Page 3 of Commanding Scythe and Sky

“Good. One less problem to worry about.”

The shadow in front of me had a voice that rumbled like thunder.

Mamma screamed again, and I shook, squeezing my legs together so I wouldn’t wet myself. Still, I bit down harder on my hand, the shadow blocking the crack.

The pain helped.

It stung enough to muffle her pleas inside my ears. Gave me something else to think about instead of the terrible sounds she made.

“Take this outside, you useless stooges. The Bellatons can have nothing left to track.”

Bellatons? Did he mean Auntie Rey?

There were so many sounds.

Feet scraping across the floor. The squeak of the mattress. A muffled scream that had me fighting back my own, clamping my teeth down harder. Something broke, like the vase the cat knocked from the counter.

The men laughed. Their laughter made me angry.

So, so angry.

When the shadow shifted, the room brightened.

The monsters were gone, and everything went quiet.

But he’d seen me.

I was hiding as best I could, but he’d looked right at me through that crack. I’d been so sure.

Was he lying, too? Or had I imagined those dark eyes staring at me from across the room?

Where were they going? Where were they taking her?

One of the monsters rushed back around the corner, and my belly jumped.

“Sir, there are toys in the living room. The bitch is lying.”

“And I’m standing here telling you the mission is complete. I have a date with a cheap whore and a bottle of brandy, so move your ass.”

When the monster didn’t leave, the shadow growled, “Are you questioning me, soldier?”

He sounded so mean.

I would wake up from this, and Mamma would stroke my hair and tell me it had only been another bad dream. After all, only the monsters in my nightmares were that angry.

“No, sir.”

“Then get out of here. I’ve gotta take a piss. Raid her cabinets in case there’s any Solskari silver left. I’ll pillage the jewelry cabinet.”

With a grunt, the monster left, closing our bedroom door behind him.

But the shadow’s eyes found mine through the crack. When he turned toward me, moonlight spilled through the window and landed on dark brown eyes inside the mask.

Those eyes didn’t belong to a monster.

They looked like our garden after it rained.

Only…