Page 101 of Thorns of Deceit
I let out a heavy sigh.
“I should have gone back to the wreck,” I murmured.
“No sense in regretting the past. It cannot be changed.”
His thumb brushed over the back of my hand in a soothing motion, and I felt the steadiness of his presence even while my insides twisted in agony at the thought of my mother being in Duncan’s clutches.
I shook my head, the weight of the situation sinking in. “I want to save her, Aiden. Five years probably changed her, but I won’t be able to live with myself if I don’t try.”
Aiden’s grip tightened ever so slightly, his chin resting against the top of my head.
For a long time he remained quiet, but then his next words made my heart soar. “Then let’s save her.”
THIRTY-NINE
RAVEN
Five Years Ago
The air still tasted like fire, every breath leaving my lips scraping my throat raw. The small bag my mom shoved into my hands dragged across the floor as I blindly crawled toward the back window, my arms shaking and my knees catching on broken plaster.
The apartment was unrecognizable. The kitchen wall was gone, and the smell of gas mixed with something metallic.
“Mom!” I tried to shout, but it came out as a croak. My ears were still ringing.
“Keep going,” she whimpered from somewhere, her voice faint just as the ceiling gave another shuddering groan and the world folded in on itself.
I wanted to go back. God, I wanted to. But the heat drove me forward, the smoke clawing at my lungs until I couldn’t see, couldn’t breathe. So I kept moving.
I crawled through the jagged hole where the window used to be, dragging myself through it and falling down onto thehard, hot pavement. The silence was in such contrast to the havoc inside, and for a moment, I stood disoriented, my gaze darting around in panic.
Outside, the skies were blue and the air was humid, its heat feeling just as searing as the air inside the building. My eyes dragged up, hoping my mom would be right behind me, but she wasn’t there. I stood there, my feet glued to the ground, terrified to leave without her.
But then the sound of sirens in the distance registered.
“Don’t look back, Raven. Promise me,” were her last words to me, her eyes too calm for the chaos around me.
I promised her, but I didn’t know if I could fulfill it.
I gave the window one last look, half expecting to see her silhouette there, but found it empty. My chest ached and my lungs burned as I turned away. I stumbled through the narrow back streets, glancing over my shoulder with every step, until the city swallowed me whole and I became just another shadow among millions.
Here I was, walking through the streets, smoke still in my hair and ash on my skin. People stared ahead, as they often did in big cities, feigning not to see me. It served my purpose today.
Every step away from that building felt like betrayal. I kept seeing my mom’s face, how she urged me toward the window and freedom, how she didn’t follow. The guilt was a living thing inside me, heavy and sharp. I should’ve dragged her with me. I should’ve fought harder.
My whole life, somehow she’d known when it was time to run, and now I had to keep running.
I reached the post office, my reflection in the door greeting me. It showed a stranger, hollow-eyed and terrified, with smears of ash on my cheek.
My fingers were trembling so badly I could barely dig through my bag to find the key to the P.O. box. Fitting it into the keyhole was an even bigger challenge.
The lock finally clicked, and I opened the box.
The first thing I saw was a brown envelope, my name scrawled across it in my mother’s handwriting. My throat tightened until I couldn’t breathe.
I slipped the envelope out and opened the note with shaking fingers. Inside it were documents, money, and a folded sheet of paper.
If you’re reading this, it means your father has found us and I’m gone. You’ll have to go on alone. Don’t let them find you.
