option works for me.

“Return Amelia and Anaya to me, and you can keep my insolent daughter. She can die, the insipid Wiccan babysitter too, but Brice…he is mine. He will be a fine male for me.”

A scream rends the air, deep and guttural behind a gag, and I laugh. “You heard that, Chiara? You’re nothing more than your mother’s pawn. Completely dispensable.”

“Do we have a deal, Nephew? Can we call it a truce now?” Impatience bleeds into her tone, an attempt to command me, but I laugh. Loud and deep until tears prick my eyes, and I tap the table once for Annette to begin.

Circling the two women twice, she cocks her head and then walks over to her tray while I place the phone closer; I want the woman I once called my aunt to hear everything. To get angry over my lack of complying.

Lifting the sheet hiding her weapons, Annette picks up a whip and cracks it. The pure-silver claws at the end snap against the bottom of Lena’s chair, and the witch pees herself.

“Leonardo! Answer me, child!” Another hard flick of the wrist, and this time, the ends graze the women’s ankles. Shallow cuts, nothing a Band-Aid wouldn’t fix, but the way they cry out, you’d think I’d cut off a hand. One is muffled, yet loud, while the other begs for mercy.

“Please don’t.” Lena’s shaking and her head is down. “I’ll tell you everything. How and who is involved, just don’t hurt me.”

“And what is everything, Lena? Are you even a Rossi?” To fuck with her, Annette wraps one of the lashes around her neck and tightens, twisting the leather so tight she begins to turn a little purple. “Nod for me if you are.” Frantically, Lena does, a hacking cough wracking her chest when she’s released, only to watch the same thing happen to Chiara. The Veltross bastard can’t do anything but thrash and move, trying to dislodge Annette’s hold any way she can, but fails.

One of the cuts my Aya pummeled into Chiara’s face splits wide open and then sizzles, the silver tip at the end of the lash digging into her skin. Even those who aren’t pure-blooded fae are susceptible to the metal, the poisonous material meant to draw out pain and leave behind ever-lasting scars if it doesn’t kill you first.

Moreover, this wretched female won’t be alive long enough to show the world her new scars.

“You brought this upon yourself, kid. You hear me, Leo?” Silla’s screeching now. So angry for someone who didn’t care what happened to her daughter. “I’m going to kill Anaya, your sisters, and every single person who stands in my way. This is my vow, Moore. Pray to the goddess your fae isn’t with child when I rip her apart.”

“You’ll never get close enough to touch her,Aunt Silla.” Her old title drips with disdain; I’m ashamed of the years she fooled us. Me. How we let Roberto down. “I’m going to enjoy returning the favor. Your daughter is for the murder of my parents. Brice will be for your betrayal and abuse of Uncle Roberto.” All movement in the room ceases, the deadly violence in my tone shaking the walls inside this room. Causes the floor to crack at the edges. “But you, Marsilla…I’m going to kill you for threatening my sacred mate. That was your biggest mistake. I’ll see you soon.”

Leonardo, bring patrols and get the children out of the forest. Brice ambushed me, and he’s flying us up…

* * *

ANAYA

Leonardo’s angry with me,and it’s understandable. He’s yelling through our link and running in my direction—he’s getting closer—but I cannot allow Alice to be hurt. He’ll have to forgive me this one time for defying his need to protect me and our child. I’m sure mynaughty listwill be full once again, but a true queen cares for her people. Sacrifices herself to protect those that can’t protect themselves, just as my mother endured years of torture to keep me alive.

Looking down at the children, I try to smile and reassure them that everything will be okay. “I need you to pair up and run back home.” Their cherubic faces are fear-stricken, a few whimpering. “No stopping. No looking back. And if you see guards along the way, tell them what happened.”

I get multiple nods as my wings unfurl, catching the rays of sunshine. Prisms appear in various places, the little seedlings popping from the ground in a line of tiny green leaves, and for that brief second, they smile.They’re going to be okay, Anaya. Go!

“Go, little ones. I’ll see you soon.”

“Please bring her back,” one boy whispers, and the others follow, getting riled up when I need them to remain calm. To listen. “Please, Queen Anaya. My cousin is small and?—”

“Kiddos, I will never allow any of you to be hurt.” Kneeling at their level, I make sure to look them each in the eyes. “Trust me, and do as I say. Now run home so I can fly up and find her.”

At once they rush to hug me, surrounding me with their pure love before taking heed and running as fast as their tiny legs can carry them. Once they’re past the tree line, my wings stretch and shake themselves out—I take off. The wind feels good across my skin, a part of me I miss, but this isn’t a flight meant for joy and I’m hot on Brice’s tail before he can get close to the coast.

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