Despite myself, I paused and looked at her. Really looked at her.
Her hair was twisted into a tight knot atop her head and a pair of reading glasses rested on the bridge of her nose, not that she needed them.
My mother had perfect vision—the glasses were just for show.
She didn’t look very different from when I’d been growing up. Her casual jeans and cozy sweater had been replaced with a power, but the woman beneath looked the same. Same eyes that warmed when she looked at me. Same rich brown hair that matched my own.
I could almost lie to myself and say she was getting ready to leave work. Getting ready to come home. But it was just that—a lie.
Because the mother I remembered and the woman standing in front of me were different sides of the same coin. The same yet so very different.
“Hello, Mother.” I stepped further into the room, ignoring her briefly as I took in the space for any hidden threats.
Nothing. No one else was in the room.
That was … unexpected.
She smiled in my direction before focusing on the battle that raged outside her floor to ceiling windows. We had a full view of the death and destruction unfolding before us.
I stopped beside her and considered her for a moment, unsure of how to proceed. A quick glance at her hands confirmed she was unarmed.
Did she think I wouldn’t hurt her? I didn’t want to. But after everything she’d put me through, was she really so ignorant? What did she expect? A happy mother-daughter reunion?
“You kidnapped my friend.” I said into the empty space between us. Might as well get right to the point.
“I did.” Her lips turned down, almost as though she regretted her actions. “She was useful.” She didn’t look at me.
Was? What did she mean by she was useful? Did that mean —
No. I cut off the thought before it could even form. Melody was here somewhere. She had to be.
“Where is she?”
My mother turned to face me, her eyes narrowed in consideration. “What does the Harpy mean to you?”
I chewed my lips, unsure of how to answer. Melody was one of my best friends. I would do anything for her. Die for her, if it came to that. But some niggling feeling told me I shouldn’t tell my mother that.
“You got what you wanted.” I spread my arms wide. “I’m here, aren’t I?”
She directed her gaze back to the windows. “What do you see, daughter?”
I sighed and looked outside.
The shifters had overwhelmed her men. Most were down. Blood was everywhere. I spotted Declan in his between form as he ripped a man in two before flinging both parts away from him.
I flinched at the brutality of it, but I felt nothing. No remorse. No guilt. These men were my enemy. I couldn’t afford to feel remorse. I couldn’t afford to let my mother’s game get the better of me.
“I see you losing.”
She smiled and something about it made my blood run cold. There was no warmth in that smile. It was the calculated gaze of a predator.
“I see a carefully-coordinated distraction. And I see my daughter, cut off from the rest of her allies.”
My gazed narrowed. I took in her profile, full of haughty arrogance, and looked back at the scene before me. Spotting the little details I’d missed at first glance.
The handful of men still on the rooftops. Armed with rifles but not firing.
The cluster of men standing beside the doors I’d only moments ago walked through with ease. A heavy bar now rested over them with a steel lock, one thick enough that even with a shapeshifter’s strength, it couldn’t be easily broken.
Trapped.
She’d trapped me inside with her. Why?
And if she’d wanted me here, why had I been met by an aerokinetic just outside these doors?
I cursed. A game. This was all a fucking game to her.
I fingered the glass in front of me. Just because the door was locked didn’t mean —
“Ballistic grade glass. Shatterproof and able to withstand heavy fire.”
My fingers curled into a fist but I refrained from punching the window.
“It won’t keep them out,” I told her. “It won’t keep him out.” Declan would find a way inside. When it looked like the tide had turned in our favor, he would come find me.
She shrugged. “Maybe not. But it will buy me the necessary time needed to see this through.”
Fire licked my fingertips as I turned to face her fully. “I’m no willing victim.” I palmed my daggers, letting my fire sheath their blades.
No reaction. No flicker of worry. No hint of fear.
She was like ice.
“I asked you what the Harpy meant to you. Perhaps what I should have asked was, what are you willing to sacrifice for her life?”
The wall behind her shuddered before shifting to expose a hidden room. She turned and walked through the now-exposed doorway. “If you want to see your friend. I suggest you come along,” she called behind her, not bothering to see if I’d follow. Because of course, I would follow her.
Urgh.
I flicked one last look outside. Battle still waged but Declan had stopped. He stood immobile in the center of the courtyard, as though my frustration had caught his attention. His emerald green gaze locked on mine.
Worry coursed through the bond. He’d seen my mother and he knew, just as I did, that none of this was playing out as we’d expected.
I dipped my head toward the
