Crowned by Fate (Crowned 2)

“He gave her away.” My mother comes into view, and it’s the first time we see her in what little light we have. There’s a subtle beauty about her, much like Brianna and I, I guess, but something else. There’s something about the way her lips move and her eyes never remain in the same place for too long. There’s something I’m missing. “What are you thinking, Isa?” Her lips move, but I’m paralyzed by the energy she’s exuding. I recognize it. Warmth.

“I’m thinking you’ve been to that asylum…” I whisper, my eyes narrowing. I’m talking on straight instincts. Nothing more. “I’m thinking my fucked-up father had one weakness.” I breathe in and out. “When I first met Max, he mentioned—probably unintentionally because he’s about as dumb as he looks—that there was a reason as to why my father was trying to find a cure for insanity and schizophrenia.” I raise my brows and I feel the air once again shift around us. My lip curls at the edges. “I’m not wrong.”

“Baby, speak in a way that we can understand.” Bryant’s hand is on my lower back.

I suck in a deep breath. “Isabel—that’s your name, right?” I don’t wait for her to answer before I carry on. “Is sick beyond help. My father was trying to find the cure for her, to help her.” I pause, thinking around all of the different scenarios in my head. Why me, why Pearl, why did he use us to trial the drugs on? Realization skims over my flesh like a sharp blade. “Because genetics,” I whisper my answer out loud, merely testing it on the tip of my tongue.

“Oh, holy shit!” Devon chuckles, shaking his head. “She’s fucking right, isn’t she?”

I don’t need anyone to answer me, because I already know that I am. This whole time, he needed it for my mother, because even Lucifer needed a woman.

“Schizophrenia can be genetic, and all mental illnesses can be hereditary.” I’m still whispering out loud.

“But why not me?” Brianna asks. “Or even Max?”

I shake my head. “No, the question is why you? You were the perfect child. The staple of what made our family look like the perfect family. There’s no way he would have touched you when he had a fuck up like me or the lost daughter like Pearl to play with. Max had his role in it all, he was the doctor. Dad needed him for his brains—or lack thereof.” I exhale, shaking my head. “How did you get out?” I point to Isabel.

Schizophrenics are not bad people, and neither are those who are clinically insane. If she is truly with Max and Pearl in all of this, it will have nothing to do with the illness and everything to do with the human. Bad people are just that—bad people. You can’t categorize them and slap a label on them. They’re just rotten. There’s a high chance that she has been manipulated by my father, though, so until I’m convinced otherwise, I will treat her accordingly. I have a feeling that she’s not the bad person in this, she’s a victim as much as I am. Having so many strong personalities around me is draining. I wonder if she is the same. Or maybe I’m being naïve.

Isabel’s shoulders hunch forward, her head bowing. “Max and Pearl. I—” Her eyes squeeze closed as if she’s struggling to form the words. Before I can think twice, I’m moving toward her.

“Jesus Christ,” Devon calls. “Bryant! Stop her before she ends up hurt again!”

“Leave her,” Bryant snaps at Devon. Does he notice it too?

With the strength from Bryant, my hands come to her arms. Frail and skinny, like tiny bones hidden beneath a cloak. “Isabel, I am not like him, or them. I—” I pause when the smell hits me. I would recognize it anywhere. Bleach and poison. “When did they get you?”

“Tonight,” she whispers, finally lifting her head up with her eyes on mine. “I’m sorry. I never wanted this.” Her eyes close as she stumbles to the ground, and I catch her, helping her down gently until she’s curled up in a ball and leaning against the car door.

Pure, undiluted rage pulses through me as I slowly stand to my height.

I spin around to face Pearl and Max. “How fucking dare you!”

“He stole me,” Pearl interrupts in a panic, clearly reaching for my sympathy. “Stole me and locked me in that damn asylum for five years. Mom was here to help get you into the car.”

“I will kill you,” I whisper softly, tears threatening the corners of my eyes. “That is a promise.”

Pearl shakes her head, fear flashing over her face. She’s frantic, obsessed. “He took me away from my girlfriend. You know her, right? Brooke?”

Everything freezes.

I have whiplash from the revelations, everything hurts.