Page 49 of Thy Kingdom Come
“I’m not leavin’ until ya tell me how ya knew Cara,” I persevere. The only way I’m leaving here without any answers is if he kills me.
“Stop saying her name!” he screams, advancing once again. “Give ma head peace.”
I recoil, impressed with this aul’ lad’s stamina and how stubborn he is. But I’m not leaving until he gives me answers.
Cian and Rory come running up the drive, guns drawn as they heard the commotion. When they see the blood gushing from my forehead and that I’m being held at gunpoint, they instantly spring into attack.
Imogen shrieks.
“Naw!” I bellow when they make a move for Keegan. “Don’t touch him.”
Cian and Rory freeze, looking at me like I’ve gone mad, and I may just have. But I don’t want to hurt either of these people. They’re not the enemy. They’re only protecting their home and one another.
“Yer bleedin’,” Cian says, as if needing to remind me the reason for my injuries is holding us hostage with his shotgun.
“Slap it up ye!” Keegan spits, pointing the shotgun at Rory and Cian. “Call the peelers, Imogen.”
This is my last chance.
Submitting is not in my nature, and it appears it’s not in Keegan’s either, which is why I slowly drop to my knees, admitting defeat.
He won.
“Cara was—” I lick my lips, tasting nothing but the sharp metallic sting of my blood. Visions assault me, or rather, memories leave me winded because I’m suddenly inside this bungalow, locked away in that wardrobe as I watch my ma being killed.
I clearly see my five-year-old self, painting my face; each stroke denoting what those three fuckers are doing to her as she screams for them to stop.
I can feel her skin cooling as I lay nestled in her arms.
I smell the stink of decay.
Memories my brain had suppressed are reborn, refueling this desperate need to avenge my ma and stop at nothing until I do.
“Cara, she was my ma,” I state, unsure if I said it aloud.
But when the shotgun drops to the ground with a hollowed thud, I know that I did.
“Houl on, what did ye say?”
Shaking my head, I return to the now and observe Keegan turning a terrible shade of white.
“Cara was my mum,” I repeat, still on my knees. “My name is—”
But I never get to reveal who I am, and that’s because they already know.
“Puck?” Imogen gasps, placing her weathered hand over her mouth.
“How’d ya know my name?” I ask, looking from her to Keegan.
“Boys a dear,” she utters, shaking her head, eyes wide like she’s seen a ghost.
Keegan blinks once, as he too appears like he’s gone into shock. “Get up from there, lad.”
I do as he says, hoping one of them will explain what the fuck is going on.
“Says I to her, don’t marry that good for nothin’ sleekit. But she didn’t listen. And look what happened,” he says, talking to himself.
I have no idea what’s going on.