Page 4 of Reverie

Father bends over so their faces are level. Mom chooses to say nothing.

She stares hard at him, but in contrast to the steel in her spine, her chin trembles.

Still, she says nothing.

I clamp my lips shut. Neither will I.

“Amelia…” Father whispers. “So beautiful. So, so beautiful.”

Mom looks at him hard, giving him a hostile gaze. “And you, Benjamin, are death in the flesh. Evil. Pure evil. I pray for the day you rot in Hell.”

Father continues to look at her with a gentle, soft gaze. Then he says, “And to think I actually loved you.”

He runs his finger down her cheek, then leans down to kiss her lips.

Mom fights the caress. When he removes his mouth from hers, she pauses for a moment before spitting in his face.

With her chest heaving, she says, “I’d rather die than spend another moment with you.”

A muscle ticks in Father’s cheek.

She continues, “But Hunter hadnothingto do with this. He knows nothing. Don’t hurt him anymore. Let himgo.” Her voice shakes on the last sentence, and for the first time since they dragged her from the house, she looks at me.

Even though she tries to suppress it, my mom’s face radiates what it’s always shown whenever she looks at me.

Strength.

Care.

Love.

“Hmm,” Father says.

Mom’s gaze flicks toward him before she looks back at me. In the shift, I read her silent message.

It’s okay.

Her eyes move to the bottle in the guard’s hands.

No matter what they do to me, it’s okay.She says this all in that silent way we’ve always been able to speak.

I’m helpless against the shaking that starts in my hands, traveling up my forearms.

“Hunter’s freedom depends on him. He knows how to stop all this,” Father says to my mom as if correcting an errant child.

He turns to me. “One last chance, Hunter. Tell me the plan.”

No. Because I’d rather die than betray my mom. I can be strong. I can be strong enough to do this.

I grit my teeth and do something I’ve never done when it comes to my father.

I say, “No.”

The word falls heavy between us. The slight movement of my mom’s head causes me to look at her again. There’s a soft smile on her face, and for the first time, I don’t really know what it means.

The guard hands the gloves to my father.

“Suit yourself, Hunter,” Father says as he pulls on one glove and then the other.