She drops her eyes, but there’s no mistaking the fear and troubling look that comes across her face.
I lift her chin with my finger. “Have they hurt you, Thea?”
Seeing the tears sliding down her chubby cheeks crushes my heart. I blink away the red haze clouding my vision. She doesn’t need to answer for me to know they have. It’s written all over her face.
Tears drip from her chin when she nods, confirming what I already know. “I don’t want them to go. I don’t want them to hurt me anymore.”
Throwing caution to the wind, and hope like fuck I don’t scare her, I pull her into my arms. I close my eyes and suck in a labored breath when her tiny arms move around my neck and squeeze me tight, as if she’s afraid I’ll let her go.
“I promise they’ll never hurt you again. I swear, Thea, no one will ever hurt you again.”
“You won’t hurt me, will you?” Her whispered words send a pain so sharp to my chest it nearly steals my breath.
I pull back and look deeply into her eyes. “I swear on my life, I’ll never hurt you.” I
vow.
She looks at me for a minute, and I don’t know if it’s because she truly does believe me or she just desperately wants to, but she nods.
As soon as I pull her back into my arms, I open my eyes and lock them on the two people I hate most in the world. My mom is sitting on the couch, her hand at her mouth, alarm making her eyes appear bigger than they are. Trey’s still on the floor, but he’s up on his knees with Judge standing behind him. His eyes are defiant.
I kneel there with my baby sister in my arms, a sister I didn’t know I had, but already love, and glare every bit of hate I feel for the two people.
Thea won’t know it, but our mother and father will be coming to Texas with us.
TWO DAYS LATER, I stop at the back of Judge’s car, pull the keys from my pocket, and pop the trunk. Two people stare back at me, the light they haven’t seen for days making their eyes squint from the sudden brightness. One set of eyes are filled with terror and the other set filled with hatred. I don’t give a shit what either of them feel.
We made it back to Malus yesterday afternoon. While I was helping Thea pack some clothes for our trip, Judge was loading a gagged, bound, and an unconscious Trey and my mother into the trunk of his car. Trouble sent me with a concoction that would knock the two out for the trip to avoid any trouble along the way. Except for a few pit stops, we drove straight through.
When we first arrived, I took Thea straight home. She was still scared and timid because of the sudden change in her life, but being around Eden for only thirty minutes had loosened my sister up a bit. I have no doubt what she went through by Trey and my mother’s hands was terrifying, and it’ll stay with her forever, but I hope living in Malus, surrounded by family and friends who will protect and care for her, will help her heal. She has a long road ahead of her. I’m just glad I found her and was able to take her away from the nightmare she had been living.
During one of our gas stops, I called Eden to warn her. She met us outside as soon as I pulled into the driveway, as if she were anxiously waiting for our arrival. As soon as she laid eyes on Thea, I saw the same thing I felt when I first saw her. Instant love and profound pain. Eden let the love shine through and worked her best to hide the pain.
Trouble appears beside me, and I feel the rage radiate off him as he glares down at the two huddled in the trunk.
“How is this going down?” he bites out.
“I figured The Finishing would be appropriate for them.”
The Finishing is normally reserved for citizens of Malus, but since Trey and my mother used to be part of what Malus used to be, I think it’s poetic justice. It’s not what I originally had planned for them—I wanted them to suffer more—but I have more important things to do than to spend any more time on these two. Like get to know my sister. And ask Eden to marry me.
My mom whimpers behind her gag when I reach inside for Trey. Their hands and feet are bound, so I’m forced to carry him over my shoulder. Trouble follows with my mother over his. Emo and Judge are already out in the field waiting for us by two freshly dug graves.
I dump Trey on the ground, satisfaction hitting me when I hear his grunt of pain. Trouble drops my mother beside him, only slightly less haphazardly. We both prop them up on their knees.
I stare down at the woman who gave birth to me and feel nothing but loathing, disgust, and hatred. Remembering the many times she watched as Trey raped my small body—not just raped, but viciously abused—while her and the man who I thought was my father did the same to another child filters through my mind. There were times she would stop with her own actions and touched herself as she watched Trey with me. Hatred isn’t a strong enough word for what I feel for the woman.
“Last words?” Judge asks, bringing me back to the moment.
“They don’t deserve them. There’s not a damn thing either can say that I want to hear.” A thought comes to mind, and I hold up my hand when Judge pulls out his gun. “Actually—” I walk over to Trey and rip off the tape over his mouth, “—there is something I want to know.” I glare down at him. “Why? If I was your son, why did you hate me so much? Why volunteer to get our mother pregnant if you were only going to detest your offspring?”
A lecherous look crosses his face.
“Because I wanted another hole to fuck. I wanted something tighter to force my dick into. To put it simply, son,” he sneers the word, “you were my new toy and fuck if I had a lot of fun playing with you.”
Emo emits a low growl and I glance up to see Judge holding him back. I ignore the distressed moans coming from my mother and look back at Trey. As disturbing as his words are, they’re nothing less than I suspected.
“And Thea? Was she the same?”