Ollie scoffed, shaking his head as he kept his eyes on the road. “Oh, no. Nice try, kid. I’m going with you.”
“Bev clearly needs you more right now.” I could feel Mason pulling waves of anxiety off me. I leaned back against his solid chest to get a handle on all that loomed before me, while Mariang rubbed my back like the amazing sister she was.
“It’s out of the question. You’re my responsibility. If you’re going straight into the lion’s den, I’m not letting you go there without me.”
“I went just fine without you the other times. I’m not a kid anymore, Ollie. I can handle myself.”
I could hear the small smile in his voice. “That’s exactly what you said your first day of junior high, but I still walked you to school every morning. You said it when you were sick that one Christmas when you were little, but I didn’t leave your side until you were better. You said it your first day of work at the prison, and I still drove you to work and talked with the warden and the guards, making sure you were safe. Say what you want, but I’m far more stubborn than you are. I’m going, and you’ll be an adult about it.”
“But I love you,” I said, wishing I could make him understand.
“And I love you.” Ollie reached behind and grabbed my hand, bringing it up to rest on his chest in a hug that wasn’t comfortable, but was very necessary. “It’s settled. I’ll always be the one who looks out for you.”
I squeezed him before sitting back so he could drive more easily. Bev watched our exchange and asked for a tissue. “I don’t even remember your first day of junior high. And I don’t remember you being sick on Christmas. Was it nice after you got better? Did I at least get you a good present?”
“No,” I answered, my tone clipped. I could feel it all bubbling under my skin like poisonous lava – the things I’d never said to confront her, but absorbed the sting and bit my tongue through. “You spent all your money getting more of your special things, so there was no food in the house.”
“October,” Ollie warned.
I ignored his insistence on caution. “They shut off the water the week before, so Ollie had to ask Mrs. Kitsa if we could shower in their trailer one morning before school. I went to school with wet hair and caught a cold. Then the power in the trailer got shut off, so my cold turned to pneumonia. Ollie took me to the doctor while Allie babysat after school to earn enough money to pay the heat bill so I could get better! You got me nothing for Christmas, but you got yourself a few hundred dollars’ worth of crap! Total crap that you bought instead of spending anything on me. Christmas morning was spent trying not to die of pneumonia while you tried on your new clothes!” Once I started, it all spilled out. Years of pent-up fury poured out that I’d not given voice to, since I knew she couldn’t have cared less if I’d confronted her.
Now she cared. She was capable of actual tears, so I let the dam break and unleashed on my mama, ignoring the emotion that streamed down her face. “You know what you said to me when I lost one of the stupid beauty pageants you made me do?”
I waited for her meek “No” that came over her hiccupped sobs.
“You said next time I’d have to try harder to be prettier. You told me we lost because my hips were too wide and my face wasn’t right. Who says that to a four-year-old girl? You got drunk that night and told me I was the second worst mistake you ever made, and that Allie was your first. Allie was my mama! You’re not my mama! You were never my mama! You’re the woman who threw me away, and I won’t let you do that to Mariang!” Mason’s arms wrapped around me, pulling harder than usual.
“October!” Ollie shouted with all the finality of a parent. “Knock it off. This isn’t the time for that. Bev’s fragile, so best not push her too hard. She’s not the person we grew up with. She doesn’t even recognize her actions! Punish her later when a therapist is there to moderate.”
I looked down at my lap, trying to get ahold of myself as I seethed. “Yeah. Okay. Sorry everyone.”
“Apologize to Bev.”
My head snapped up at Ollie’s orders, anger burning through me. “Are you joking right now?”
“That right there sitting next to you? It’s not Bev. Not the one we knew. She was being poisoned, October. Her mind was warped. You haven’t been here through her coming out of it. She didn’t know what she was doing. She wasn’t in control. Be mad all you want, but you can’t treat her like she’s the same person. She’s not. She’s just as shocked at all the stories as other people are.”
Mason rubbed the nape of my neck and slid my legs to the other side so I was facing Mariang, my back to Bev. He cradled me to his chest, stroking the side of my face and resting his cheek to my forehead. “Take a break, hani. It’s alright. It’s all coming at you at once. We’ll get the stone and give it to the Ekeks quick as we can. Then we’ll get Von back.”
“Von’s gone,” I whispered, my eyes locking on Mariang’s. I was scared to my very soul that someone had taken him. He wasn’t meant for torture, and certainly not from cannibals.
Mariang gripped my fingers with one hand and wrapped her other arm around my hip, bringing her face close to mine. She loved Von like a brother, but was trying to be strong while I freaked out. “We’ll get him back. Danny and I won’t stop looking. I won’t reap until the day the count runs out. We’ll find him, sister. We’ll find Von and bring him home to you.” She squeezed me. “I know how much you love him. We’ll find him.”
