Holy shit.
Liam’s heart pounded against his chest, and I could feel his anxiety as if I were inside of his body. He hated my mother, hated all fae, hated being born. Why couldn’t these creatures just leave him alone to live his life? He was just trying to live, just trying to keep his brothers alive.
Without the crystals, they get sick. Didn’t the fae understand that? Why did they want to annihilate his race? He didn’t ask to be born into this. He didn’t ask to be a halfling.
Tears rolled down my cheeks as I gripped the edges of the bedsheet but stayed in the vision.
Liam reached the safe house just outside Seattle, the little farmhouse that I’d first met him at. It was in disrepair, but I could sense Liam’s relief as he pulled up and nodded to the two guards out front.
“I got it!” he told them and held up the crystal. “How’s Cain?”
One of the men was Cam, and upon seeing Liam, his lips pulled into a frown. “He’s not good, man, barely breathing. You need to get that inside now.”
Cam threw open the door, and my heart lodged into my throat.
Cain.
Sweet little Cain lay draped over the couch, eyes glassy and skin pale. Thick beads of sweat rolled down his forehead onto his cracked lips. Liam fell to his knees before his little brother. The other four brothers were there too, all huddled around Cain with worried expressions.
“You’re gonna be okay buddy.” Liam tucked the crystal into his brother’s side, against his shirt, and the little boy gave a shuddering breath as tension released from his face.
“Feels better,” Cain mumbled.
“Watch out—,” Cam yelled from behind Liam.
He spun around just in time to see the Winter King walk through the door. The guard that had been standing outside was now dead, an icicle pierced through his abdomen. Rage boiled softly under Liam’s skin. Liam hated his father, hated that he would sabotage and harm his own children, and yet… there was a small measure of love still there. A sadness and sense of loss concerning the father Liam had wished for himself and his brothers.
“I believe you have something of mine?” The king asked Liam.
Liam stood, hands at his sides. “Really? You would steal the life away from your own child? Are there any limits to your cruelty?”
The Winter King gave his eldest son a devilish grin. “Of course not.”
I wasn’t sure if he meant he wouldn’t steal from Cain or he had no limits.
“I’ll take Cain and the crystal with me. It’s about time my boys spent some time with their father.” The Winter King stepped forward, and Liam moved to position himself in front of Cain, letting a growl loose from his throat.
His other brothers shrank back, huddling around Cain protectively as fur rippled down Cam’s arms.
“They’re my boys now. I take care of them. I feed them. I keep them safe.” Large icicles formed out of Liam’s palms like swords.
I was just beginning to wonder how this scene had led to my mother’s death when a blur of pink streaked behind the king, and then my mom knocked him over the side of the head with her gun. He crumpled to the floor, right at Liam’s feet.
“Give me the crystal!” she barked, eyes roaming over Liam and his brothers, over Cam. She looked… disgusted…
I felt sick. I wanted to stop the vision now that I knew what was going to happen.
Liam looked at her incredulously. “Look at him!” he shouted at my mother and pointed to Cain. “He’s five years old, and the crystal is the only thing keeping him alive. Would you really take that from him?” Liam looked at her with wide eyes.
I was not prepared for the cold, hard gaze that entered my mother’s eyes, “It. It’s five. A demon that shouldn’t be allowed to live.”
A whimper lodged in my throat at her response. How could she look at this beautiful boy and think he was a demon?
The elders… they poisoned her mind.
I felt the moment that Liam gave up on trying to reason with my mother, it slid over his body like a sheet of ice—self-preservation, protection for his kin. There was no reasoning with this woman. “I can’t let you take the crystal.” He sounded sad. Tired. Like he didn’t want to hurt her but knew he must.
My mother shrugged cold-heartedly, but I could see the slightest falter in her gaze as she stared at little Cain. I didn’t think she’d met a Son of Darkness this young before.
“Then, I’m sorry for this.” She raised her gun, and all of the contents in my stomach lurched into my throat.
Everything next happened so fast, and yet, time felt like it stopped.
The Winter King rose up into a standing position behind my mother, and I watched from Liam’s perspective as a shard of pointy ice pierced right through her lower abdomen. Her eyes widened, and at the same time, she squeezed the trigger, aiming right for Cain.
“No!” I shouted at the same time as Liam, feeling him seize up in fear. I simultaneously wanted to protect Cain from the bullet and protect my mother.
Liam raised his hands and shot two icicles right into my mother’s stomach, causing her to fall backward in a puddle of blood. Then, he erected a wall of ice, blocking out his father from crossing farther into the room.
“Cain!” Liam’s hands shook as he spun around.
Although my heart tore in two for my mother, relief spread through me as I looked at Cain, unharmed. A bullet had been shot into the sofa an inch from his head.
Holy fuck.
How could she? How could my mother try to kill a child? Did she squeeze the trigger out of reflex after getting stabbed? Or would she really… I didn’t have time to
