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“Oh, Fox, sweetie, I know it must all be confusing. But this has been the plan all along.” She crosses her legs, wearing some sort of wide-legged pantsuit. This woman looks like she should be in a boardroom, not some warehouse like the foul mistress of abuse and rabid child molester that she is.
“You died.”
My mother lets out a small laugh. “To the outside world, yes.”
“What the fuck is going on? What plan? Where is Ky?” I don’t know where to look. Seeing her in front of me is leaving a retching feeling rising in my stomach, and the thought of Thorne taking up his spot at her side so obediently is sawing my fucking heart in half with a rusty knife.
“Thorne has earned this.”
“Earned?” My temples feel like they’re on fire. “Why will no one tell me where Ky is?” The tears are back and flow down my cheeks in quiet rivers of anguish.
“For a long time now, he has been proving himself worthy of this task. More recently, his loyalty has been truly admirable.” The face I thought I’d never see again looks like a death mask. Skin oozing with the terrible deeds she has perpetrated for so long.
“Why do this…why am I here?”
“You always were the favorite with Andreas. Your father made no secret of the fact he intended to make you his heir. Such a pretty little thing, with so many suitors interested in claiming your virginity, and the power of the Noire name.”
There’s no stopping the shiver that travels down my back, hearing her talk about my life with such indifference. There’s nothing but disdain as she watches me.
“But you…you helped me escape.” My mouth is so fucking dry, and my head is hammering; it’s a struggle to get the words out.
The woman in front of me purses her lips and studies me for a long second.
“Perhaps you saw it that way. But, what I needed was for you to be gone. You saw it as escaping, whereas I saw it as a means to remove you from the picture until I could make other plans fall into place to rid Noire House of Andreas. My supposed death had two major benefits, as it turned out.”
She gets up and crosses to me, brushing a manicured nail across my cheek. I don’t want her hands on me. This woman is a stranger. A vile monster.
“There’s a reason your father ended up chopped to pieces in his sleep. I needed to get rid of the head of the Noire lineage, and then I would be free to remove the other irritating obstacle in my way.”
There’s nothing about this woman that connects her to the few memories I have. Between the nannies and the household staff who raised me, I’d see her and my father periodically, but it was all a charade. A lie, while she spent her time abusing children and trading in flesh.
My eyes shift to Thorne. He hasn’t moved from his position, and I get slapped with the sickening realization that maybe he’s always been hers. Just like I accused him of, but at the time, he denied it to my face. Maybe she didn’t tire of him when he and his brother were young after all, but instead, this has been their joint plan to take over Noire House, together.
“But…you let me go.”
“You thought I helped you get away from your father? Of course, I did. But only because I knew he would sell you off to one of his friends. He was making plans with Miles Crane and I couldn’t have that. Having you still in the picture? Well, all of the Noire House inheritance would eventually flow your way. What I needed was a means to continue my stay in the shadows, while also finally getting to take what should have been mine all along.”
My stomach is turning inside out as the point of her fingernail digs in deeper below my chin.
“Who wants to wait around for fate to be decided for them? I made my own plans, you see. I sold you to Thorne Calliano a very long time ago as a way to ensure your power and Noire House control would be given over to me. Now that the council has witnessed your inspection at the hands of Ivan, we have everything we need from you.”
Sold.
This bitch sold me to Thorne.
My voice is a hollow echo on concrete. “You sold your own daughter.”
“Yes. I sold you to him.” She repeats with a huff. As if I need things spelled out for me like a child.
There was never going to be a future for me beyond any of this, after all.
“The Pledging ceremony…”
A dismissive flick of her fingers cuts me off. “In the eyes of the Anguis, you have already ceded your power and all rights to the Noire legacy. The Pledging was never going to happen. All that was needed was for Ivan to complete the formal ritual in front of enough witnesses.”
She turns, crossing to Thorne. My she-devil of a mother dares to rub a hand up his arm.
My nostrils flare witnessing that point of contact between them. He tilts his head to look down at her, and it’s as if I’m not even in the room.
