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“I’mstilla good girl.” I look up into his eyes, weaving my fingers through his. “Youwere bad. Not me. I followed all of your rules. Every last one of them. That’s why we’re here, Alastor. Rule Six, the weak are to be eliminated.”
“And you think I’m weak?” He gives my hand a quick squeeze.
“The woman in the hole, Daddy.” I hiss. “Shewas infected. She made you weak.”
“That woman was your mother, Carwen.” He shakes his head slowly. “And she didn’t make me weak. Maribel made Haden weak. The fact that he couldn’t end her life, as he should have, was the main reason he wasn’t permitted to come back home.”
“Why didn’t you tell me that before?”
“Rule Seven.” He sighs, rubbing his thumb back and forth across the top of my hand, “You were always such a good girl. I didn’t want to taint you by mentioning the disgraced.”
“Rule seven.” I nod my understanding. “And Leiv?” I demand, yanking my hand from his. “He was born to be my husband. He told me so,andI read it in your secret black book.”
“You’re such a sneaky girl. I never would have suspected you were capable of such hidden treachery.” Alastor snorts. “I didn’t need him. He is as unstable as your mother withhisfather’s disobedient attitude.”
“Our mother was unstable?” I lean in close, bracing myself with my palm on the arm of his chair. I still need this last bit of information from him… I know that I’m missing something important here. I just don’t know what. “Why was she in that cellar?”
“I thought you knew everything now, little girl? You’re telling me you don’t knowwhy?” Father laughs, gripping the front of my dress. “Okay. I’ll tell you,” he whispers and crooks his finger for me to lean closer, grinning when Leiv and Haden walk out of the back kitchen door and into the yard. “Because she saw the evil souls residing in both of her disgraceful offspring and tried to send you back to hell where you belong. One evening when you were only an infant, she tried to drown you while giving you your nighttime bath, but I heard Leiv shouting and stopped her.”
“You let her live? Why would you allow them to stay so close?” I slowly shake my head, unable to understand how he could allow her to stay on our property, knowing she wanted to kill me. “What about Leiv?”
“She saw what I refused to and was the only one of us willing to end you both, but not before Leiv attacked her. That boy went feral, knocked her into the tub, and threw a blow dryer plugged in at the sink in on top of her. It’s the only time he’s ever impressed me if I’m being honest. Haden revived her and begged me to let her live since she was the only Greene woman of childbearing age at the time, so I offered up a compromise of sorts. Her body was mine to use when I felt the need- which I rarely did unless I wanted to remind the two of them who’s in charge- and I condemned them both to that cellar, keeping you.” He raises a brow. “Keeping her restrained down there gave us an opportunity to grow our family. But she failed to have any more children, so she means nothing to me.”
“And Haden?”
“He always loved the crazy bitch. Their mother claimed it was a twin thing, but whatever it was made Haden weak. I refused to raise Leiv, so he dropped him at a home in town and chose to stay in the ground with her. I can’t say I blame him for ditching the boy, though. The last thing we needed around here was more men. After their mother died, Maribel was our only option, so Haden and I shared her. But when I had a chance to start over with you, I decided I wasn’t sharing with anyone, especially not Leiv. My plan seemed perfect-youseemed perfect- but it turns out that Maribel was right about you all along. My eldest daughter may have listened to voices no one else could hear, but now I can see that I was the one who was really wrong! The blame lies with the only sane person here. Me.” Alastor elbows my hand from of the arm of the chair, knocking me off-balance, and I fall forward across his lap. As I push myself back up, I feel something slide from my dress pocket and panic.
I try to act casual, like I’m simply making sure he’s comfortable as I run my hands down the seam of the chair, over his blanket, and then drag my palm across the warn brown suede material of the arm. But I can’t find it, and when I look down to double-check that my pocket is, in fact, empty, his hand jerks out, gripping the folded knife in his fist. He grins wickedly, flicking open the spring-loaded blade with his index finger, and then flips it around and jams it into the top of my right hand that is still resting on the arm of his chair, and I scream.
“Carwen!” Leiv bursts through the kitchen, and the door smacks the wall so hard it bounces back and catches Haden in the face, adding his pained shouts to my own. “Hold still, Wild One,” Leiv shouts over Alastor’s maniacal laughter.
He lifts me into his arms, rushing us over to the sink, and sets me on the counter.
“Let me see.” He takes my arm gently into his left hand and lifts his right one to my cheek, wiping away a single tear trailing down my face. “This is going to hurt, but you can take it.” He drops the hand from my face and grips the hilt of the knife, quickly yanking the small blade from my palm, and tosses it onto the counter.
“I’m sorry.” I bite my lip, ashamed of the tears and my wound. “I didn’t mean to.”
“For what?” He gingerly wraps a towel around my hand and lifts it into the air, holding it above my head. “Keep it above your heart until the bleeding slows, and then we can glue it closed. I’ll send Haden for the first aid kit.”
“I’m sorry for cryingandfor letting Alastor get the upper hand like that. I shouldn’t have let my guard down around him. I knew he had slack in his chains; it’s my fault.”
“No, you shouldn’t have, but the brunt of this is his cross to bear, not yours.” He lifts the bloody knife from the counter, spinning away from me, and storms into the living room where Father is still chuckling. “Your hand is enough of a punishment for your mistake, Carwen, but he is going to fucking pay for hurting you with his own blood. You like to paint, don’t you? Well, I’m going to help Alastor paint the walls crimson. Sit back, and enjoy the show. ”
“Rule Three, dear daughter,” Father sings with a malicious grin. “Rule three.”
“Yes, rule three, Alastor.” Leiv snarls and lifts the blade high above his head. “Disobedience is met with quick and severe punishment.” He slashes down, burying the blade in Father’s chest, yanking it back out and over his head again. “Leniency is a disservice dealt only by weak men.” Down again, this time the blade lands to the hilt in Father’s shoulder. “And Rule Six, the weak are to be eliminated.” Up. “Rule Five, Protect our Family at all costs.” Down. And Up. “Rule Two, know those who aim to corrupt and destroy your home as you know yourself.” Down and up. Down and up. Over and over again. The blood coats the floor, the walls, the chair, and my Leiv. I slide from the counter to the linoleum and walk over to him, in awe of his strength and dedication to this family. To me.
“Husband?” I run my uninjured hand down his back, and he freezes mid-swing, turning and yanking my body against his and slamming his lips to mine. When he breaks our kiss, still panting from exertion, and leans his forehead against mine, I ask, “There is a lot of blood. Is my father dead yet?”
“Probably.”
“It’s beautiful.” I look around the room coated in crimson regret and then down at Alastor, who is now nearly unrecognizable. “What will we do with him now?”
“Throw him in the cellar with what’s left of the whore, Haden.” He shrugs. “I’m taking my wife to bed.”
“You want me to carry him out there alone?” He huffs, tossing a bag of ice from his face to the sink.
“Unless you want me to carry both of your bleeding carcasses out to that hole so you can rot in there together?” Leiv snarls. “Yes, I do.”
