Wicked Kiss
Page 111
She gives me a stiff smile and pats back her hair, which is a golden shade I know she still uses like money to earn the attentive gazes of many men. “Haven’t seen him today.”
“Let him know I’m looking for him.” I turn away.
“Adam, darling. Wait. I know you’re angry with me.”
I tense up. “Forget it.”
“I can’t forget it.”
“I don’t want to interrupt your meeting. You’re having one now, right?”
She glances back toward the door to the basement, the one part of this house I’ve never been invited to see. For years, it’s only been a mysterious locked door leading to the place she holds her secret meetings.
Her secret magic meetings. The same ones I’ve always laughed at behind her back.
Now that my eyes are fixed, I’m not laughing quite as loud.
“You should be careful,” I warn her. “I don’t know what you all get up to down there...or why you need the bodies you don’t send on to the medical school...”
“Darling, please forget all of that.” She gives me a tense smile that fans fine lines out around her eyes. “It’s my little thing. Nothing to worry yourself about.”
“I never said I was worried.”
She presses her hands to my cheeks and looks deep into my eyes. “So much like your father, always trying to do the right thing, to convert me from my wild ways.”
The subject of my father’s always been a sore point. Mostly because she’s told me next to nothing about him other than the fact he’d left her. I wasn’t even sure if he knew I existed.
“Not like James’s father,” she says, her expression darkening.
She hates Thomas Kraven and has for nineteen years since he got her pregnant and discarded her. He already had a wife and two mistresses, so he didn’t want any more obligations. When she threatened to go public with James and tell everyone that he was Thomas’s child, he’d made it clear that both she and James would die if word got out about his bastard. He would never acknowledge James as his son, and Kara would never get any money from him.
He was a cold and heartless man—and very dangerous. Kara never doubted he’d follow through with his threats.
My mother has changed since those days. Now she took money for other people’s bodies...but not her own. At least, not to my knowledge.
“You need to let go of the hate you have for him.” This isn’t the first time I’ve told her this.
“I can’t.”
“You’re not even trying. It’s consumed you all these years.”
Something in her eyes sparks. “Perhaps it’s finally time for those who’ve wronged me to get what they deserve.”
A shiver goes down my spine when she talks like this because I know she means every word.
“I love you, Adam.” She pulls me into a hug that I try to return. “You’re the only one who cares if I live or die.”
“James does.”
“James is just like his father. Arrogant, selfish, a user from the day he was born.”
Always exaggerating, my mother. “From the day he was born? An arrogant, selfish infant?”
“You know what I mean.” She pulls away, her eyes damp with tears. “You’ve always been my favorite.”
“Don’t say that.” I hate it when she dismisses James as if he’s meaningless to her.
“But it’s true. Your father was my one true love.”
“A man who abandoned you and never looked back?”
“He had his reasons. One day you might learn what they were.”
“Yeah, right.” I had to get out of here. “If you see James, tell him I’m looking for him.”
“Yes, my darling.”
She hasn’t even noticed I’m not wearing my specs. Hasn’t noticed that I can see without bumping into things for the first time in ages.
Her favorite. Sure, I am.
As I reach the front door, I freeze when I hear a sound.
Raised voices coming from downstairs. One I recognize immediately as James’s.
But Kara said he wasn’t here.
Instead of leaving, I turn and slowly and quietly move toward the door leading to the basement. Kara’s already gone downstairs, but she left the door slightly ajar behind her.
I push the door open farther and take a step down. The stairwell leads to a short hallway and a room beyond. It’s in there that Kara must have her meetings. It’s there that I’m drawn to as if I have no choice but to see for myself what’s going on.
“Get away from me!” James’s voice is raised, angry.
“Stop acting like a fool,” our mother replies. “You agreed to this.”
“Agreed? To join your little soirée? Yeah, I agreed to check it out. Wanted to finally see what you all get up to every week. But if your friend touches me again with that, I swear I’m going to cut off his hand.”
