Page 39 of Silverstorm

And then there was the idea of some sort of maniacal cult group. Was that what he meant by taking her back to the brethren?

“For so many years, I wasn’t sure if you were my daughter. I’ve watched you grow into a woman from afar. When I confronted Dimitra, she denied it. But I knew in my heart of hearts you were mine. She was mine, too. Even though she refused to admit it. Even if she was the one to convince Tango to take you away.” He paused for a second. “I thought Iliana was mine, as well, but it turned out I was wrong.”

“Iliana,” she whispered. Her heart squeezed tight. “What did you do to Iliana?”

“Her blood wasn’t true.” Parker seemed to wave away the thought of Iliana like she was nothing but a bad smell. “I thought she might’ve been mine, too. But one look into her face and I knew. She was no child of mine.”

“So you murdered my sister and Craig in cold blood, because… Because you didn’t think she was your daughter?” Aria couldn’t hide her utter revulsion and outrage at this man’s sick fantasy.

“Well, I couldn’t very well let her live. She was Tango’s spawn. And she was a witness, she could identify me. Don’t worry, the poison worked quickly. They hardly suffered at all. She is with Him now, and she will be taken care of.”

Aria had no words. She had no way of articulating the rage and hate she felt right now.

“You know, it was most fortuitous that you appeared back in town when you did,” Parker went on, speaking as if in a dream. “I hadn’t planned on taking you on this mission, that was for a time in the future. But when I recognized your face, when you turned up at Tango’s house that morning, I knew He must’ve had a hand in our fortune. It was the only possible explanation.” Parker lapsed into silence and Aria was left to ponder fate, or whatever it was that’d brought her back to town at the same time as her murderous uncle had reappeared.

It sounded like he was hoping Iliana was his missing daughter, and perhaps if she had been, Parker might’ve been satisfied to leave Aria to continue on with her own life, unencumbered. Why or how Parker had decided that Iliana wasn’t his daughter, Aria had no clue, but the way he’d callously killed her and then discarded her because she was of no use chilled her to the bone.

She stared out the window, anywhere but at a man who’d single-handedly destroyed her whole family.

What would Parker do if he found out she was pregnant? The thought was so terrifying, she dare not even think about it. Instinctively, she let her hands cover her belly beneath the blanket. Poor little problem. Her baby had been through so much in the first nine weeks of its existence. Thinking of her unborn baby made her even more resolute to find a way out of this situation.

She felt the stare of the younger man sitting beside her on the rear seat prickling the back of her neck, but she ignored him, too. Rocky had remained mute while her uncle—no, she would never call him her uncle, the monster, her father’s term was a far better one—revealed the extent of his atrocities. What part had he played in all of this, she wondered vaguely? He was obviously complicit in the murders, knew all about them, and didn’t seem in the slightest bit worried.

Staring out the window, she considered her options. She could just open the door and make a bolt for it. The door wasn’t locked. It was still sleeting heavily outside, and she couldn’t even imagine how cold it must be out there. Icicles were forming on the branches hanging from the trees nearby, and even the branches themselves were coated in a layer of ice. It looked like a scene out of a movie she’d watched as a child. The Snow Queen had turned everything she touched to ice. In the movie, it’d been almost pretty and awe-inspiring. Out there, it looked savage and impenetrable. Even in the car it felt like the temperature must be below zero, but out there, with the wind chill factor and the ice and rain, it could be as much as ten or even twenty below. Even if she took the blanket with her, managed to evade the two men who’d definitely chase her, and dodge and weave through the forest, she had no idea where she was. She’d be lost on the side of a mountain and she’d freeze to death in under an hour. And she’d just sworn to protect her baby, no matter what, so that wasn’t even an option.

But she also wasn’t giving up. She was going to escape from these crazy-ass people, but she needed to bide her time to get it just right. Aria shivered and wrapped the blanket tighter around herself. If she asked for another blanket, would Rocky give it to her? But she was determined not to ask him for anything. She’d rather sit here and freeze than do that.

