Chapter 26 #3

“Clever,” she says. “Very clever. You do have some of your father in you after all. I should’ve known you were too weak to come alone.”

“No,” Clover says. “I’m not weak, but I’m also not the scared little girl that you can control with your fits and mind games anymore either. The woman I’ve made myself into is no longer afraid of you.”

“Aren’t you though?” Terra’s eyes glint in the moonlight. “You’re still so transparent, Clover. Your hand is shaking. Your voice is hollow. Your eyes are blown wide. If that’s not the terror I instilled, then what is it?”

“Don’t say a word, Valen,” Roman mutters. “Let this play out.”

“Just because you’re terrifying doesn’t mean I’ll run from you this time.” I’m so damn proud of Clover, but I can sense the toll this is taking on her to keep her voice steady, so I press my front to her back, hoping she gains strength from the contact.

Terra studies us, but she really only has eyes for Clover. It’s as though I’m not even here.

“You’ve grown,” Terra says.

“Yes.”

“You think you’ve become brave.”

“I’ve always been brave,” Clover hisses. “You just tried to break me of it. But you failed. You always failed when it came to me.”

“And now?” Terra takes another small step. The red dots track her movement, but she doesn’t seem to care. “Now, you insolent little idiot, you think you can trap me? Contain me? Erase me like your slut of a mother attempted to do? Lock me away like your precious Vivian?”

“We know all about that,” Grant’s voice calls from the trees. “We know our mother paid Miriam to keep you locked away.”

This is news to me.

“We also know that she threatened you with a fate worse than death if you ever tried to come near Valen or Clover again.”

I’m going to throat punch my eldest cousin for keeping this from me.

“Did she tell you why she didn’t turn me in?” Terra raises her voice to the sky, the embodiment of a demon reciting an incantation and just as horrific. “Did she tell you what I know? What I could destroy with a single word to the right people?”

She’s met with silence. This is the piece my cousins have obviously been missing.

“No?” Terra’s smile is as sharp as a blade. “I didn’t think so. Saint Vivian had her secrets too.”

“We’re not here to talk about our mother,” Roman says, stepping into the clearing, wearing tactical gear that glints like stars, his weapon raised. He’s pissed. “We’re here to take you in. You can come peacefully, or⁠—”

“Or what?” Terra laughs. It echoes around the wilderness like the first crack in a frozen pond. “You’ll shoot me? In front of my seedlings? Without knowing what secrets I could unleash about your dear, precious mother? About you? I don’t think so.”

“This isn’t going to plan,” Grant mutters. “Get her talking or take her down.”

“Clover’s not your seedling, and she sure as hell isn’t your daughter,” I say, pressing myself into Clover’s back. “Whatever claim you think you had on us died the night I was beaten until I couldn’t remember my own name.”

The first flash of real emotion flickers in Terra’s expression. “It wasn’t supposed to happen like that.”

“But it did.” I breathe deep, growing even taller so my dominant frame towers over her frail one even from a distance. “If Vivi hadn’t shown up when she did, they would’ve killed me.”

“Because you were weak,” she hisses, the coldness returning to her features and tone. “Just like your father. Or don’t you remember? Oh, dear. Memories are a fickle thing, I suppose, but deep down, you know what you did.”

Ice slithers through my veins.

“You know, don’t you?” She’s baiting me, but I won’t fall for it. “You know the moment those lines were cut, you belonged to me. Without me, you were unable to embrace your true potential. But unlike your father, you’re not the innocent you believe yourself to be now, are you?”

I have no idea what she’s talking about. Clover reaches behind her back and rests her palm in mine.

“My potential isn’t tied to you,” I say.

“Isn’t it?” She glares at Clover. “And what about you? Still writing letters to a boy who abandoned you? Did I teach you nothing?” she roars.

“Stupid, stupid girl. Men always leave you. I taught you that, but did you listen? No. You’re still hoping for a love story that was never yours to begin with.

I gave you everything, Clover. Purpose. Meaning.

A place in something greater than yourself.

And you threw it all away. For what? For him? ”

“For myself,” Clover says with steel in her tone. “I chose myself. That’s what you could never understand. I was never yours. I was always mine.”

Terras face twists. “You ungrateful little⁠—”

“Enough,” Chief calls out, moving closer and holding up a badge that carries no fucking purpose.

“Stand down, Chief,” Sterling hisses.

“Terra Stone.” Chief ignores all our protocols. “You’re being detained on suspicion of murder, stalking, and attempted kidnapping. You have the right to⁠—”

“What the fuck is he doing?” Grant shouts.

“I have the right to nothing.” Terra’s hand moves to her pocket and every gun in the clearing aims for her chest.

“Stop,” Roman barks.