Page 151 of Vicious Vows

“Odin’s heir will take over. People love a widow and a baby.” She smiles, looking cruel. “Which, again, is why I need you to go far away.”

“Because of the baby you’re carrying?”

“No, dear. Because of the babyyou’recarrying.”

I feel the blood drain from my face.

“What?”

She sighs. “God, I forget just how stupid you are at times. I’m not pregnant. The man barely touched me once he set his eyes on you. But you are, aren’t you, Anna?”

“I’m not.”

She clicks her tongue. “Now, that’s not what the nice nurse at the hospital told me. I believe her name was Cassandra.”

I feel like I’m going to be sick. “She had no right to tell you.”

“Oh, don’t be mad at her. I was a worried mother, and she fell for it, especially when I donated to their little charity cause.”

I stand. “You’re vile.”

She laughs. “Anna, sit so we can talk like two rational adults. I really don’t want to call in the men who handled your grandmother before you got here. They weren’t very gentle at all, and you’re carrying precious cargo.”

I sit, glaring at her. “So what’s your plan, Mother? Are you going to keep me locked up until I have this child and then say it’s yours?”

“Yes.”

“And then you’re going to have me killed?”

“Obviously.”

“You really think people won’t think it’s strange that your entire family has died except for you?”

“Don’t forget the child you’re carrying.” She smiles. “People love a tragic story. I will be on top, and people will bend over backward to do my bidding. I’ll bring back the trafficking ring that I worked so hard to get in the city in the first place, and people will rejoice.”

Mother knew about the traffickers? Not only that, but she was the one who brought them to the city?

“It will never work. Want to know how I know?”

“How?”

I reach for my bag, pulling out my phone. “Odin, you’re on speakerphone.”

“Hello, Selma,” Odin says at the same time as he walks into the living room.

I stand, moving to his side. Behind us are Kieran Van der Zee, Malik Jafar, and all twelve of the Vilulf brothers. Not only that, but several of my aunts are there as well as Freja.

Mother’s eyes widen. “What is this?”

Odin says, “This? This is your day of reckoning, Selma.”

She laughs. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

Aunt Maja says, “We heard everything, Selma. Where is Mother?”

A look flickers across Mother’s face. “She’s in her room.”

Two of my aunts rush off to find Grandmama.

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