Page 77 of The Black Lotus
Cynthia sighs and places her hand under her elbow, her chin resting delicately in the other. “And yet, even after your father helped Kara, she went after you. Why? And you’re here, which means she must be dead. Now neither of us will ever know.”
“I don’t care about that! What I care about isher.Ending this bullshit once and for all. Why did you want your children to become killers? Did you even love us?” The last part makes my voice crack. Part of me wants to know the truth, the other part wants to stay oblivious. Her actions have always spoken louder than the lies she covered and I am not some impressionable little boy she can manipulate anymore. I need to hear the words leave her lips. I need her to hammer the final nail into her coffin. I need to kill her.
“Love?” she laughs, wiping a tear from her eye. “Oh, my dear, sweet boy. That is where we differ. True sociopaths don’t know what it means to love. Lust and deception? Pretending to love? That is what I am. Where I shine. And as your mother, I wantedso badly for you to be the same. Youandyour sister. I was hoping with your training and her trauma, I’d killed every trace of that incessant emotion, but it seems a little flicker remained, and yourlambreignited it completely. That’s why-”
The words get lost on her tongue as she turns around and sees Serena free and leaning against Zephira.
FORTY-THREE
ASTER
“What is this?” Cynthia looks back at me utterly dumbfounded as she turns back around, glaring at Serena sitting back down in her chair, free. She looks at Zephira, lifting her hand and reaching towards her. “Zephira, honey, what are you doing? Why would you let Serena go when we worked so hard to catch her?”
Zephira stands with her arms wide, shielding Serena from our mother, not that I would let her get any closer to either of them.
“I heard everything. Why did you kill Daddy? I was just getting closer to him! He was finally letting me visit.” Tears stream down her face as she swipes her nose with the back of her hand. “Daddy tried to tell me your intentions weren’t good. He said getting Serena out of the way to be a family was a lie. He told me Serena wasgoodfor Aster, for me, but…” She looks down sniffling, her next words a quiet whisper, “I didn’t listen.”
I wish she would have listened.I wish she would have told me she existed before Cynthia got her claws into her. I’m glad she is finally seeing the truth that she’d been denied for so long, but I fear what’s to come might be too much for her. She just lost our dad, a man who I wish I could speak to again after learningthe truth. A sad smile tips my lips as I think about Zephira, Serena, and I visiting my father in prison. Telling him everything about my life he was denied the privilege to learn. I know he would have loved Serena as much as I do. I know the moment he saw us together he would feel the peace he never got to feel. I wish he would have given me a chance to get to know him.
Cynthia takes a step forward. “Zephira, your father didn’t see your potential.” Zephira steps away from Serena as Cynthia’s body relaxes and mine locks.Please don’t fall for her words,I silently beg my sister.
“He couldn’t see the vision I had for-” Cynthia’s words are cut off when Zephira punches her in the face.
I choke out a laugh, but quickly recover from my shock and take that moment to reach up and grab one of the real chains dangling from the ceiling. I wrap it around Cynthia as she stumbles back from the blow and I slam her into my chest, growling into her ear, “Don’t you dare go near them,” my protectiveness, not only for Serena, but for Zephira taking over.Weird.I didn’t think I would care about anyone except Serena, but my little sister is starting to grow on me.
“Your father was blinded with love for his children. He couldn’t–wouldn’tsee the potential I saw in you both. Without me, neither of you would be the notorious killers everyone fears. Without me, no one would know your names!”
My grip on her tightens as she wiggles against the chain. Zephira screams, flailing her arms around her. “No! Without you, we would have never been traumatized. Without you, Aster wouldn’t have had to grow up in an orphanage that tortured him. Without you, I wouldn’t have had to grow up locked in a room where the only light I saw was when that man came in and raped me!” Her lip trembles, her pain filling the air. “Without you, we wouldn’t be so fucked up and broken,” she whispers, her chest heaving. Serena meets my eyes, lifting her chin slightly, as sheslowly gets up on wobbly legs, reaching out. Zephira flinches at first, glancing back at Serena, but lets her hold her hand, gripping it so tight the bones protrude.
Cynthia thrashes in my grip, the girls backing up as she tries to break free, but the chains restrict her movements, her scream and gasps echoing around us. I kick the back of her legs, forcing her to crumple to the floor, her blonde hair falling over her face.
“You would have been caught without me,” she grunts, her voice barely loud enough to be heard. “The mistakes you both made as you figured out your signatures, and you,” she looks up at me, “you made so many mistakes after meetingher.I was the one who had Jason cover them all up for you, erase them from existence, and throw the police off your trail. Without me, you’d both be rotting alongside me and your father.”
A muscle in my jaw flutters. She may have been the one to keep us from being caught, but she is the reason we crave the kill, the reason we relish in taking a life.Her protection is just a cover to keep tabs on us. Locked away, we’d be out of her reach. If we were locked up, she couldn’t control everything. With us free she was able to keep tabs on our lives and treat us like a chess piece, moving her pawns to make her stay in control.
The way I kill is because of her. The way Zephira kills is because of her.
We’ve never been free to make a choice ourselve-
“Don’t speak about him after you had him killed!” Zephira yells.
A maniacal cackle fills the stillness. “I should have killed you all before you were born! I should have killed your father sooner.” She laughs sadly, shaking her head as false tears drip down her cheeks. “Why are my children so ungrateful?” She groans as her head sways back and forth. “Was I not a good mother? Was I not considerate to keep you both free?”
“No.” I wrap my arms around her neck, squeezing until her head lolls to the side, “You weren’t.”
“Is she dead?” Zephira whispers, taking a cautious step forward as I drop Cynthia to the ground.
“She will be.”
I take my syringe out of my pocket and roughly stab the needle into Cynthia’s neck.Can’t be too careful with anyone, especially her.I just want to grab the knife she was using on Serena and plunge that into her instead, but I know I can’t be selfish. I need to let the girls join in killing her if they want.
She may have passed out from my hold but waking anytime soon is not an option. I grab some zip ties out of Jason's pocket, pushing his lifeless body out of the way to wrap them around her wrists and ankles.
Even if she wakes before I want her to, she won’t be able to move.
I rush to Serena and pull her into my arms as she lets go of Zephira’s hand. Inhaling her, I force myself to hold her at arm's length, cupping her cheek, my thumb brushing over the cut on it. She embraces me, nearly falling over from exhaustion, and I lift her, studying her.
She’s safe. She’s alive. She’s here.
