Page 38 of Silverstorm

Shaking off snow from his clothes, he removed a pair of thick gloves and then pulled off a knit cap and balaclava. Rubbing his hands together, he turned to face her.

“It’s fucking freezing out there,” he said with a laugh. Why would anyone find it funny to be out in an ice storm? “Hi, I’m Rocky,” he added, as if that was supposed to mean something to her.

She just stared at him, shivering.

The passenger side door opened and the man she’d dubbed the neighbor-from-next-door got into the front seat. He removed from his gloves and headgear, much the same as Rocky had done, then turned to look at her and smiled. It seemed impossible to imagine how she’d ever thought of him as a nice guy. He was a bad man. A very, very bad man. Who’d tried to trick her once, but he wouldn’t trick her again.

“Take the tape off her face, dufus, she can’t talk with that over her mouth,” he said, not unkindly. “And get her a blanket, she must be freezing.”

Rocky leaned over and ripped the tape from her mouth, and she cried out in pain.

“You idiot,” the other man roared. “Do it slowly. Can’t you do anything right?”

Rocky cowered slightly at the older man’s tone and then simpered and smiled at her. “Sorry,” he said, and she wondered if he was a little simple. There was something not quite right about this young man.

He lurched over the back seat and rummaged around, finally returning with a thick woolen blanket, which he draped over her. It was scratchy and rough, but she tried to snuggle into it as best she could.

“You may as well undo her hands and feet,” the other man continued. “She’s not going anywhere in this weather.”

Rocky grinned at her again and produced a Swiss Army knife from his jacket pocket and began slicing at the duct tape on her feet. Aria glanced outside and knew his words to be true. It was almost a complete whiteout. They must be in a forest somewhere, because she could make out the dark shape of tall tree trunks nearby, but she could see nothing more, not even the trail she knew must be there because they’d driven up it.

Rocky waved a small key at her and gestured for her to turn so he could unlock the handcuffs.

“Are you going to kill me?” she asked bluntly, rubbing her wrists to get circulation back into her hands. Because if she was going to die, she wanted to know.

“That’s not my intention,” Neighbor-next-door replied, a subtle frown flickering across his forehead as if she’d hurt him with her accusing words. “Why don’t we start at the beginning?” It was as if he’d schooled his face into a pleasant, but bland countenance. Like he was about to give a sermon or something.

He pushed his long hair back from his forehead, gray eyes fixed on her. “You clearly don’t remember me. But that’s okay, you were only young when your parents took you away. My name is Parker Gaudin, and this is my son, Rocky.”

Aria blinked. The name rang a small bell somewhere inside her head.

Then she wondered, when her father took her away from where?

Parker turned, so his face was in profile, and that sudden familiarity returned, but this time with greater clarity. This man looked a little like…her father.

He was correct, she had no memory of him, but a recollection of Tango’s words came back to her in a rush. “If you ever see that no-good brother of mine, you gals run like hell.” He’d been talking to her and Iliana out in the backyard; she’d been around five or six. They’d been helping pick carrots for dinner. Back when her mother was still alive, the vegetable garden was always well tended, a necessity to help them put food on the table. Aria couldn’t be sure what had sparked the conversation, but Tango had glared at her and Iliana with such intensity, his blue eyes sharp and fierce. “That man’s a monster, you hear me? You don’t believe a word he says. He tells lies. Terrible, awful lies.” Then Tango had launched into another of his tirades about how they had to wash their souls clean from sin, and how he was the only one that could protect them. Aria and her sister had heard it many times before, and would hear it many times more throughout their lives. But had her father been correct?

“You’re my uncle?” she asked. But she already knew the answer. “But you just said your last name was Gaudin.” If he were related to her, then his name should be Cusack, shouldn’t it?

“Yes, that’s right. You’re a smart girl, I see.” He flipped a disparaging look toward Rocky, but the young man didn’t seem to notice. “I changed my name after I rose to become leader.”

That explanation made no sense to her. The leader of what? She wracked her mind for the answer. Was this something to do with the cult she’d discussed with Jude the other day? The name, InXium, that her father used to mutter over and over, was that what this was? She’d always disregarded any mention of a cult, because they didn’t exist in this modern day, did they? It was just too far-fetched.

“Did my brother ever talk about me?” Parker asked, mouth suddenly twisting into a grimace of distaste.

“Did you kill him?” she asked bluntly, ignoring his question.

Parker’s gray eyes hardened. “The stupid fool. He was never meant for this world. He took away something very precious to me. And so he had to pay.”

That wasn’t the answer Aria had been expecting and not one that she fully understood, but it was still an answer in the affirmative. She shivered, but this time it wasn’t from the cold. This was from the knowledge that she was facing her father’s killer. And he didn’t seem to be showing one iota of remorse. What did that mean for her? It didn’t bode well. She took a quick glance at Rocky from the corner of her eye. He was blowing on his hands and nodding along as if in complete agreement.

“But you’re missing half the puzzle piece. Because Rocky here is your brother.”

“What? I’m not… He’s not…” Surely, he couldn’t be. Because that’d mean her mother and this man… No, she couldn’t bear to even consider it. Had her mother cheated on Tango? Conceived another child before she was married to him? Rocky looked to be slightly older than her. Older, too, than Iliana. Could her mother have given birth to an older half brother that she’d never told them about?

“Yes, you are. You have the same parents,” he said in a slightly exasperated tone. “You’re my daughter, and that’s why I want to take you back to Colorado. It’s where you belong. Back in the arms of my fellow brethren. Then we can give you holy communion, so you are pure and you can prepare for the end time.” His face took on a slightly dreamy look.

What the fuck was this guy talking about? He wanted to take her back to Colorado? Because what? Because she was his daughter? But what he was suggesting now was completely preposterous. She and Iliana were Tango’s daughters. End of story. This guy was full-on looney tunes. She wanted to dismiss the idea that Parker was her father out of hand. But now he’d slipped that dagger of poison into her heart, how could she ignore it?

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