Chapter 7 #2
Their need for loss won’t be filled with anything but the strength to fight their demons.
“I was six when my mother snapped,” she whispers. “It was the day I knew the only person who’d ever loved me was Juliet.”
I watch her deadpan face as her words process into my mind. “What do you mean?” I ask, even though it’s none of my business.
“My mom tried to kill me when I was six,” she murmurs, like she’s talking about the weather. As if the words hold no shock or value to her. I scrunch my eyebrows as I wait for something, anything, related to an emotion from her.
I don’t get anything but her dead eyes.
“She couldn’t love me like she loved Juliet.”
“You don’t resent Juliet at all?” I ask, turning to lay my cheek on her head.
“Do you resent Enyo for being the favorite?” she retorts. There is a sharpness to her voice, as if my question offended her, and it makes my eyes open. I watch her in the mirror as she stares at me. She raises a brow, the most expression I’ve seen from her face since meeting her.
“That’s not quite the same.” It’s not the same, ‘cause Mother isn’t my mother, not like she is to Enyo.
“No, I don’t resent her. I love her.”
“Love?” I ask. Love is a word used freely, and yet I don’t sense Diora uses the word often. It’s interesting to hear people like us use the word Love. What does it really mean? What does it mean to her?
“My soul is bound to her. I owe her her happiness, not because she loves me, but because I want to. I want to see her every day. Talk to her. See her happy. It’s a desire to see another fulfilled,” she explains, holding a hand to her heart.
I see the devotion she has to Juliet. Something I’ve felt one time and from only one person ever.
“It takes a special person to hook themselves to us, doesn’t it?
” I say, watching as she silently nods a single time and looks away.
I couldn’t imagine having my person be someone like Juliet.
Someone weak. Someone I’d have to defend.
Worry about their safety. There’s a strength in Diora that I don’t have.
At least my person is like me. A killer.
I know about what happened to Juliet Moss. There is no written report of it, but it’s not hard to connect the dots. Juliet isn’t the only victim of the political game of Litchfort, but with Diora on her side, she may be the last.
If Diora can survive being a Stray. If Diora can survive Mother’s plan. Juliet will get her justice. I sigh as I release her throat and lift my head off of hers.
“We’re done today, Little Crane.”
“Again tomorrow?” she asks, and I see that damn glitter of her smile. The slight upward turn of her lips reveals her eagerness to play again.
“We’ll see,” I say, leaving the training room. I spot Enyo leaning against the wall and raise my brows at his overly smiley face.
“That wasn’t so bad, was it, baby bro?” Enyo says, laughing, and it takes everything not to knock him on his ass.
“Shut the fuck up,” I say, rolling my eyes as I stride straight past him.
“Hey, wait.” Enyo sobers, pulling my arm to slow me down as he matches my pace. “You saw the ring?”
He’s talking about the Society ring dangling around her delicate little neck. I sigh and run a hand through my hair.
“Yeah, I saw it.”
“How is she already a member? It’s been three months since she met Mother. How much can someone learn in three months?” he asks, rambling, as if I have the answer.
“Wait.” I hear a soft voice from down the hall and stop. Taking a deep breath, I slowly turn to meet the eyes of Diora, who runs to catch up to us. I swallow the spit pooling in my mouth as she gets closer.
I almost lost my cool back there and didn’t want to face her so soon afterward but I can’t seem to ignore her.
“You know about the rings,” she says, and both Enyo and I show our rings on our hands. “Tell me about it.”
I scoff and turn back around. What does she mean by that? As if she doesn’t know what society she’s joined, but wears the damn ring.
She pulls my arm with a glare set on her face. What is up with people pulling on me today? Damn.
“I know it’s a society of serial killers, but Mrs. Jay won’t tell me much else. As you probably know, she’s not one for answering questions.”
“And what makes you think I am?” I scoff.
“You’re right,” she says, turning to my brother. He smiles at her—the annoying ass.
You’re right. Her words, her honesty, rings in my ears, and one thing Diora isn’t… is hiding. Even when she was talking about her sister. The damn girl bleeds honesty, and it’s in a way to make you like her. She’s blunt. It’s an odd trait in a killer.
“Well, not all kills are for hire when it comes down to members of The Morrígan Society. Some don’t need the money, some love the thrill.
Mother loves both, money and killing so all her Strays kill for both,” the damn traitor says.
As Enyo’s talking, I watch as her attention fully moves to him, and it pisses me off.
I don’t know why because I met the girl fucking yesterday, but I don’t like her attention on him. I want it on me. Only me.
“Members of The Morrígan Society kill for release. The name is from Celtic Mythology and The Morrígan is a goodness of war, slaughter, and fate. We’ve been running for over a century. ”
“Okay, so what are the rules?”
“You don’t know the fucking rules?” I ask, trying to keep my shock to myself. I catch Enyo’s eyes, and I can see the surprise in them.
This girl joined a society without knowing the rules? What the hell kind of game is Mother playing here?
“If you’re that hopeless—”
“Stop with the lame insults and answer the damn question,” she cuts me off, and I get in her face for the second time and smile as she takes a step back.
She smells so fucking good.
“Or what?” I cruelly smile, wondering what the Little Crane will do.
She smiles, too, which turns me on more than I care to admit.
“Or I’ll go ask someone else and they can answer all my questions. I’m sure they will.”
“Who?” I snip, not liking that fucking idea at all.
She turns back to Enyo, who’s been watching us with his arms crossed and an eyebrow raised.
“Enyo?” His name comes off sickly sweet, and it makes my jaw tick.
“Yes, darlin’?” His tone is heavy with the Michigan accent as he loops his arm with hers, and I damn near rip his arm away when I yank him back.
“Oh, are you actually gonna answer, Brother?” he asks, and I shove him backward as I fill his spot next to Diora as we walk down this long ass hallway.
“You get to call on the Society for big shit three times, and three times only, so use that cautiously. Now that you are a member, the only rule is in regards to the ball.”
“The ball?”
“The annual ball, where your boy, Elliot, is hosting this year,” Enyo says, laughing as he catches up to us.
“How do you get to the ball?” she asks.
“You have to submit six kills.”
“That’s it?” she asks.
“Yeah, that’s it,” Enyo confirms. Diora nods her head as she turns back around and walks down the hall.
I snap my head toward Enyo, who shrugs his shoulders. “If the Society lets her into the ball, then I trust her.”
But what he fails to realize is that they let Mother in, too, and I damn sure don’t trust her. I need to know more about Diora, beyond what she tells me.
I shouldn’t let her in as easily as I am, yet I can’t figure out a way to stop it.