“Taken care of?Like killed? Tortured? Put on an island, runed and bound, never to be thought of again? Whose book did you read this from?”
My mom tilted her head to the night sky, searching between the stars with a fierce stare. “Michael gave it to me when I asked him to find books on the history of angels.”
“Like he’s a reliable source,” I muttered, sounding like my father when I confronted him and Cato. “Why did you choose Michael? I understand the prophecy scared you, and that’s why you hid me from Lucifer. But why him? And why let us suffer through his abuse for so long?”
My mom turned toward our house. “I was told it was the only way.”
“The only way for what?” I stood, rubbing my face.
“I made decisions that I believed were for the greater good, and realized I was wrong too late,” she whispered, her voice strained. “All I want is to protect you, Lucille, and prevent what’s to come. I’m trying to make this right.” She gestured between us, still unable to meet my eyes.
“How are we supposed to prevent anything if you won’t tell me what you’re hiding?”
She gave me a smile that didn’t reach her eyes. “Some of my secrets are too shameful to share.”
“Sometimes we have to do what we don’t want to,” I shot back, ready to scream.
“I have given you as much as I can. Tell me why you’ve been to Sam?”
I closed my eyes, squeezing my hands into tight fists. Every cell in my body thrummed with frustration. I wanted to throttle my mother. To rage at her until she revealed all her dirty secrets. She answered some of my questions, but notnearlyenough.
“I don’t know how to control my powers and used too much too fast, so Sam had to give me an energy boost,” I gritted out.
Maybe I was petty or a hypocrite, or perhaps I knew nothing good would come from telling her the whole truth. But at least it wasn’t an outright lie.
“Does that happen often?”
“No,” I lied anyway. But my response was too fast, and she caught it, her eyes narrowing.
“Lucy—”
The dream dissolved, and I woke to a slobbering wet tongue attacking my face, saving me from an interrogation.
“Okay, okay, I’m up!” I exclaimed, pushing away Rune’s big head.
Oliver lay stretched out on top of the bed, clothed in winter running gear with a smug smirk gracing his face.
I shot him a glare. “Were you the mastermind behind this?”
“The wake-up call, no. Poking Rune and encouraging her to lick you with her nasty smelling drool, possibly.” He shrugged, smiling. “Alexei and Ronen are waiting outside our door to run with us.”
“Why are Ronen and Al—” I cut off. “Extra protection,” I answered for myself, staring at our canopy as thoughts of last night swirled uncomfortably in my mind. My palms began to sweat just thinking about it, my heart rate picking up speed. How could I face him today after…
Hell, after nothing! It’s not like we did anything wrong. We exchanged a few words, and he gently touched my scars. That was it. I groaned.Why couldn’t that be it?
Rune whimpered, snapping me out of my thoughts. She sat on the bed, peering down at me with her cute tail coiling.
“We’re all waiting,” Oliver sang.
I responded as any best friend would—with the middle finger.
He snorted, then proceeded to rip off my covers and shove me off the bed.
I landed in a heap on the hardwood. “Ass.”
“The prettiest ass you’ve ever seen.” He leaned over and gave me a noogie.
“That’s debatable.” I swatted him away.
