Page 61 of Road To Runes

Just like always, she hadn't spoken a single harsh word and yet every one of them was laced with threats that she would follow through on. No matter how scared she made me, I wouldn't let her break me. I wasn't the girl I used to be, and nothing would put me back that way.

"You should probably eat something," she said, pointing to the tray. "It's the only mercy you will get in this house anymore."

"I don't understand what you want with me." I swallowed the poison that wanted to ink its way into my words. "Even if I gave you your stupid powers back, why are youobsessedwith keeping me here?"

They didn't love me, nor did they want me, but not one of them had dropped a hint as to why they were so desperate to imprisonme. Doing their chores and catering to their every whim was only a bonus; Iknewthere was more to it.

The corner of Pearl's eye twitched. "You're a danger to society, to yourself, and worst of all you're a danger to this family. I needn't say more."

"Oh, youneedto say more," I said. "And don't think I won't fight you every step of the way until I get answers."

She rarely smiled, but in that moment, she graced me with a tiny uptick of the corner of her mouth. That alone held enough smugness to send me over the edge.

I grabbed the side of the tray with one hand and swept it off the bed. The tray clattered onto the bare floorboards, the plate smashing in two, and the glass launching against the wall, water dripping down the faded floral wallpaper. It was already peeling off the walls without the added moisture.

My grandmother didn't even flinch, but she stared at me over the top of her glasses. I stared back, my brow furrowed and my breathing increasingly laboured as my muscles strained against the restraints, urging me to break free. If only.

"You're a very lucky girl," she said, slowly. "Most families wouldn't have suffered you to live from the day you were born. And who could blame them?"

With that, she turned and left the room, locking the door behind her. My head fell into my hands once her footsteps had disappeared. As much as I wanted to maintain my defiance to her and everyone else under this forsaken roof, I could feel all hope draining out of me, like the water dripping between the floorboards.

Chapter 31

Ididn't have to wait long for my next visitor; my uncle Thornton; a man who wore suspenders every day on top of a pressed white shirt that reeked of starch. Usually clean shaven, a shadow of stubble ran along his jaw, and his eyes had a bloodshot tinge as if he had many a sleepless night. I hoped whatever had kept him up wassuperstressful.

Thornton was my grandmother's most trusting son, and the one who worked the hardest for approval he would never receive. But that didn't stop him doing everything she asked of him and doing so as aggressively as possible. He thought himself a Rook on the chessboard when he had only ever been a pawn.

Unmarried and thoroughly spineless, Thornton had no life experience to speak of, as he had spent his entire life under Pearl's thumb. But that didn't mean he didn't wield the authority she gave him like a baton at a parade. And he was happy to hit as many people over the head with it as he could.

He didn't undo my manacles, but undid the padlocks that secured the chains to the bed, and then tugged me out of thebedroom. I purposefully kept my steps slow, causing him to yank me into a faster pace.

"No funny business from you," he said, winding the chains further around his palm. "This place is a lot more secure than when you were last here."

As if escaping wasn't going to be hard enough, they had taken extra precautions. It was almost as if they had prepared for me to be here. But I wasn't dumb enough to try and escape in that moment, even if it was super tempting to wrench the chains out of his stupid hands and take off. Like he said, I didn't know what other measures they had in place.

Thornton dragged me into the living room; a room with imported leather furniture, a small TV and plenty of bookshelves that held more trinkets than they did books. All three sets of curtains were drawn and a fire burned in the hearth. Maybe the darkness affected my sight, or maybe everything looked a little shabbier than the last time I was here. Long abandoned cobwebs in the far corners of the ceiling, and lingering filth on the rugs. Hadn't they hired someone to keep up with their chores after I left? Or without their powers to help them run the family business, could they no longer afford to?

Light beamed through the cracks between the curtains, and the realisation made my blood run cold. They weren't trying to keep the light out, but the neighbours from seeing whatever was about to go down.

That was when I noticed who waited for us inside; my grandmother, my stuffy aunt who wore a real fox fur around her neck, Shawn Donnelly, and two people, one of whom I had never seen before in my life. But the third made me stop in my tracks.

Troy Franklin stood with his shoulders hunched, his hands in his pockets, looking up through strands of his hair as I walked in.

Thornton yanked me over to an armchair and pushed me into it. I made sure my leg kicked him when I bounced off the cushiona little. He winced and rubbed his leg, giving me the evils before straightening up to stand next to the chair, still holding my chains like I was a dog on a leash.

"So, this is our thief?" The woman I didn't recognise, with long silver hair and wearing a red coat stepped next to my grandmother and stared down her nose at me.

"Before you go throwing accusations like that, I'd like a lawyer," I said.

My whole body jerked with an electric shock from the manacles and I glared at Thornton, who had touched a blue crystal to the chains. Son of a biscuit. Any doubt they would go easy on the torture smashed like an egg hurled against a wall.

"You'll choose your words wisely in the presence of guests, Beatrix." Pearl turned to the other woman. "My apologies, Nora. She has been nothing but a handful since the day she was born."

"Not for much longer." Nora Franklin eyed me, but there was no malice there, no anger. In fact, there was a calm behind her eyes that made me feel infinitely more intimidated. "Where is my grandson's power, Beatrix?"

"Up my ass. About elbow deep, if you wanted to reach up there and get it yourself-" Another shock pulled my back into an arch and my jaw clenched as I fought the magic.

"I could extract the information from her, given time," Pearl said. "How much, I couldn't say. She has developed a horrifying attitude."

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