Page 84 of Dominion

“And I decided not to listen to you, Cas,” she answered, her eyes firmly plastered to a frozen Skylar who was still standing in the middle of the foyer.

I moved toward her without thinking, shielding her with my body when the two of them came to the bottom, passing by Casimir. The man placed a hand on Cas’s shoulder, shaking his head as if to tell him that it was futile stopping her now.

I had no idea who she was, even if she did look like Skylar, and I didn’t give a fuck. We were at war, and every single person I couldn’t recognize was an enemy in my book.

“Who the fuck are you?” I spat out, pushing Skylar behind my back just as the woman stopped in front of us. A sad smile played on her face, her eyes trying to seek Skylar’s, but I wasn’t going to allow anyone to hurt her ever again—both physically and emotionally.

“Ash—” Casimir tried to intercept, but he was too late this time.

“Fucking answer me!”

“Judah Blackwood used to call me his Little Hell,” she murmured, her brows furrowing at the mention of that man. “But my name is Danika Eleara Ascelin,” she finished.

“Who?” I asked again.

“My mother.”

Skylar’s voice penetrated through my skull, shutting me up.

29

SKYLAR

Every child,no matter how fucked up they are, would always yearn for their parents’ love, and I was no exception.

When I was far too young to understand things better, it shattered my heart every single time the Blackwoods wouldn’t hug me or love me like other parents loved their kids. I watched the movies in which the father would come home from work and hug his kids and kiss the mom as they all gathered in the hallway, radiating with happiness.

I watched the movies where even when the kids did something wrong, the parents always tried to help them, tried to understand them, and I wanted that.

I wanted it all.

Love.

Caring.

Happiness.

And I never got one single thing.

When I found out that I wasn’t a Blackwood, not really, that Judah killed my parents, and I was practically an orphan, I could live with that. I created this vision of my mother in my head. The vision of a woman who fought for me until her last breath and who never would’ve let me go if she had any choice.

But it turns out that she had a choice and she decided that she wouldn’t fight for me because it wasn’t convenient for her.

“Skylar…” Even her fucking voice almost sounded the same as mine—raspier—but still the same. “Can we talk?”

She wanted to talk now?

All this time, all these years while I suffered, and she did God knows what. All I ever wanted was a family. All I ever needed was for someone to tell me that I would be okay, that the suffering wouldn’t last forever, and she could’ve done that. She could’ve fucking saved me.

“Skylar, ple?—”

“No,” I answered simply, stepping next to Ash. It was like looking into a mirror and I hated what I saw. From the moment Casimir mentioned that I reminded him of her, I’d tried pushing all thoughts connected to her very existence away from my mind, focusing on the issues we were currently dealing with. But now that she was here, it was as if my entire world tilted on its axis, and I couldn’t muster up any warmth for her. I couldn’t even try and pretend that her mere existence wasn’t bothering me.

She was beautiful, I couldn’t deny that, but the emptiness in her eyes reminded me of who I used to be, and I wasn’t that person anymore.

“I just want to?—”

“I said no,” I repeated myself, glaring at her. “We have nothing to talk about.”

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