Page 109 of House of Ruin
For something that was kept as a secret amongst their circle, getting such a clear answer to his question was not what Blaze had expected. “Galliermo hates mortals.”
Auburn smiled. “That wasn’t always the case. And I wouldn’t say he hatesallmortals.”
Just as Blaze had guessed. His father’s hate for Alecto wasn’t about her being half mortal. It was all rooted in whatever history he shared with Demitria Black.
“So what happened?” Blaze asked.
“What do you mean?” Auburn glanced at Blaze, her eyebrows drown together.
“What happened between them that they broke up?
His mother shrugged and returned to her plans. “Many couples break up after university. They were no exception, I suppose. Why are you asking about it? Where did you even learn about it?”
Auburn still had that sweet, gentle smile gracing her pale face. Her tone was soft, innocent as she asked those questions.
But there was something in her eyes, in the unnatural pinch of her mouth as it curled upwards that told Blaze there was something more to her question.
“Alecto told me.” Blaze lit another cigarette the moment the first one was gone. “Demitria isn’t in the House of Snake records. I didn’t even know mortals could attend Venefica. But there are memory orbs at Venefica of them as the Beltane Ball Queen and King.”
“Ah, yes, she never wanted to be an official member.” Auburn returned to tending her plants. She didn’t offer any more information, and for a while, Blaze didn’t ask.
His mother hummed an old lullaby she used to sing to him and Dominic before sleep a long, long time ago and trimmed a tall bush reaching the vaulted ceiling of the greenhouse with dainty scissors.
Blaze had a hard time imagining his mother as member of the House of Snakes. She’d always seemed too kind to belong to their House.
Any House, really.
And it was difficult to imagine why Galliermo would choose her as his bride in the end. If Demitria had a similar fire inside her that Blaze knew burned inside Alecto, then it didn’t make any sense to settle for a woman like his mother.
“Why did you marry him?” Blaze wasn’t sure he was ready for this conversation, but he needed to know.
Once and for all.
His mother ceased trimming the sunset-yellow bush, her hands frozen mid-action. It took her a moment to gather herself and turn to face Blaze.
Auburn’s eyes held so much pain, it physically hurt Blaze.
“He wasn’t always like this.” Her words were a whisper. “He wasn’t always cold, ruthless, and brutal—” Her voice cracked, and something inside Blaze shattered at seeing his mother like this. “Back at Venefica he was only this way with his enemies, but then as the years went by and the deal…”
Blaze’s mother trailed off, her eyes filled with unshed tears. She inhaled a shaky breath, brushed the tears that escaped from her cheeks with the back of her hand, and smiled.
“I’m sorry, honey,” she said. Blaze was frozen, unable to do anything else, just staring at her with wide eyes. “I know it doesn’t make up for it. It doesn’t take away the pain or the damage that was done. But I want you to know that I am sorry. I wish you didn’t— I could have given you a life different than the one you got.”
A whole storm raged inside Blaze. He didn’t know how he managed to sit so still, to feel nothing and everything all at the same time.
He frowned. “What deal?”
“What?” Auburn asked.
“You said the years went by and something about the deal?”
Auburn straightened, drawing her shoulders back. She shook her head, her hand coming to cover her mouth as if she was…scared.
“Don’t. Don’t ask these questions, Blaze. You want to stay as far away from it as possible. Please, I beg of you.”
Anger bubbled in Blaze’s chest, and he shot to his feet. “What is it with you and all your secrets?”
Auburn stayed silent.
