Page 17 of Bride By Initiation

I finally spot my mom sitting with Dante, Aunt Brenna, and Uncle Finn. They're laughing, and the table's full of drinks.

I ignore people trying to talk to me as I push through the crowd.

Mom sees me first, and her face lights up. "Sean, you're back."

"I need to talk to you," I assert.

Her face falls. "What's wrong?"

"Not here. In private."

Dante questions, "Everything okay?"

I don't look at him. "Now, Mom."

"Okay," she says, and rises.

"Sean, what's going on?" Uncle Finn asks.

Brenna gives me the same concerned look as Dante.

I shake my head. "Not now. I need to talk to my mom."

"Okay, honey." Worry fills her expression. "What's going on?"

"We have to talk," I repeat, putting my hand around her waist and guiding her toward the back, down the hallway, and into Nora's office. I shut the door.

Mom frets, "Sean, please tell me what's going on. You're worrying me."

I blurt out, "Why did Dad have a skull brand?"

Mom's head jerks backward a bit and then she freezes. "I don't know. Why are you asking?"

"What was it for, Mom?" I demand, harsher this time, my insides shaking. I'm on the verge of something, but I don't know what.

She pins her eyebrows together. "Sean, I don't know. It was just something he did. He used to draw it all the time on paper, even before we got married."

"Why did he do that?"

"I don't know. He would doodle it all over the place. I always thought it was a cool design, but I never thought further about it. Then, one day, he came home. You were, I don't know, maybe seven or eight, I don't remember, but he came home with it branded on his hand."

My chest tightens. "Why did he brand it and not tattoo it?"

She shrugs, and confusion fills her expression. "Honestly, Sean, I don't know. I never understood why he didn't just tattoo it."

"But then it was pink. I know that I saw pink on it. I was older, but I saw pink," I insist.

She nods. "Yeah, he added some pink to the flowers, and… I think, on some of the feathers. A year later, he went and had gray and black shadows added to it as well."

"Why?" I push.

"I don't know," Mom claims.

I scrub my face. "Please, think."

"Why do you need to know this?" she questions.

"I just need to know," I answer.

---