Vicious Minds: Part 2 (Children of Vice 5)

Because they were still hollering and kicking, my men knocked them out.

“Bye, Mom, see you next week.”

“A week? You want me to kneel here for a week?” she called out.

“No,” I whispered. “I want you to kneel there until your knees bleed, until your hair turns gray, and until God himself comes and helps you up from the ground. But then you’d die, so I came up with this compromise—”

“Calliope, that is not possible! People will see, and—”

“If you get hungry? Don’t worry, someone will bring you a body of Christ to eat. If you need to shit, well shit yourself—”

“Calliope!”

“Too hard?” I snickered as I walked to the doors. “Funny, how did I manage? Oh well, we will see what choice you make. Either you kneel and every time someone asks you why, you tell them it is your penance for all cruelty you inflicted, or one of your beloved daughters, not me, of course, becomes crippled for the rest of her life. Peace be with you, Mother,” I said as I blessed myself with the holy water.

I knew she would not make it a week.

She knew it, too.

My poor sisters.

19

“I loved you as Icarus loved the sun

—too close, too much.”

~Unknown

ETHAN

It had been much longer than five minutes. I knew it would be. However, I still wondered what it was she had planned for her little family reunion. I was sure she would not kill her mother. Not because she did not want to, but because of the optics. She had just arrived in the city a few days ago; if her family ended up dead, it would look bad…Well, it would look like I did it. And there was no way she—no, we—could easily explain that one away. So, she’d keep her alive. But what her plan or thoughts were beyond that, Calliope hadn’t shared.

Typical. It would be easier to get Lucifer back into heaven than it would be to get Calliope to talk about her family or past.

Of all the women, why her, Ethan?

“That was not five minutes, Mommy!”

I glanced down at Gigi, who ripped herself from my side, watching as she rushed over to Calliope, who walked downstairs as immaculately as she had this morning. She grinned as she bent down to lift Gigi into her arms.

“Five minutes is up already? Really? I didn’t realize, I lost track of time.” Calliope laughed through her lie. “What did I miss?”

A better question would be, what did we miss?

Gigi pouted and looked behind her mother’s back. “Where is your mommy, Mommy?”

I smirked; she was my daughter, all right.

“She’s praying,” Calliope replied, putting Gigi on her feet.

Gigi opened her mouth to say something, but whatever magic mothers had in their eyes silenced her quickly.

Calliope petted her head. “Have you been helping Papa?”

“Yes! I helped lots!” Gigi spun around, immediately looking for me.

Calliope looked up, and both of their eyes were on me. Holding her hand, they walked over to where I was supposed to be cutting the dessert to put on the plates to give out.