#Chapter 417- Vengeance Ella
Cora asks Sarah about her mother in a frank, curious way that I think allows Sarah to straighten her spine and answer impassively, like she’s giving a report to a doctor instead of having to break a hard truth to a queen who will probably break into tears. And I smile a little at the back of my sister’s head, grateful for her for giving Sarah what she needs when I can’t.
“He beat her,” Sarah says, and my heart twists almost physically within me. “She…she was growing older, and she couldn’t do her chores the way she used to. And…” Sarah bites her lip and looks only at Cora now, telling her what she wouldn’t be able to say to the rest of us, not while holding her head high. “And he started to look at me, the way he looked at my mother. And she tried to keep me away from him, to find other chores in other parts of the house. And when he figured out what she was doing he…”
Sarah’s voice cracks here and I have to look away from her so that my eyes don’t fill with tears. Sinclair slips a hand onto my knee, wanting to give me comfort but not to distract from Sarah’s story.
Sarah takes a deep breath before she continues. “He told her she was an idiot and a whore, for trying to keep his property from him. And that he could do what we wanted with all of us take our bodies, our lives. And then,” she shrugs, looking down at the tablecloth. “He did. He took her life then, to show her…and to show me.”
I make myself look back at Sarah now, who looks up at Cora, and then at me. And I hope that she sees, shining in my eyes, my deep and renewed desire for vengeance. Because there is absolutely no way that I am going to let this man live.
“That was the moment,” she says, nodding to me and then looking at Sinclair too, though a little shier now. ” When mother died? I decided that…that if he could take what I loved most from me, I could take what he most wanted too. The little baby – I could…I could take that away from him. And so I did or, I tried.”
“You succeeded,” Sinclair says quietly, next to me.
“No,” she says, shaking her head vehemently and looking down at her hands. “You’d have been safe anyway – you’d have figured it out.”
“The note,” Roger says, leaning around Cora to look clearly at Sarah, to make sure she hears him. “It gave us an advantage that…without it, Sarah, they very well could have taken Rafe. We owe you a great debt.”
“No,” she says instantly, flushing red. “I don’t – I don’t want anything. And I don’t want you to think that I did this so that you would give me anything.”
“We don’t think that, Sarah,” I say softly, hugging my baby close and leaning forward to catch her eye. “But we want to help you, like we want to help the other refugees. Though I admit,” my mouth cocks into a little smile here, “I do want to help you a little bit more than the others. Because I’m so, so grateful. I mean, what would you like – you can have anything!” My face splits into a wide grin here as I point at my sister’s mate. “You can even take Roger! He’s the least useful-
Cora gives a little squeak of protest as Sinclair bursts into laughter and Roger turns to glare at me, his mouth falling open. Sarah starts to laugh too as she realizes my joke and shake her head, rather vehemently, no.
But seeing Sarah decline my offer, Roger turns his shock on her.
“Wait, you don’t want me either!?” he gasps, and we all start to laugh harder as he sinks back into his chair, playing along now and exaggerating his fury for the sake of the mood in the room. Because…frankly, we need a laugh.
And I want Sarah to know that we hear her but…well, I want to give her some of the hope that Cora and I always had. That things can get better – and they will. And maybe that starts today, with a little laughter at Roger’s willing expense. I turn an apologetic look his way but he just gives me a wink, understanding, and I turn back to Sarah.
“We’ll talk about it, okay?” I say, still holding my baby tight. “But…we’re going to be friends now, Sarah. Good friends friends for life. And friends help each other get back on their feet.”
Sarah’s smile is slow, but when it reaches its full extent I swear my heart could burst with joy of it. Because I see it there that hope I was looking for.
And I intend to keep every part of my word. Sarah is going to have a good life, and I’m going to help her get it.
“Ohhhh, Sarah!” Jessica moans, running over with two kittens, one in each hand, her eyes filled with worry and woe. “Please, please can we keep them?” She looks down at the little orange ball of fur and then at the grey one, her voice a little frantic. “I love them so much – I can’t you have to let me keep them!”
“Oh, Jessica,” Sarah sighs, putting her arms out and wrapping them around her little sister. “We don’t even have a home to take them to yet -”
“And they’re too young,” Henry adds, looking at Jessica seriously, “to leave their mother. Perhaps in a few weeks, when they’re ready? You and your sister can talk about it again?”
Jessica groans with grief at the idea of leaving the two little kittens, making me laugh a little.
“Well, you can stay here until we find you a home of your own,” I say, crossing my fingers under the table a bit as I make this rather reckless offer without even asking my mate. “So you can still see them every day, Jessica. When you’re not at school, of course.”
“School?” she says, looking at me with wide eyes. “I – I get to go to school?”
“Yes!” I say, surprised and looking at Sarah, who gives me a big smile and nods excitedly. “Yes, Jessica. School every day, and kittens at night. Does that sound like a good start to your new life?”
And a little tear runs down Sarah’s cheek as Jessica says a vehement yes, cuddling the little cats close to her chest. I look up at Sinclair then, hoping that he’ll say.
But he’s already nodding, which makes me burst into a grin. And then he leans forward, pressing a kiss to my forehead. My sweet, good mate, he murmurs to me down our bond. You’ll be a wonderful queen.
And warmth spreads through me at the idea of it – because if being queen means I get to do things like this? Then I’m definitely on board, and excited.
But that warmth is chased a bit with anger, and sadness, and rage.
Because even if we can help Sarah and Jessica…Xander’s still out there in the world, and more men like him. And we’ve got work to do to take them out of it.
Work I am very, very determined to pursue.
