I knew exactly what to say, but I couldn’t bring myself to say it.
Her shrewd gaze studied me, and the tightness of her eyes and mouth faded. “What is it, my son?”
“She is not going to Klaus. She is coming with me to Delacroix. That’s final.”
Asher’s eyes narrowed to slits. “How dare you—”
“Get the fuck out, or I’ll throw you through the goddamn window.” I pivoted toward him, ready to make good on my threat because he’d been the ultimate kiss-ass since I could remember.
Asher looked to my mother for instruction.
Her eyes remained on me. “Excuse us, Asher.”
It was the first time he’d hesitated before obeying a command.
I turned back to her. “She will get us what we need. We will secure the dragons and take back Delacroix and the Kingdoms.”
“She can’t be trusted. The second you turn away, there will be a knife in your back.”
“She would never hurt me.” Unless she was insanely jealous of another woman.
“You’re a fool—”
“Because she’s my wife.”
The reaction was subtle, but it was deep. Like drops that spread into a puddle, her reaction grew bigger and bigger, turning her face pale, her eyes dark.
It was painful to watch.
Her jaw tightened, and she was rendered speechless.
“We married last night. It was the only way I could protect her from the Teeth. And it was the only way I could protect myself when I escort her to Delacroix. We’re family now—and she will not betray me. She has pledged her loyalty to me. We will take back the Kingdoms, and she will help us accomplish that.”
Her jaw was still tight, her eyes still empty.
I expected her to scream. Slap me so hard I hit the floor. But there was nothing.
I’d prefer her hatred to her silence any day. This was unbearable. “Mother—”
“Get. Out.” Her voice was so calm it was eerie.
“This is the only way—”
“I said, get out.” She turned her back on me and walked away.
I stood there, feeling shittier than I ever had.
Her bedroom door slammed a moment later.
I stayed there because I couldn’t move, couldn’t do anything else but think about the pain I had just caused.
She was a woman who never cried—but I heard her sob.
Sob her heart out.
When I returned, Ivory was awake, sitting by the fire with a bowl of oatmeal in her hands. The pot was still over the fire, so she must have just made it. In my sweater and socks, she’d invaded my home and made it hers.
She took one look at me and stopped chewing.
I fell into the other armchair, my eyes on the fire, unable to get that sound out of my head.
My mother weeping.
She set the bowl on the stool beside her. “Huntley?”
“I don’t want to discuss it.” I could feel her stare on the side of my face, feel it burn into my cheek.
She scooted to the edge of her chair, her hands in her lap. “I’m sorry.”
I watched the flames, my broken heart so full just hours ago.
“I’m always here…even if it’s just to listen.”
My head turned to look at her, to see the same concern in her eyes that she displayed with the dragons, like my heartbreak was hers to share. “I knew she’d be angry. I can handle that. I knew she’d be disappointed. I can handle that, too…because it’s the first time I’ve ever been anything less than the son she wanted. But her heartbreak… I can’t handle that.” I closed my eyes. “I feel…so fucking shitty right now.”
Her injured hand went to mine, squeezing it just the way I’d squeezed hers last night. “She’ll forgive you.”
“I’m not so sure about that…”
“I’ve seen the way she loves you, Huntley. She will.”
My eyes dropped to our joined hands, and somehow, her touch did give me comfort. This connection between us…it had the power to heal all kinds of wounds.
“Give her time.”
“She’s had over twenty years to let the past go…and you’ve seen how that’s gone.”
“Not the same thing.”
“In her eyes, it might be. I married the daughter of the man who raped her, slaughtered her husband, and took her home.”
Her thumb brushed over the top of my hand, soft to the touch. “Give her some time. Then tell her that I’m your ally, not your enemy.”
“I did, but I’m not sure if she really heard me.”
“She’ll understand when you tell her again.”
I turned my gaze back to the fire.
“I know how disappointed my father would be if he knew…”
I turned my head back to her.
“When he knows everything that I’ve done…he’ll never look at me the same. Ryker won’t either. Everything that’s happened has made me question my relationship with my father, made me reevaluate my memories, and I can’t think of a single time when he looked at me the way your mother looks at you.”
My broken heart broke into even more pieces. The feeling was senseless, because I already knew that and never cared. But now, I cared as if it had happened to me directly.