Trouble in Hell (Hell Night 1)

“Anything,” I would do damn near anything for Remi and Elijah.

She leans closer and hisses, her words more a demand than a request, “Make him suffer.”

I blink. Part of me is shocked she would ask such a thing, but a bigger part isn’t surprised. It’s her mama bear side who made that demand. That’s the part that rules her. Leland would have done every single thing he threatened to do with Elijah and she knows it. She wants justice for the horrific things her child could have been put through.

“Done,” I promise before stealing another kiss. “I’ll be back soon,” I murmur against her lips.

I leave before I decide not to. Remi isn’t the only one who’s having trouble letting Elijah out of her sight. I hate being anywhere that she and Elijah aren’t. If it were up to me, I’d superglue them to my side and never let them go.

It’s raining out, so I’m forced to take the Tahoe. Pulling into the driveway, I take a couple of minutes to calm the storm that’s brewing in my stomach. Remi was right. Leland could have been lying about Mae and Dale having a daughter. He could have simply made up the story to throw me for a loop and piss me off. But do I want it to be a lie? If it’s not, that means Mae’s my grandmother.

I close my eyes at the thought. Besides my brothers, who are only my brothers because of the love I carry for them, I have no family left. Why in the fuck would Mae keep something like this from me?

Pushing open my door, I slam it shut and jog up the steps and out of the downpour. I don’t knock, just grab the handle to the screen door and pull it open. I find her in the kitchen, her back turned to me as she takes cookies from a cookie sheet and puts them on a plate.

“Have a seat,” she says without looking.

I clench my jaw and sit at the table. My fisted hands rest on surface. She fiddles with the cookies for a couple more minutes before pouring two short glasses of milk. With the plate of cookies in one hand and both glasses in the other, she takes her own seat across from me. It’s not until she’s put two cookies on a napkin and slides it toward me, followed by a glass of milk, that she finally looks at me. She looks haggard and older than she normally does. Worry lines her face, but there’s also resolve. She knows why I’m here. I have no doubt that one of my brothers has mentioned to Mae about what Leland revealed.

I don’t touch the cookies or milk.

“Is it true?” It’s a feat, but I manage to keep my voice calm when I feel anything but. I don’t know exactly what I feel, but relaxed sure the fuck isn’t it.

She doesn’t touch her cookies and milk either as her sad eyes regard me.

“Yes.” Her answer is quiet, but it sounds like a piercing scream in my ear.

“What the hell, Mae?” I question harshly. “Why in the fuck would you keep something like this from me?”

“Watch your language in my house, Elijah Trayce,” she scolds. “I get you’re upset, and with good reason, but you’ll still respect me in my own home.”

I laugh grimly and slam out of my chair so hard it falls to the floor. “Respect?” I mock. “Like you showed me by lying to me for all these years? What excuse could you possibly have for keeping this from me? My God, Mae, you’re my Grandmother!” I spin away and slice my fingers through my hair. My chest pumps as I breath heavily through my nose. Throwing my hands on my hips, I drop my head.

It’s quiet, until I hear Mae sniffle. Guilt eats at me, but I push the feeling away. She did this. Her and Dale. They kept this huge mountain of a secret from me. All this time, I thought I had no family left, and the family I used to have, aside from Rella, was sick and vile and dirty. It was all a lie. Every goddamn minute of my life was a lie.

I jerk when Mae’s cracked voice reaches my ears. I listen but keep my back to her.

“Macy, your mother, was an accident. Dale and I never wanted to have kids because we knew of the horrors that awaited them if we did. We were always so careful, but apparently, not careful enough. I was so scared for our baby. We didn’t tell anyone about my pregnancy until I couldn’t hide it anymore. We couldn’t leave because The Council never let anyone leave Sweet Haven for fear of their secret getting out. If you tried, you ended up buried behind the church in a massive grave used solely for traitors.”

She sniffs and clears her throat. I still don’t turn around. Her words are hitting me hard, and I’m not sure I can look at her right now and not fall apart.

“My fears came to light when she was three years old. They came one night, the night of one of the Gatherings, and took her. They pried her out of our hands, kicking and screaming, and threatened to kill her if we didn’t cooperate.”

Her voice lowers, as if she’s telling a secret. Her words sear gaping holes in my chest because what she says next is something a parent should never have to think about.

“I thought about letting them kill her, Trouble. I knew the pain she would endure, because I went through it myself. Anything, even death, would have been better than letting her go through that. In the end, I couldn’t do it. I was selfish because I couldn’t go through the pain of losing her.”

She stops and lets out a quiet sob and the sound breaks something inside me. I spin and stalk over to her, pulling her frail body from the chair into my chest. Her arms wrap around my waist and she quietly cries. No matter what this woman has done, she was still mine and my brother’s savior all those years ago. I can’t stand to hear her heart breaking.

After several minutes, she pulls away and grabs a tissue from the box on the table, wiping her eyes and nose. I set her back in her chair, grab mine, and pull it closer to her.

“Go on,” I urge.

She nods and crumples the tissue in her hand.

“Michael Leland was her senior by ten years. By the time she was eight and he eighteen, he was already enjoying participating in The Gatherings. For some reason, he fixated on Macy, but he never asked to… take her. When he turned twenty, he spoke with his parents and said he wanted Macy as his wife. The Council agreed, but under the stipulation he had to wait until she turned eighteen. The night before one of The Gatherings when she was seventeen, she came to me to tell me she was pregnant with Aiden’s child. They had been secretly seeing each other for several months. As you know, The Council keeps a schedule of when the girls are fertile, and if they are during The Gathering, they force them to take Levonorgestrel.”

Levonorgestrel is what most people call the morning after pill. So the men weren’t forced to wear condoms, they prevented any unwanted pregnancies by shoving the pill down the girl’s throats. My molars grind, but I nod for her to continue.