“James,” Kara soothes, her words strong and steady. “To be welcomed as a new member of the group we must first draw these symbols on you.”
“Let him know I’m looking for him.” I turn away.
“Adam, darling. Wait. I know you’re angry with me.”
I tense up. “Forget it.”
“I can’t forget it.”
“I don’t want to interrupt your meeting. You’re having one now, right?”
She glances back toward the door to the basement, the one part of this house I’ve never been invited to see. For years, it’s only been a mysterious locked door leading to the place she holds her secret meetings.
Her secret magic meetings. The same ones I’ve always laughed at behind her back.
Now that my eyes are fixed, I’m not laughing quite as loud.
“You should be careful,” I warn her. “I don’t know what you all get up to down there...or why you need the bodies you don’t send on to the medical school...”
“Darling, please forget all of that.” She gives me a tense smile that fans fine lines out around her eyes. “It’s my little thing. Nothing to worry yourself about.”
“I never said I was worried.”
She presses her hands to my cheeks and looks deep into my eyes. “So much like your father, always trying to do the right thing, to convert me from my wild ways.”
The subject of my father’s always been a sore point. Mostly because she’s told me next to nothing about him other than the fact he’d left her. I wasn’t even sure if he knew I existed.
“Not like James’s father,” she says, her expression darkening.
She hates Thomas Kraven and has for nineteen years since he got her pregnant and discarded her. He already had a wife and two mistresses, so he didn’t want any more obligations. When she threatened to go public with James and tell everyone that he was Thomas’s child, he’d made it clear that both she and James would die if word got out about his bastard. He would never acknowledge James as his son, and Kara would never get any money from him.
He was a cold and heartless man—and very dangerous. Kara never doubted he’d follow through with his threats.
My mother has changed since those days. Now she took money for other people’s bodies...but not her own. At least, not to my knowledge.
“You need to let go of the hate you have for him.” This isn’t the first time I’ve told her this.
“I can’t.”
“You’re not even trying. It’s consumed you all these years.”
Something in her eyes sparks. “Perhaps it’s finally time for those who’ve wronged me to get what they deserve.”
A shiver goes down my spine when she talks like this because I know she means every word.
“I love you, Adam.” She pulls me into a hug that I try to return. “You’re the only one who cares if I live or die.”
“James does.”
“James is just like his father. Arrogant, selfish, a user from the day he was born.”
Always exaggerating, my mother. “From the day he was born? An arrogant, selfish infant?”
“You know what I mean.” She pulls away, her eyes damp with tears. “You’ve always been my favorite.”
“Don’t say that.” I hate it when she dismisses James as if he’s meaningless to her.
“But it’s true. Your father was my one true love.”
“A man who abandoned you and never looked back?”
“He had his reasons. One day you might learn what they were.”
“Yeah, right.” I had to get out of here. “If you see James, tell him I’m looking for him.”
“Yes, my darling.”
She hasn’t even noticed I’m not wearing my specs. Hasn’t noticed that I can see without bumping into things for the first time in ages.
Her favorite. Sure, I am.
As I reach the front door, I freeze when I hear a sound.
Raised voices coming from downstairs. One I recognize immediately as James’s.
But Kara said he wasn’t here.
Instead of leaving, I turn and slowly and quietly move toward the door leading to the basement. Kara’s already gone downstairs, but she left the door slightly ajar behind her.
I push the door open farther and take a step down. The stairwell leads to a short hallway and a room beyond. It’s in there that Kara must have her meetings. It’s there that I’m drawn to as if I have no choice but to see for myself what’s going on.
“Get away from me!” James’s voice is raised, angry.
“Stop acting like a fool,” our mother replies. “You agreed to this.”
“Agreed? To join your little soirée? Yeah, I agreed to check it out. Wanted to finally see what you all get up to every week. But if your friend touches me again with that, I swear I’m going to cut off his hand.”
“James,” Kara soothes, her words strong and steady. “To be welcomed as a new member of the group we must first draw these symbols on you.”
