Page 75 of The 13th Daughter
Born not as one, but as two.
The thirteenth daughter wasn't me or Kay. It was both of us. We'd always been connected on some strange level. Now I understood why. We were the same, our soul torn in half when we were born to try and stop the curse from being invoked. Even if they killed one of us, the curse would still fail as long as the other lived.
Madeline's vision showed her that only one of us would be able to stop the curse and she'd given a warning to that child. She'd given it to me. It had always been mine. When my dad took it from me, it found the other half of my soul—Kay. That's why she had started to have the dream. She was never supposed to see it. Maybe that's why it was so hard for her, why it almost killed her. It all made so much sense now. Except for one thing.
How did Matthew fit into all this? I really needed to talk to Ethan.
"Mr. Warren, thank you for giving me my Book."
He smiled, his gray eyes almost silver with the warmth that glowed within them. They looked so much like Ethan's. "You're welcome, Mistress."
Mistress? Uh, no. Not going there.
"No, Mr. Warren, that's a title I don't want."
He laughed. "Doesn't matter what any of us want, girlie. The Fates decide our lot and yours is Mistress."
I frowned. At least I understood where Ethan got his penchant for saying outrageous things. "I really came to see your grandson..."
"My what?" he asked sharply.
"Ethan...you're grandson."
"I don't have a grandson, Mistress. I never married when things didn't work out with my Suzie."
"But Ethan said you were his grandfather. You have his eyes..."
"What did you say his name was?"
"Ethan Matthew Warren."
He paled and grabbed the book, throwing it behind the couch. Then he yanked me up and pulled me into the hallway towards the front door. I was surprised the old man could move so fast at his age.
"Wait," I pleaded. "What is it? What's wrong?"
He stopped and turned to face me. "You need to run, child. Run as far and as fast as you can."
"Cassie Jayne won't be going anywhere," Ethan laughed from the now open doorway. "Except with us."
Chapter Twenty-Six
I staredat them in shock. Kay, Billy, and...Jeff all stood flanked around Ethan. Fear twisted through me at their expressions. Gone was the warmth and concern from their eyes. They all looked ready to pounce.
It was Ethan's eyes that caught and held my attention. Those beautiful gray eyes that had gazed down at me last night with such love and passion were now cold and hard. Their icy depths burned through me worse than the remembered heat of the fire from my dream. He watched me like a predator, ready to pounce and eat me alive the moment I moved. Eyes the color of a gathering storm shattered my heart. There was no love there. Only my death.
"Ethan?" I whispered, desperate to find some hint of his former self in those eyes.
He smiled and crushed any hope I harbored. Pain lanced me, a physical hurt that caused the air to leave my lungs. I wanted to throw up. I knew he was lying about something, but not this. Damn you, I wanted to scream. I couldn't get it out past the knot of agony that had lodged in my throat. How could I have been so wrong?
"Why can you just never stay put, Cassie?" he sighed. "I told you'd I'd come fetch you when it was time. Now you've gone and made this more difficult."
"You don't have to do this, boy," Mr. Warren spoke up. "She don't deserve it."
"You're wrong, old man," he said softly. "I do have to do this." Before I could blink, he'd moved and grabbed hold of my arm. Fingers that had caressed my skin with such gentleness the night before now bit into it with bruising force. "Come along, Cassie Jayne."
I hurt. Everywhere. Even with my mind reeling from shock and pain, I knew I couldn't leave with them. I had to find a way to escape, but how? I needed time to think and to do that I had to stall.
"Was it all lies then?" I asked him. I forced the panic aside. "Do I mean nothing to you?"
