Page 53 of Madness Behind the Mask
I move her off me and stand. I don’t care anymore about collecting evidence. I don’t care whatDavid’sdeath at my hands withoutatrial will do to this Family.Hetouched what’s mine.
And –I turn for the door– he has been sohelpfulwith Olivialately. SokindandcaringandIt’s no trouble at all to change her during the night.
A sickness claws at my stomach as Sau scrambles up behind me. “I want to come with you.”
“No.”
“But –”
I turn back around to see her swaying on her feet. My eyes soften even as I grab her arm and haul her towards the bed. “Stay here, my sweet. You don’t want to see what happens.”
“But I need to see him suffer if he –”
I shake my head, knowing what she wants and what she can actually handle are two different things. It’s easy to say we want death, we want violence, we want that special someone to pay. It’s a whole different thing seeing their organs hit the floor. Hearing their pleas for mercy. For forgiveness.
She’ll be thrown right back in those woods.
I lost her for thirty years. I cannot lose her again.
“Trust me, Sau. Trust me as your husband to take care of you.”
She closes her mouth, then opens it, only to look away asI lower her onto the bed. “Ask him whyfirst,”my wifewhispers. “I just need to know why.”
Why I wasn’t enough to love?
To care for.
To protect.
Why someone I trusted so dearly hurt me?
She doesn’t say those things, but they’re clear in the air between us, hidden under that Shadow pride.
Cupping her face, I tilt her chin up. “Because he is amonster, sweet girl.There is something wrong with him, not you. You are not at fault. You arenotany less because of whathedid to you.”I lean down and press my forehead against hers as I look into her damp eyes. “You are loved. You are cherished. And you areutterly perfect exactly as you are.”
She grabs my hand on her cheek, squeezing my fingers as she exhales roughly. Her eyes glisten as she holds my gaze.
“He’smy uncle and the last memory I have of that time...” she says softly, and my body stills as I wait for her to ask me to grant him mercy. Idon’t want to ever deny her, but in this…
“But don’t let that sway you from killing him. Father would have.” She swallows. “Uncle David told me not to tell him. I should have known…”
“You were a child, sweet girl,” I say softly. “He took advantage of your trust in him. You are not to blame inanyway.”
She glances away, exhales, then looks back at me. A single nod.
I kiss her forehead, thenstraighten.
David can create illusions strong enough to kill, and his damn shadow magic is terrifying. I think about getting Myers first;that would be the logical thing to do. But for once, I am happy to let logic go fuck itself. David will die bymy hands alone. No one will deny me even a second of that pleasure.
As I pivot on my heels, Sau’s soft voice calls out behind me. “I still want his head, Caden.”
A smile curls my lips as I reach the door.She trusts me to provide for her.“And so you shall have it, sweet girl.”
Twenty
CADEN
14August1947
