When It All Goes Still by Allison Mullinax

Author:Allison Mullinax [Mullinax, Allison]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: time travel; romance; southern fiction
Publisher: The Wild Rose Press
Published: 2019-12-18T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter Thirteen

Traveler

I’m still sitting at his desk when I hear Arden come through the front door. He calls out to me, but I can’t seem to find the want to answer him. I hear his footsteps padding down the hallway, and then come to a stop at his office door. The silence lingers between the two of us.

“Is she okay?” I ask him, without looking up.

“Mmm. If you mean the Shifting, then yes, she is okay. As for her heart, time will have a way of mending its brokenness. She will be fine. And you will be fine, too. It was a wise choice to make her feel for you in order to gain her obedience and silence.” There’s an edge to his voice. I ignore it. I don’t care if he doubts me. I don’t care about pleasing him.

He’s waiting for me to ask him questions, for me to be angry and lash out, for me to be happy to have answers of any sort about my family. I know he is wanting something other than the silence. Only I have nothing to give him, and it appears to me he has taken enough from me already. I’ve never felt ill will toward Arden, but right now with him standing across from me, I don’t trust myself not to rip him apart.

“Traveler—” he begins, but I stop him by holding up my hand.

“If you say you’re sorry to me, the next thing to touch your mouth will be my fist,” I promise him, still avoiding his face. I can’t look at him. My mentor.

Walking into the room, he takes the seat across the desk. I slide the picture over the smooth wood and it lands in front of him. Standing, slightly bent at the knees, I stab it with my finger. “Who is that woman?” I ask, finally looking him in the face. His expression is unreadable. “The fucking truth.” There isn’t any waver to my voice.

He picks up the photograph and a small, barely visible smile forms. “Jaqueline Romanoso,” he says, looking up at me.

“I figured as much. Who is she to me?” I leave no room for interpretation on the question.

“She was brilliance in human form. Radiant and Magnificent. To her friends, she was the life and the light of any gathering. To me, she was my greatest friend and confidant. To the Herding Division, she became an anomaly and something to be contained and analyzed. And to you, Traveler…she was your mother.” Admiration rolls off his tongue in waves.

I lean back in the chair; my hands lock behind my head, staring at the ceiling. My feet are outstretched and crossed in front of me. “Her journals, I don’t understand.” I level him with my eyes. “Bonnie Smith. For twenty-seven years, I believed my mother was a seamstress. Twenty-seven years, I trusted you.”

“Yes. And fear not, I will never apologize to you for lying. Not for a single word of it.” His eyes, already small, narrow to slits as he challenges me.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.