Sins of Mine by Mary E. Twomey

Author:Mary E. Twomey [Twomey, Mary E.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2020-07-01T16:00:00+00:00

10

Strawberry Tarts and Shadowmelding

Paxton

Charlotte tried to hug Arlanna again before we left, but it’s clear Arlanna doesn’t want to participate in anything to do with comfort. She told us that if she cries, she will never stop.

I tighten up and make a silent promise that I’ll make sure she has the space to indulge in a good cry when I get back.

“Strawberry tarts. I’ll serve strawberry tarts at the wake,” she said before Cass, Charlotte, Gray and I left the Commune of Sinners. I don’t think she realized she said it out loud, or how much that simple sentence destroyed us all.

I didn’t keep my face composed when I saw Arlanna’s shaved head. “Father’s going to handle retrieving Sloan’s body in one hour, she informed us when she came out of the house with Charlotte, bypassing any hint of needing to explain herself.

I mean, it’s her hair, her body. She doesn’t need to explain anything. But the iced-over heartbreak deserves a few words, in my opinion.

We’d all love more than a few words from her—when she’s ready, which she’s made clear, she is not.

I stood there like a dummy with my hand covering my mouth, but Gray took a step toward her palpable pain. I froze up, but he did the right thing. He didn’t demand to know why, nor did I see him trying to conjure up an explanation. “We’re here. Grieving is hard.”

Arlanna kept her chin raised, her reply crisp. “Grieving is a luxury that will happen later, when Sloan’s body is in my possession.” She didn’t bother choosing an emotion. It was clear that her entire being had frozen through. “I’m doing as Sloan instructed. If he’s ever abducted and I’m blackmailed—Sloan is my one weak point—then I’m to get as close as the front door of my enemy and light whatever it is they want on fire. I’m to assume Sloan is already dead, so that’s how this is going to work.”

Jen had turned away, her tears overcoming her and bringing on a bout of dry heaves.

Charlotte tended to Jen, and stayed behind to keep everyone at the camp organized.

Arlanna insisted on meeting up with her father, who’s on his way to pick her up from the commune. She’s buying us one hour, so I can try to reason with my father. Then her dad is going in, guns blazing.

I don’t want to see my father die for his stupidity. I want him to take responsibility for his actions, and for the people to be strong enough to demand he do so.

I want justice, not revenge.

But even as Cassia, Gray and I are rumbling along on the freeway to get to the palace, I’m not sure I’ll get either.

Cassia and I are in the backseat of Jen’s car, with Gray at the wheel. None of us knows what to say.

I close my eyes as Gray turns the corner, leading us to the street where I grew up.

I cannot lose my focus. I will not become a ruler who cannot right the wrongs in my own home.

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