I gulped down as much of my dread as I could. Von was gone because of me. I’d kissed him, and now he would pay. If the appearance of visions was an indicator that I was in love, I knew I would take it all back in an instant if it meant Von was at home with me. I would watch him take up with Katrina and who knows who else if it would mean that he was safe.
But he wasn’t safe. I didn’t have any real assurances that he was even alive.
Mason tucked my head under his chin, making sure my back was to Bev so I could pretend there was one less thing that clawed at my insides and tore me into uneven pieces. I closed my eyes and pictured Von’s adoring gaze in my mind, hoping with everything in me that he wasn’t in pain, and that we would find each other before it was too late.
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Otherwise, you know, Von dies.
Treat
Enjoy a free preview from Treat,
book five in the Terraway series.
1
Tell me about October Grace
The world seemed to be moving in slow motion, taking far too long for the simplest things. The drive from my side of town to Ezra’s should have taken only an hour, but the universe bent itself so that the hour felt like seven hundred hours all hooked together, stretching out longer than they should.
Von was gone. We’d had the best kiss of my life, and when we both ran from the intensity of a life neither of us were anticipating, he’d been snatched up by Ekeks – a cannibalistic people from Terraway whose favorite snack was fresh vampire meat.
I tried not to think about all the body parts they might take that could still leave Von alive. I loved every part of Von, even the childish, selfish ones, and wanted him intact.
When we reached Ezra’s, Danny had already apprised him of the situation over the phone on the drive. “Where’s the stone?” I asked in lieu of a greeting as I marched into the house on a mission.
“It’s in a lead-lined safe so it doesn’t poison the minds of any humans in my home.” When this answer wasn’t specific enough for me, he pointed to the basement. “Downstairs, but we’re waiting on Sylvia. You remember she’s the Queen of Lumipad, and she can port us down and lead us to the main well with less interference from civilians. If all goes without interruption, the whole thing could be done by tomorrow night.”
“That’s not soon enough!” I was irate, worried that no one was taking this as seriously as they should. “Every minute that ticks by is another that Von’s life is in danger. I’m not waiting around for Sylvia to manage her people. Can Lang ta
ke us? Finn? Give me a map, and I’ll go by myself. No one else has to get hurt.”
Ezra wasn’t listening. He had Bev swept up in a hug that looked like it hurt them both with the raw emotion they couldn’t suppress. “I’m so sorry you were brought in on this. I don’t want you worried.”
“My children. They’re going to do something dangerous? This is the country filled with cannibals, isn’t it?” Her voice was barely recognizable. She wasn’t brash or bossy. She sounded afraid. Actually concerned for Ollie and me. Her southern lilt came off as a delicate Belle, and not a brash, demanding woman on the prowl to manipulate men with money. I didn’t know who she was, but Ollie was right, this wasn’t the Bev I knew.
“I’ll be with them. I’ll make sure our children come home safe. I won’t leave their side.” He kissed her lips, and for some reason this made me very squeamish.
“She’s so small,” Bev whispered. “They’ll take her, and I’ll never see my daughter again! Then they’ll take Ollie and you. I can’t sit back while that happens! I’m just starting to see my family for the first time. I can’t let you all just go walking straight into danger! We’re talking actual cannibals, Ezra!”
I had to get out of there. Bev never referred to me as her daughter unless there was something in it for her. The look on her face was raw, unmakeuped and earnest, and I had no idea what to make of it. I’d never seen her sincere before, and didn’t know whether to be overjoyed or very, very afraid.
Ollie had the same reaction, though he’d spent more time with the new Bev. “It’s alright, Bev. I’ll watch October. I’ll make sure we all come home. Like Ezra said, it’ll probably be a day of traveling, and then we’ll be right back. Easy as that.” When Bev made to argue, Ollie held up his hand. “When have I ever not kept October safe?”
Bev left Ezra’s embrace to wrap her arms around Ollie, squeezing him tight and shaking in his arms. I’d never seen them hug before. My mouth went dry, and I heard everything as if my ears were stuffed with cotton. Bev shook like a leaf battered by the wind in Ollie’s embrace. “I remember the day you were born. I was so scared I would screw you up. Now that you’re perfect and I had nothing to do with it? I can’t let you die like this. You’re my only boy!”
This choked Ollie and I simultaneously, and I knew I had to leave. I ran to the conference room down the hall and shut myself inside to escape land of the body snatchers, lest they come for me next. It was a complete personality change. In passing, I’d heard Bev’s old school friends mention that she’d been a real sweetheart, but I never believed it. As soon as she’d run into them, they’d run straight out of our lives when they caught wind of Bev’s new deranged personality. This version must’ve been the one they were expecting to see. The kind of woman who hugs her son and cares if her daughter gets eaten by cannibals.
I barely recognized her.
I waited out the waves of getting everything in order, holing myself up in the conference room, since I knew this was where we would all end up when things were ready to be set in motion. I heard Mason escort Bev toward the stairs to settle her in, but they stopped just outside the conference room door. “Mason, please. You have to see how dangerous this is. A land of starving cannibals? Am I the only person who cares about my children?”
