“You’re saying all the right words, Mother, but your tone leaves something to be desired.” Monroe props her hands on her hips. “If you move against the Raiders, you know very well that you’ll endanger Winry and Jasper.”
“They’re Amazons. They’ll be fine.”
I probably shouldn’t find her coldness shocking. After all, one doesn’t hold the position of queen of the Amazons for decades without being ruthless to a fault. But she’s talking about her daughter and brother. Her family.
I hold perfectly still, barely daring to breathe, as Monroe stiffens. “I would happily sacrifice my life if it meant they stayed safe.” She means it, too.
“You are the Amazon heir. That’s not an option.”
Monroe gives a bitter little laugh. “So the truth comes out. You’re willing to wager Winry’s life on this. She’s my sister. She never asked for any of this, and you’ll throw her to the wolves to keep me safe when I don’t need it.”
Aisling lifts her brows. “Your information leaves something to be desired, daughter. Cohen Paine is approaching an obsession with your sister. He won’t allow anything permanent to remove her from his grasp until his feelings have run their course. I’ll have the situation rectified by then.”
If anything, Monroe looks more horrified. “That doesn’t make your hedging your bets better. You don’t know what he’ll do to her.”
“She’s an Amazon,” Aisling repeats. “She’ll survive.”
Not exactly a ringing endorsement. It’s never been clearer how differently the Amazons and Raiders function. Things weren’t great in the Raider faction under Bauer Paine, but Abel is a different kind of leader. He’s just as ruthless—when it comes to other people. That’s the distinction. When it comes to his people, especially his brothers, he’ll lie, cheat, and steal to keep them safe. I’ve witnessed it countless times over the years. He would never, ever pull some shit like this, purposefully endangering one of them to punish an enemy. He’d find another way.
“Ultimately, it’s in your hands, daughter. Fix the situation, remove yourself from danger, and I won’t have to take any steps.” She glances at me and then to Monroe. “You know what I’ll do otherwise. The ball is in your court.”
“You’re a real piece of work.” Monroe’s face goes red with fury, a break in control I’ve never seen from her. “Excuse me, I need some fresh air.”
I go to follow her out of the office, but Aisling steps in my way. I glare. “Move, or I will move you.”
“You will certainly try.” Her lips curve, but her eyes remain icy. “You might even land a few blows, being an Amazon yourself.”
The room takes a sickeningly slow spin around me. Surely she didn’t say what I think she just said. “Excuse me?”
“Honestly, it was rather clever of you. I had no idea I should be looking for your past right under my nose. Shiloh Demaki, daughter of Esther and Lucas Demaki, both priests to the crown.”
Holy fuck. She knows. I clear my throat. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“I think you do.” Her gaze flicks to my legs, and there’s no way to deny it further. She knows exactly who I am and exactly what happened to me. Aisling’s face doesn’t exactly go soft, but something almost like remorse appears, there and gone so quickly I’m half sure I imagined it. “That was a great failing of mine. I didn’t realize the extent of their abuse until you were already gone and they’d moved on to other children. Children who didn’t stay silent.”
Rage whites out my vision for one long moment. An echo of Monroe’s voice in my head layers over her mother’s. We don’t blame victims. Apparently that’s only true for the next Amazon queen—not the current one.
When I finally manage to speak, my voice is hoarse. “I know you are not blaming me for my parents’ actions.”
“Of course not.” Her tone is less than convincing. “However, it’s been dealt with, and it’s important to me that we move on.”
Understanding comes in slow waves, spiking my fury higher, hotter. It loosens my tongue and has me spitting words best kept internal. “I see. You fucked up and let precious Amazon children be hurt by people who were close to you. An unforgivable sin in your daughter’s eyes. If Monroe knew my parents were Amazons, that you knew—”
“I didn’t know,” she says it so sharply, I almost believe her.
If not for her own words. “You just said you didn’t know the extent of it, which means you did know something.”
Aisling’s expression goes even colder, a confirmation in and of itself. “It’s in the past.”
In the past, and yet it’s shaped my entire life, my future even. If not for what I experienced at my parents’ hands, I wouldn’t find coming to Sabine Valley so challenging. I wouldn’t have started pushing Broderick away when he needed me to pull him close and have his back. I wouldn’t be having this conversation right now.