Rocky shifted in his seat, as if trying to get comfortable. At last he broke the silence, saying, “It’s pretty cold. Maybe we should start the car, Dad. Get the heater going.”

“Could you be more of an imbecile?” Parker’s voice was like an oiled snake slipping down her spine. God, she hated that man. “We can’t start the engine because we’ll use up all the gas. We’ve got a long way to drive tonight.” Parker shot daggers at his son, as if he were personally affronted by his son’s lack of knowledge. “And we don’t want to draw any attention to ourselves. We need to stay hidden up here, until the worst of the storm is over.” Parker glowered at his son for a few moments before adding, “But you did do a good job of covering our tire tracks earlier. So go ahead, get us all one of those spare blankets from out the back. That’ll have to do.” Aria cringed inwardly at the way Rocky smiled gleefully at Parker’s backhanded compliment. Like a mistreated puppy who lapped up every tiny bit of praise.

Eagerly, Rocky launched over the rear seat and reappeared with a handful of blankets. It seemed that Rocky didn’t do anything unless Parker first ordered it. Aria took hers, even though she didn’t want to. It’d be stupid to freeze to death just to spite them.

Silence descended once more over the car. All the windows had iced over, and it was like looking through a crazy, cracked mirror. The world outside was all white. Aria turned even farther away from Rocky, curling into the doorframe, hiding her face so they couldn’t see her thinking, planning, scheming. Parker had made religious references more than once now. She considered the very little information she knew about cults in general. They often had a charismatic leader who was good at manipulating members into believing whatever he said, doing his bidding, no matter what. Well, it seemed Parker ticked that particular box.

They also often lived in secretive or isolated communities. That could well be true, seeing as how she’d never even known Parker and Rocky—she was damn sure he wasn’t her brother, no matter what Parker said—had existed till today.

They were also usually loosely based on religious beliefs, often skewed to suit their own morality, tricking those poor, desperate people who were looking for love or answers. Aria wasn’t so sure about this one, but Parker had mentioned being purified and some kind of deity, so he obviously believed in some neurotic version of a higher being.

This was all pointing toward the one undeniable fact. Parker and Rocky belonged to some cult. And Parker believed that she was his daughter. She still wasn’t sure what he hoped to achieve by bringing her back to his house, or compound, or wherever the hell a cult lived. This was all tied in with some personal vendetta against her parents. Had her mother perhaps had an affair with Parker? Had Parker been secretly in love with Dimitra, but she’d gone ahead and married Tango instead? Who really knew, and she could turn herself inside out trying to figure it out and never get the correct answer.

Was there some way she could turn this around? Perhaps get Rocky on her side long enough so that she could make a run for it?

Mulling over all the possibilities in her head, she hardly noticed how much time had sped by. At least a couple of hours since they’d abducted her, maybe more. It was hard to tell in this freaky half-light the storm created. The two men seemed comfortable with this suffocating silence, which was a small mercy. Giving Parker a sidelong glance, she thought he might be praying. He had his head down and his lips were moving in unheard words.

Rocky was staring straight ahead, as if daydreaming.

She wondered what they’d do if she reached down and tried to open the door handle.

Suddenly, Parker’s head came up. He swiveled his gaze around the interior of the car.

“Did you hear that?” he asked Rocky, who’d refocussed his gaze and was staring at his father like an eager hound.

“No.” Rocky shook his head, and Aria silently agreed with him. She hadn’t heard anything, either. Except the moan of the wind through the trees. Actually, now she thought about it, the wind did seem to be letting up some. The clouds were still low in the sky, but the sleeting rain had eased, too.

Parker’s gray eyes stared through the ice-covered window, as if he could bore a hole right through it. “I definitely heard a noise. I think He might be trying to tell me something. He’s sending me a warning.”

Aria shook her head. Parker was free to believe what he wanted. If he was delusional enough to think some deity had granted him extrasensory hearing, then he was a greater fool than she’d thought.

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