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“I needed the money. You were worthless to me for anything else,” her mother replies dismissively. Deep pain crosses Callie’s face but she quickly schools her expression. She’s devastated but trying to put on a brave face.
Behind me, I sense Devon getting restless, but we need to allow Callie this time, however long it takes. The bitch is still going to die today, so there’s no rush.
“Who did you sell me to, Mama?”
“That nice medical student and his friends. He said he worked for an elite organisation that helps people like me – people who have been screwed over in life – in exchange for a small donation.”
Fuck.
Her words.
They’re too like what we told Callie to be a coincidence. An elite organisation. We didn’t know The Order traded in skin, but it has to be them. My stomach churns. I’m glad I didn’t have breakfast this morning, I couldn’t have held on to the contents of my stomach with that revelation.
“Mama.” Tears stream down Callie’s face and I long to go to her, to wrap her in my arms. It’s the hardest thing I’ve ever had to do, giving her space to be strong before this vile woman.
“It was easy. I give them you, and they change my life with an obscene amount of money. I must say, I didn’t know you had it in you. If I’d known your cunt could fetch that much money, I would have made you spend your childhood on your back to make ends meet, rather than me doing it.”
“You made plenty of money off me as a child and teenager, Mama,” Callie mutters darkly, making my blood boil. Devon growls behind me and East shushes him. I want to know what she means, too. How are there still secrets between us?
Her mother scoffs away Callie’s pain.
“What else do you know mama? Did they contact you? When? Have they been back since?”
“I know that you’re more damn trouble than you’re worth. Yes they came back! Saying you’d escaped and I owed them their money back. I can’t pay that money back – it’s gone! What am I going to do?” she sobs, falling to her knees and clutching at Callie. “Help me, baby girl. Help your mama live. I looked after you, kept you alive when times were tough. The things I did to keep a roof over our heads and food in your belly…you can do this for me in return. I can call them, you can go back! Do this one small thing for me and they’ll let me live. I'll be spared if they get what they really want. They don’t want me. I’m too old, too used. They’ll still take you though. They’ll still be able to find a buyer even if you’re not a Premium anymore.”
There’s something in the way her mother says that word. Premium. It draws my attention. Callie still hasn’t given us the specifics of her time away. We need to know everything now because I’m sure there are clues to be uncovered locked inside Callie’s memories.
Callie pulls away from her mother, her lip curling in disgust, before turning to us.
“I’m done here, I need to get out.” She hesitates, clearly in anguish. She’s torn, but we all know what has to happen here. The moment we leave, her mother will be on the phone trading Callie in. We know it. And even if she doesn’t want to believe it, Callie knows it too. I beg her with my eyes to understand. We have to keep her safe. This is the only ending her mother can face.
“She’s all yours.”
A sob tears from her throat and she pushes past us, running from the room in tears.
“Go after her, Tex,” Devon instructs with a harsh, ragged breath. He’s barely in control right now, and I know it’s going to be brutal when he snaps. “Don’t let her come back. Despite what this filth deserves, I’m going to make this quick, for Callie’s sake.”
I nod my agreement and leave as my brothers both pull out knives. They may be willing to make it quick, but it won’t be painless. We could use guns. But Callie’s mother doesn’t deserve that.
I chase after Callie, but she’s already run through the crumbling house of horrors and out onto the street. From the step, I can see she’s falling apart. I need to get to her, but I don’t know how to fix this. What words of comfort are there for what she’s just learned?
It happens in slow motion, even though I’m willing my body to move faster than it ever has before. A pickup truck is racing down the road at an insane speed, yet Callie continues to move as though she’s underwater. She steps out into the road.
“Callie! Watch out!” I cry, but I’m too late. A failure. Again.
The truck slams into Callie’s body, and I swear I hear the impact even over the screaming brakes. She crumples and folds like a scrunched up piece of paper, flying up into the air like trash on the wind.
Callie’s body sails through the sky in a beautiful, graceful arc, like the dancer that she is, before time crashes into us all and she pounds into the ground behind the pickup with a sickening thud.
My breath catches in my chest, choking me.
There’s no movement.
