Page 71 of Splitting Secrets
A disbelieving laugh overtakes me.Watch my language?Someone has forgotten that I’m not the preteen girl they left behind.
“I’ll speak to you however I want.”
My mother ignores my comment. “We knew they would come for us one day. That’s why we never documented your birth. We figured it would be easier to make you disappear if youweren’t ever reported in the first place. Sure, some teachers or a random doctor may come sniffing around when you stopped showing up, but they would eventually find that Constance and Carter Ellery bore no children, and Sonnet Ellery doesn’t exist in their systems.”
“It means that legally, Sonnet Ellery is nowhere near related to...your parents. In fact, Sonnet Ellery hardly exists at all.”
That’s what Raze had said in the torture room. Was he trying to tell me back then?
“Divina and Graysen weren’t supposed to take you in. Not with her close affiliation with the Syndicate. That's why she was against the idea. She was terrified they would find you and all of this would be compromised. But we forgot to change the will, and Graysen couldn’t stand the idea of you being far from their reach, so he signed the paperwork.”
“No, Aunt Divina hated me,” I mutter the words that have been true my whole life, hating how bitter they taste on my tongue now that they’re all lies. “She hatedyou.”
My mother slowly shakes her head. “Divina loves you and Poppy more than anything else in this world. She went out of her mind, trying to keep you safe from the evil that was hunting you down. And as for me...we’ve had our ups and down, but I’ve never had a truer friend.”
My mind is spinning. Every truth I built my life on is a blatant lie. All the things I was certain of are suddenly...wrong?
“Then why is she with them and not here, fighting on your side?”
“She will be soon,” she assures confidently.
I’m not sure if that’s worse.
37
Sonny
My parents are nowhere to be found later that afternoon when Theo comes bustling through the door with a man nearly twice his size in tow. I tried to excuse myself from the table shortly after we talked about Divina because it was only continuing with more finger pointing and arguing between me and my mom. My dad eventually had enough, draping his hand over her shoulder to guide her out of the room and cool down when she wouldn't let me go.
I don’t know how she can think her anger in me is justified. As if I should have had some invisible compass guiding me along with their plans and away from Ravenshurst University to begin with. They mentioned earlier that they slept on the third floor and the rest of the house is mostly ours to enjoy, though I haven’t figured out how they got up there. I made sure to give the others hell when they came back from their little joy ride earlier. For some reason, it’s dangerous and forbidden for me to step out for fresh air, but the three of them can rip through the forest without anyone blinking an eye.
Of course, that anger was misplaced and I had to reel it in before I hurt someone who didn’t deserve it.
“This is Griffin,” Theo introduces the hulking man. “He’s an Aetheris. He’ll be training you.”
Griffin runs his fingers through his blond locks, his shirt flexing tightly around his bulging muscles.
“Training?” Beatrix questions skeptically.
“None of us have kinetic gifts,” Jonah points out.
“You don’t need kinetic gifts to train,” Theo counters, gesturing toward Griffin like he’s a show dog. “Griff is going to teach you some techniques to physically protect yourself in the rare case you end up in hand-to-hand combat.”
“Hand-to-hand combat? What is this, the 1930's? Don't we have weapons?” Beatrix mocks with a giggle, looking at the three of us to laugh with her. I subtly shake my head, begging her to stop. Her face falls.
“Yes,” Theo deadpans. “Your weapons are your gifts and those are useless if you can't keep an attacker of your back long enough to use them.”
She drops her gaze to the ground, her mouth forming into an ‘O’ shape.
“Unlike us, most of the Syndicate still possess their gifts, so they’ll default to that in the event of a fight. It’s still imperative that you know how to shield yourself and hold your own if things get messy,” Griffin explains. His voice is a low rumble that vibrates straight into my chest.
“Shit,” Jonah mutters, glancing between us with widened eyes.
My thoughts exactly. How did we go from worrying about passing our finals to preparing for a civil war within a few weeks' time?
“You really think they’ll go to war overus?” Ava questions skeptically. “The rebellion has been active for what? Over twentyyears? What is so significant about right now that they would risk everything they have over a few escaped prisoners?”
“You,” Griffin answers, locking his intense eyes with mine.
