Page 64 of Touch of Hate

The lines get deeper, her brows bunching together. “I don’t think so. I’m pretty sure I only heard about it briefly. You know how it is. Women don’t really have a say in the affairs of the family.”

“Sure, I can see why you wouldn’t have heard much. Knowing your father, he would have wanted to protect you from it all.”

“So what is it? What is Safe Haven?”

“Was,” I correct. “It doesn’t exist anymore. It’s where Luna and I spent the earliest years of our lives. It’s where we were found before we met Sophie and Roman.”

Her soft snort of disbelief speaks volumes. We’re in the same house, in the same room, yet we may as well be worlds apart. “Since when do you call them by their first names? Whatever happened to Mom and Dad?”

“Of course, they’re still my parents,” I’m quick to confirm. “But for the purposes of filling you in on the past, they’re Roman and Sophie. They’re my current life.”

“Okay...” She bites her lip, features still pinched, but lets me continue.

“Safe Haven was my past life. It’s the place where my birth parents died.”

She winces, her eyes roaming over my face, searching for signs of pain. I know that expression. I’ve seen it too many times to mistake it for anything but pity and sadness.

“Are you sure you want to talk about this?” she whispers.

Perversely, it’s the concern in her question that makes me lash out before quickly reeling myself in. “Yes, dammit. I wouldn’t have brought it up if I didn’t. I’m trying to give you the answers you say you want.”

“I’m sorry.” She’s quick to back off, down to the way her shoulders rise, nearly covering her ears. If she had a shell, she would have retreated into it. Deep breaths, I say inside my head, trying to stay on track. My anger isn’t toward her. She’s done nothing wrong.

“Look, I’m sorry.” I heave out a breath and run a hand through my damp hair. “Safe Haven was a terrible place, and the people who ran it…there are no words to describe them.”

She rubs her arms briskly as if to ward off a sudden chill. “What kind of place was it?”

There’s only one word for it. My lip curls with rage, remembering all the horrible, gruesome things they did under the guise of goodness.

“A cult. I was raised in a cult, angel, along with Luna… and my older brother.”

Her blue eyes bulge, and her shocked gasp fills the cabin. “Your—”

“Your father told us Safe Haven was dismantled,” I continued, speaking over her, my voice becoming twisted and thorny. Her beautiful eyes filled with horror. She needs to know this. It’s the most important part of the story. I smile; the justification for revenge beams along every cell in my body. “But my brother found me, and together, we’ve learned that was a lie. So now, it’s up to us to set things right.”

17

SCARLET

This is almost as bad as being kidnapped.

Almost as bad as hearing what he did to Aspen and Q.

This is an atomic bomb compared to mere fireworks. It’s left me trembling, hugging my knees to my chest while I try in vain to wrap my head around it.

An older brother? Immediately, I go back through the years, searching my memory for a single reference to a brother. Not once has Luna mentioned one, and I know Ren hasn’t. That’s the sort of thing a person would remember.

Like the fact that he grew up in a cult. So that’s what Safe Haven is? I remember hearing Dad and Uncle Roman talking about it when I was a little kid, but it was the kind of thing where they’d instantly go silent as soon as I entered the room. And let’s face it. It’s not like I was paying strict attention. I was too young to care.

Ren hasn’t said a word yet. He’s too busy observing me like I’m a zoo exhibit. If I didn’t know better, I’d accuse him of joking.

Nobody jokes about something like this. It would be too sick.

As sick as injecting you with something to knock you out?

“I’ve shocked you,” he murmurs. There’s no emotion behind it. Why should there be? He’s only speaking facts.

“Yes. You did. I had no idea you had an older brother.”

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