Page 39 of Of Flame and Fury
Indignation that I don’t expect from someone so feeble greets me as cold as the water pooled at my feet. “I never found my mate. Not like those foul mutts do. But I did find a woman who loved me as hard as I needed her to.” She raises her hands, her bitterness oddly morphing to excitement. “Together, we found aweremore than willing to share my bed.”
Shayna’s gaze shifts to me. Neither of us like the “foul mutts” reference, or all the crazy Bridette is spilling like a busted dam. We keep our mouths shut, anyway, waiting, listening, wanting to gather as much information as we can.
“It didn’t take long. He fucked me just once.” She smiles. “I liked it.” Her smile fades. “I shouldn’t have liked it, it made Louisa mad. She didn’t see what I saw that he was fertile, and his seed was strong.” The weight of her confession appears too affect her. She reaches for the spout to steady herself. “The next mutt wasn’t as virile. It took a few times until I was pregnant with my second. They weren’twereor witches like Louisa and I expected.” She shakes her head. “Not like yours is bound to be. But we loved them. They were ours.”
Her voice trails off, and agony reflects across her gaunt features. Only death has the gift for scarring a person just so.
“Your partner is dead, isn’t she?” I ask.
Grief drenches her form, the burdens she’s carried threatening to topple her. She tightens her grasps on the spout, her only lifeline in the dank and dim surroundings.
“Johnny killed Louisa?” Shayna asks. As a wife herself, she can’t imagine her life without Koda, let alone allowing someone to manipulate her into hurting him. Except that’s exactly what Bridette did. It’s as obvious as the scars painting her body. “Why… How could you help the man who’d take her from you?”
Bridette’s choked sob has her curling forward. Still no tears, no reprieve from her torment. “We wanted our children to live,” she says. “Whatever it took, we swore to each other we’d do it.”
I have the feeling this isn’t what her wife had in mind.
“Are you listening?” Bridette asks. “Do you hear me, tigress?”
Celia isn’t the only one standing before her. Bridette isn’t so far gone to think as much. But her anger isn’t aimed at us. Oh, no. It’s aimed at my pregnant sister, and it pisses me off.
“My children don’t deserve less than yours,” Bridette bites out. Dark-red blood pools in her mouth, dribbling over her dried, splitting lips. “My children weren’t loved or cared for any less.”
Pity is the only thing that keeps me from smacking Bridette. She won’t accept the consequences for her actions and is casting blame where it doesn’t belong. Celia is a good person. If Bridette had gone to Celia and Aric, they would have protected her and her family. Instead, she crossed to the dark side, no matter what it cost her.
“You love your children,” Celia says. When Bridette nods, Celia swallows hard, tears cutting lines into her cheeks. “So did theweresyou helped kill tonight.” She circles Bridette, her claws retracting and protruding as she attempts to rein in her beast. “As did the witches who thought they’d return home to kiss their daughters and sons good night. You not only took their lives, you robbed their children of their childhoods and those they most loved.”
“No,” Bridette stammers. “You did. You and your child.”
Celia’s claws extend to their full, deadly length. “You think this is my baby’s fault? You think I killed these people? How dare you. My son is destined to help the world. Not because I deemed him to be, because he was chosen.”
“Ceel.” Shayna tries to snag Celia’s arm when Celia lurches toward Bridette.
Celia breaks away, shoving her face into Bridette’s. “Until my son is born. Until he stands strong enough to face the evil that’s coming, I stand for him, and so do my sisters. We’re the ones keeping evil at bay.” Bridette shrinks away. Celia doesn’t stop. “You…all you did was help the very thing that took your wife.”
“They threatened my children!” Bridette yells, as if we somehow missed the point.
Shayna and I glance around. Bridette is being loud. It may be a tactic to lure the Nytes and help kill Celia. Mostly, I think Bridette has unraveled and no longer cares about anything. Shayna unsheathes the dagger at her hip. She’ll slit Bridette’s throat. She’ll make it quick. But neither she nor I have the heart to do it.
Neither does Celia.
“Do you want me to feel sorry for you, Bridette?” Celia asks. Her emotions get the best of her, trembling her voice and body. “I already do. I can’t imagine the fear and pain you’ve endured. But to hurt other babies so yours won’t hurt, to kill those innocents trying to come together as one… You were wrong to do what you did. Can’t you see it cost you everything you sought to protect?”
“You would have done the same,” Bridette screams at her. Her weakening state curls her inward. “Don’t you stand here and lie.”
“She’s not lying,” I snap. Chosen baby or not, Celia would never harm an innocent. “She— No,we’dfind a way out.
Bridette laughs. It’s phony, with enough bitterness to grate my skin. I suppose she’s trying to demonstrate self-righteousness even as she stands naked and dying. I can’t tell if she was always like this, or if she was once kind and good. Because of her role in this mess, I’ll never have the chance to know.
“It must be nice to have each other,” Bridette sneers. She wipes her mouth irritably, coating her dirty skin with more dark fluid. “Aren’t you just lucky?”
I look to each of my sisters. “Yes,” I reply quietly. “We are.”
Celia stops breathing and falls perfectly still, a tigress in the jungle having spotted another predator in her turf.
Shayna follows her lead, raring for a fight. Her eyes dart in every direction as she leans one foot forward and prepares to pounce. They hear something.
“What is it?” Emme whispers. Her hands lift, readying to act.