Mason’s voice was calm, and I could picture his kind eyes as he remained patient with Bev. “Ezra cares about your children, and he cares about thousands of people’s children in Terraway. And all this is for October. An Omen needs her Pullers, or she won’t live very long. Getting the stone to Lumipad is the only way to keep October safe in the long run. It’s a risk, sure, but it’s riskier not sending her.”
“But why does it have to be her?”
“Because only your family is immune to the stone’s magic. Only you, October, Ollie and I suppose Allie can touch it without turning to stone. The tradeoff is that it warps your minds. That’s why you were the way you were, and why October is the way she is.” Mason was matter of fact about there being something wrong with me, and it made me clench my fists. I was fine. I didn’t need Bev knowing my business. It was one of the many reasons I told her next to nothing about my life. That, and she never asked.
Bev’s voice was small. “What way is she? I don’t know the first thing about her. I’m still sorting things out. For the past who knows however many years, I remember her picking me up and taking me out for the day to make sure I had food, but I don’t know anything about her.”
“Maybe you should ask her.”
“Have you seen the way she looks at me? She won’t talk to me. I’ve lost my chance to know my daughter, and it’s killing me! Ollie’s giving me a second chance, but I know that look. October Grace won’t let me in. Please, Mason. Tell me about my daughter. She trusts you.”
“Well, then you already know your daughter has terrible judgment when it comes to trust and that sort of stuff.”
“Please. Tell me anything.”
“I’m not sure I want to get in the middle of…”
Then Bev cut him off, her voice raising hysterically. “Please, Mason! Tell me about my daughter!”
The sound of her plea shook me up and rattled around the parts of me I assumed were untouchable. I sunk to the carpet, kneeling at the door with my ear pressed to it. I didn’t want to see or talk to Bev, but I’d never heard her want to know more about me – or anything about me, really. My fingertips hesitantly fluttered over the door as I let myself consider the painful, confusing and hopeful thought that maybe Bev actually did want me around.
“Okay, alright. Calm down. What do you want to know?”
“Is she happy?”
Mason let out a long and low sigh. “I don’t know. She’s funny, and she smiles a lot. She’s the kind of girl who finds a way to get the things out of life that she wants, and I don’t think that kind of person tolerates being unhappy for very long. She’ll be glad when this whole mission is over. I know we all will.”
“Does she have good friends?”
“No,” Mason ruled. “She hides from just about everyone. Made the job so hard in the beginning. Won’t let people she doesn’t trust help her, so she ends up doing everything herself. Von and I do our best, but she guards herself even from us, not that I can blame her. It was harder in the beginning, but I think we’re finding our way.”
“Tell me more. I hate that this is all new to me.”
“She’s kind. Too unselfish sometimes. Not to be disrespectful, but she should’ve stopped going to see you years ago. She kept it up because she’s a good person. The flipside of that coin is that she doesn’t care about her own life. A beautiful woman like that working around inmates?”
“Has she ever been attacked by any of them?”
“Do you really think she’d admit that to me? She doesn’t work there anymore, so at least that nightmare’s over.” He paused, and I wondered what his eyes were saying in that moment. If part of him still hated me, if any part of him was capable of forgiving me for all we’d put each other through. “You want to know about your daughter? She’s incredible. That’s pretty much the sum of it.”
I couldn’t believe Mason had such lovely things to say about me. He didn’t bring up my OCD or how impossible I sometimes made things for him. He was generous with my good parts and politely covered over my ugly ones. He was turning out to be a good friend, despite all we’d been through. A layer of hurt crumbled away, and I felt one degree closer to my constant protector.
“You love her,” Bev pointed out.
Mason was thoughtful as he mulled this over. “I do. I love her enough to know that I’m not good for her. Not in the way I want to be, anyway. I was married before, and I think I tried to jump back in too soon. You should know I hurt her in ways I’m too ashamed to mention to her mother.”
Bev was quiet, and I feared they’d hear my heart pounding.
Just then, I heard a commanding voice coming from the foyer, calling out for me.
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nue on with
the next book in the Terraway series.
Other books by Mary E. Twomey
The Saga of the Spheres
The Silence of Lir
Secrets
The Sword
Sacrifice
The Volumes of the Vemreaux
The Way
The Truth
The Lie
Jack and Yani Love Harry Potter
Undraland
Undraland
Nøkken
Fossegrim
Elvage
The Other Side
Undraland: Blood Novels
Lucy at Peace
Lucy at War
Lucy at Last
Linus at Large
Terraway
Taste
Tremble
Torture
Tempt
Treat
Temper
Tease
Trap
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Mary also writes contemporary romance under
the name Tuesday Embers.
View her books at www.tuesdayembers.com
Tempt (Terraway Book 4) Page 24
