Retribution (The Praegressus Project Book 5) by Aaron Hodges

Author:Aaron Hodges [Hodges, Aaron]
Language: eng
Format: azw3, epub
ISBN: 9780995105614
Published: 2017-12-15T05:00:00+00:00

Chapter 20

Susan’s teeth grated as she watched the strangers leave the cave. Fists clenched, she struggled to control her anger. She could still see the boy attacking Hecate, humiliating her mate, though he had cheated with those cursed wings of his. And the girl...her arm still itched where Liz had touched her. Susan’s lips drew back in a snarl as she imagined tearing the black feathers from those wings, one by one.

Only Hecate’s presence kept her under control. Despite his encounter with the boy, he remained strangely calm, unperturbed by Talisa’s welcoming of the two strangers. Even during the fight, he had not seemed to take the boy seriously—at least, not until the end, when the deceitful creature had almost killed him.

The girl’s revelation that Talisa was her mother had shaken him, though. It had shaken Susan as well. An inexplicable rage had overtaken her as the elder Chead embraced the girl. Teeth clenched, she’d watched in silence as the two conversed, exchanging declarations of love and affection. The sudden emotion, the humanity in Talisa’s expression had made Susan sick to her stomach.

Even now, she could hardly bear to look at the elder Chead. Staring across at her, Susan shook her head.

“Why, Talisa?” she growled.

Talisa’s milky white eyes turned towards her. “What do you mean, my child?”

Susan shivered, her fingers turning to claws as she approached the old Chead. “How could you…tell the strangers our plans? How could you invite them into our ranks?”

Sitting on her outcropping of rock, Talisa did not respond. Her eyes had returned to their normal, unreadable hardness. Finally, the Chead shrugged. “She is my daughter,” she murmured. Lifting herself to her feet, she stepped up to Susan.

Susan bared her teeth. “They cannot…be trusted—”

She broke off as Talisa lunged forward. Her feet scrambled on the loose stones, but the elder Chead’s hand shot out and caught her by the wrist before she could retreat. Pain shot through Susan’s arm as iron fingers dug into her flesh, dragging her forward until only an inch separated them.

“You would have me spurn my own child?” Talisa hissed in Susan’s ear.

A lump lodged in Susan’s throat as her eyes locked with Talisa’s. She tried to pull away, but her will fled. Her resistance crumbled, and she suddenly found herself on her knees. Talisa stood over her, murky white eyes aglow in the darkness.

“You would have me kill her?” she growled.

Susan bowed her head. “No, Talisa,” she whispered.

The iron hold on her wrist did not relent. “You disappoint me, child,” Talisa murmured, “I should return you to your own children.”

Tears stung Susan’s eyes. Shivering, she looked up at the elder Chead. The ache in her chest told her what such a fate meant. She would lose her place at Talisa’s side, would become little more than an incubator for a new generation of Chead. And she would be without Hecate, without her mate—the one thing holding her to sanity.

Somewhere deep inside, a flame lit the darkness of her despair. Suddenly she found herself able to meet Talisa’s gaze.

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