Page 64 of Ruin

She squeezed her eyes shut. “I owe you an explanation for disappearing from your life.” She opened them, her face tight. “I am shadow fae, but I have no powers to speak of. Here in this human world, my magic is smothered, a wisp of shadow that is of no use to me.” She blew out a long breath. “In Faerie, I was a princess, an heir to Orth’s throne. As the eldest daughter, I was to take the crown when my parents were killed in battle with the Bogwart queen. My sister challenged me—and she won. I never was a good fighter.” She peered down at her clasped hands, remorse clear in her voice.

“Not everyone can be,” I said, trying to reassure her, my heart banging as I heard the first bit of information I ever had about my own mother and her past.

She gave me a weak smile. “My sister sold me to a trafficker who had a portal to this world. Your father bought me. He wanted to breed me, thinking his heir would be stronger and faster, even meaner, than any pure shifter offspring. That’s why he pushed you so hard. And I couldn’t stop him. When I tried...” Her breath hitched as she looked away from my face, the shadows slithering across her body as if trying to provide comfort. I had a feeling I didn’t want to hear her next words, but I knew I needed to know the whole story. “Please, tell me what he did to you?”

“Whenever he was displeased with you, he would punish me for what he saw as your weaknesses. He would rape me at every opportunity, always trying to get me pregnant, believing more children with supernatural blood would give him the empire he needed to rule the world.” She grimaced. “He kept other women in his house, all supernatural to some degree. When it became clear I would not conceive again, he beat me to unconsciousness. Once my bruises had faded, he sold me.”

Pain squeezed my chest. It never occurred to me she had suffered at his hands as much as I had, but hearing it now definitely explained a lot. Leaning forward, I placed my large hand over both of hers. “I’m sorry, for everything you have been through. I vow, once this is over, wherever he is, I will hunt him down and make him pay for what he did to you.”

“I don’t care about him.” A tear trailed down her cheek and she sniffed. “I’m sorry. Gods, those two words. They’re so inadequate. I wanted to say them to you for so long, but I never could because it didn’t matter if I was sorry, I could do nothing to help you. Your father, he was a violent, sadistic man.”

I swallowed the ache in my throat.I’m sorry.I always thought those words were what I wanted to hear, only now I wasn’t so sure. As a child, I’d had no awareness of what my mother had suffered. Now I did.

“I really do love you, as much as I love Zander. It killed me to never know what had happened to you. Zander loves you, too, Connor. He sacrificed his life to save yours, so he could give you a chance at a life with your mate. Please, promise me you will try and bring him back to us.”

I knelt in front of my mother, looking straight into her eyes as I spoke. “Zander has saved my life so many times without ever telling me who he really is. He isn’t innocent in his treatment of my brothers, or even me, but he protected the woman I love, and he helped us all to fight back against his father. So rest assured, I will never stop trying to get him back.”

Tears filled her eyes and her bottom lip trembled. I opened my arms, but didn’t move. This poor woman had been through so much abuse in her lifetime, I had no idea how she wasn’t broken. So any physical contact, from this moment forward, would always be her choice, if I had any say in it. A sob broke from her chest and she leaned forward into my embrace. My eyes burned as I held her fragile frame close, giving what strength and comfort I could. “I will always take care of you, Mother. You will be safe.” I whispered soft promises into her dark hair. “No one will ever hurt you again. Whatever you want to do, wherever you want to go, I will make it happen.”

She took some hiccoughing deep breaths, and I wondered when the last time was that she had cried. “I want to stay with you. You are my son and I have missed out on so much of your life.” Her breath hitched again. “I want to know everything about you and how you came to be who you are...”

I smiled and wiped away the tear that trailed down my cheek. I didn’t care how it appeared, here in the shadows where we were alone, and I had a feeling that my mother would never judge me, or think me weak. “Then you’ll stay with me.” I pulled back and beckoned Alex closer. He looked from me to my mother, his brow furrowed in concern at her damp cheeks. I didn’t try to cover the evidence of my emotion; I was more worried about my mother. “Alex would you fetch us both a warm drink, please, and some food for my mother?” With Zander gone for now, it was my responsibility to make sure she was cared for and brought back to health. I’m certain Alex understood that.

She wiped her eyes and smiled. “I could eat, yes, but not too much.”

Alex smiled at her. “Sure, any requests? The bacon sandwiches are pretty good.”

She smiled and nodded.

“Okay then, anything for you, boss?”

“Bacon sandwich sounds good. Thanks, man.”

“No worries.”

As he walked off to do my bidding, I returned to my chair and turned my body so that I could watch the room, but I kept hold of my mother’s hand. She raised her brows a little. I shrugged. “Force of habit to watch for trouble. Now, where should we start getting to know each other?”

She smiled happily and squeezed my hand tighter. Warmth spread through my chest. I had an opportunity to purge my anger about the past, and I wasn’t going to waste it.

“How about what your father told you when I left…”

I nodded and began to talk about my past, with the one person I thought I’d never see again.

Chapter 20

Ember

Snow fellin quiet whispers around us. Despite my heavy boots and thick socks my feet were frozen. I hadn’t wanted to call on Fire yet. She could easily warm me, but calling on her burned through my energy as if she used it for fuel. The snowsuit I had on over my fae armour kept my body warm though, for which I was more than grateful. I glanced around. Not everyone had as good equipment and clothing as me, but I guess that was a perk of knowing the guys that held all the power. Connor wouldn’t let me freeze, and neither would Drake.

Connor laid beside me, his huge body hidden by the white and grey snowsuit he wore as well as the layer of snow that had settled on both of us. I knew he didn’t need it for warmth, but more for camouflage—until he decided to change into Prime.

We were keeping watch on the main gate and compound from the tree line. Behind us the majority of our armed force hid in the snow, those who were in wolf form blending into the trees. The prison was not reachable by any roads and according to the data bases Drake and Charlie, who was working from Drake’s offices in Texas, was totally off the SBI radar.

The Were patrols we’d hunted down on our way here had been quickly and quietly dispatched by our advance squad; taking prisoners wasn’t possible.

Connor narrowed his eyes not needing any equipment to help him see the enemy that guarded the entrance to the prison. I swallowed hard, squashing my emotional link to him, just a little. Being party to all of his feelings was taking its toll on me. Yesterday I’d tried not to cry when I saw him walking hand in hand with his mother. It broke my heart that they’d lost so much time together.

A lone werewolf stalked into the prison gates carrying a weapon similar to all the other Were guards. He stalked across the empty runway and towards the main doors, not acknowledging any other Weres. No guards challenged him. It was enough that his imposing presence was covered in shifter blood and his eyes were consumed by the black of a demon. I held my breath as he disappeared in through the door.

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