Page 91 of Twisted Legacy

Thea

Ican’t believe I’m here. Shit, I can’t believe I let the lead Coxsucker get in my head enough that I even considered coming here. He accused me of attacking imaginary enemies. I want to disagree on principle, but he’s basically said the same thing Wolfe has been telling me. I need to get my head on straight and figure out who I need to be fighting.

I can’t do that if I’m mad at everyone. So I came to the house of horrors to hear their side of the story. I probably should have come sooner, but I haven’t been ready to see them, or hear anything they’ve had to say. I even convinced myself that I was okay, not knowing. That I didn’t care why they gave me away.

I’ve spent years perfecting this aura of I don’t care, and for most things I don’t. But on this. I care. I care just as much as I care about why my mother disappeared on me.

I might not tell people, but there has always been the tiniest voice inside my head saying I wasn’t good enough. I wasn’t good enough for my mom to stay sober, or for the foster homes to keep me, or the group homes to protect me, or even for the friends I used to try to make, to accept me. Yesterday, Eloise and Pax both poked at that scab.

I know they’re all lies, because IknowI’m good enough, but sometimes the lies and self doubt scream louder than the truth. So when I found that birth certificate, all the years of building myself up, all the work I did to be okay about being on my own, came undone, just for a little while.

Then I was attacked, and it’s like I can’t climb out. Like I’m buried in the doubts. But I have to crawl out. I have to be done.

I find Moira in the living room, reading a book. “I’m ready to listen now.” I hold up my hand to warn her, “If you say one crappy thing about my mom, I’m out. Got it?”

“Thea, I loved my sister. I looked up to her and I’m grateful to her for keeping you safe for as long as she could. I know I haven’t expressed that or given you any reason to think I care about her, but it wasn’t Hailee that I was mad at. All that anger was actually at myself, for not finding you sooner, and keeping you from going into the system. I was mad at myself for being weak. Too weak to fight my father. To step out of line and bring attention to myself with The League.”

That’s the part I don’t understand. How this billionaire boy’s club wields so much power and why everyone seems so afraid of them. That’s the part of the story I need to hear before I can even consider calling myself a legacy anything. “Start at the beginning.”

“I’ve already mentioned that Hailee was my half sister.”

I nod. That’s the part I know.

“But I’m five years younger than she is.”

“Did your father have an affair with your mother?”

“Surprisingly, no. Hailee’s mom and my dad divorced when she was around three, and they split custody. He met my mother on a business trip. She worked for a subsidiary of one of his companies and fell for him. A little more than a year into their relationship, I came along. I didn’t know anything about Canyon Falls or the way he and Hailee lived. He was always just my dad, who lived away and traveled for work. He called me all the time, and when he came to visit, he called me Princess and treated me like I was a princess. When I turned eight, his visits to us slowed down because I was old enough to come to him.”

“Is that when you met my mom?”

“Oh, no.” She shakes her head, a small smile on her lips. “Hailee was in my life from the beginning. I had pictures of her, she came to my parties, and we had sleep overs. Of course I annoyed her because I wanted to be just like her. I thought she was so cool.”

She sips her coffee. “When my mom got sick, she told me that I would be coming to live here permanently. I didn’t want to. Not one bit. I refused to leave her, so I got to stay in Savannah until she passed away. I was miserable after she died, but Hailee was there for me. She took care of me. God knows my dad didn’t know what to do for a grieving pre-teen girl.”

“What happened when you moved here?”

“I was thrust into this life with rules and expectations I wasn’t used to. I started going to these fancy parties, and meeting dad’s friends. I thought it was so glamorous. But Hailee didn’t like it. She went from being this happy person to being quiet and reserved. She was nothing like the sister that came to see me or went on vacations with me. She used to pick fights with dad to let me stay home with the nanny. I thought I was embarrassing her since I didn’t grow up in this fancy world, but then I turned twelve.”

“What happened?”

“There was this boy at one of the parties. He smiled at me and I smiled back. It was the first time anyone had seemed to take an interest in me. The person they all still called the new girl. He asked me if I wanted to hang out with him. Of course I said yes, and I started following him to the pool house where I knew the other kids were hanging out. The next thing I know, Hailee’s there dragging me away and saying this was not happening to me. I had no idea what she was rambling on about. Later, she explained that the guy was fifteen and from a legacy family. Then explained that his dad told him to talk to me, so they could get my dad’s attention. That’s the night she told me how the people in this town would try to use me as a pawn and explained about The League of the Daggered Ravens. Of course I thought she was nuts. A secret society, like on television? It was just too farfetched to believe. But I started paying attention and noticing things, like all the girls in my classes that had boyfriends shared a common theme. Their parents did business together. It was cute when they first hooked up in junior high. I went to an all girl’s school so everyone thought having a boyfriend was so cool.”

She gives me a rueful smile. “But I didn’t have one back then. Hailee scared them all off.”

“Did that change in high school?”

“No, and when I confronted her, she had tears in her eyes and admitted she had been meddling. When I told her to stay out of my life, she told me that would never happen, and that she’d always do whatever she needed to, to protect me, even if I didn’t like it. I wassoangry. I was so mean. She was already at CaFa U and living on campus, so I didn’t see her as much and froze her out for months. Then one day I heard her and my father talking about the deal she made with him to hold off on arranging any relationships for me so that I could stay a kid for a little while longer, and in return she’d do whatever he wanted.”

“Lemme guess, in return, he had a specific marriage planned for her, didn’t he?”

“Yes.” Her lips pull taut. “To a horrible person. Even I knew what a sociopath he was, and he’d never be faithful to her. But he was already a Wren and his family was hirer up in The League.”

“Did she go through with it?”

Shaking her head, she says, “The guy, herintended,wanted to wait until after graduation. We thought that was perfect. It brought Hailee some time. And then…”

Whatever she’s thinking isn’t good. I definitely didn’t get my poker face from her. “Then what?”

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