Menace (Scarlet Scars #1)(109)
“Whoa, busybody, where do you think you are going?”
“To bed,” she said. “I’m tired.”
He cocked his head to the side, giving her a glassy stare. “Me, too. I’ve been tired for a long time.”
“I’m sorry,” she said, grateful when he let go of her arm. “You should go to sleep.”
“Tried,” he said. “Found a little monster hiding under my bed.”
She scrunched up her face at that, which made him laugh.
“Come on, tell me,” he said. “Why are you hiding?”
“Because he’s mean.”
“And?”
“And that’s all,” she said. “He’s just not nice.”
The Cowardly Lion blinked a few times, like there had to be more answer, but she didn’t have anything else to say.
Wasn’t that enough?
“You’re right,” he said. “He’s not nice.”
Her eyes widened. “You think so, too?”
“Of course. He’s a mudak. A real piece of work, that one. But hiding from him will not make him nicer.”
“What will make him nicer?”
“You,” he said. “Believe it or not, you make him nicer. It softens us, love. It makes us all squishy. But sometimes that same love becomes a liability.”
“What does a lie-bully mean?”
He smiled. “It means he can’t live with you, but he can’t live without you. Either way, it is a problem. So you should give him reasons to live with you, because your mother gave him too many reasons to live without her, and we see where she is now.”
“Where?” the little girl asked. “Where is she?”
“Not here.”
‘Not here’ sounded good to the little girl.
“Come on,” he said, standing up, grasping her shoulders. “Let’s go say goodnight.”
He led her downstairs, keeping his grip on her, taking her straight to the crowded den. People were drinking and sniffing white powder again. The Tin Man’s eyes were straight black as they zeroed in on her. She didn’t like his black eyes. They scared her.
“Found this one up in a guest room,” the Cowardly Lion told him, “hiding under the bed.”
“That is not very creative,” the Tin Man said. “Of all places to hide, you choose where everyone knows to look. Did you want to be found?”
She shrugged.
“She says you are mean,” the Cowardly Lion added. “You aren’t very nice. She asked how to make you nicer.”
The little girl glared back at the Cowardly Lion. “Nobody even likes tattletales.”
The Tin Man laughed at that, like she amused him, opening his arms and motioning for her to come closer, but she didn’t budge.
“You know, obedience makes me nicer, kitten. Maybe if you give a little, I will give a little back.”
“Will you give Buster back?”
“No.”
Then no, she wasn’t moving. She wasn’t giving. She didn’t care if he got nice. She’d already decided she was leaving. She didn’t need him. She was going to find her mother and they were going to stop playing all this Hide & Seek. She didn’t need a daddy.
Especially one so mean.
The Tin Man dropped his arms, giving up, waving her away. “Go to bed.”
“I’ll make sure she makes it there,” the Cowardly Lion said, pulling the little girl from the room, leading her upstairs.
The little girl ignored him, pretending he wasn’t even there, as she settled into the bed, covering herself up with the blanket, pulling it the whole way over her head.
The mattress dipped, the Cowardly Lion’s hand ruffling her hair through the blanket as he sat down beside her. “It is New Years, sweet girl. It is the time for new beginnings. Resolutions.”
“There’s no point,” the little girl muttered.
The blanket was ripped from her head, and she made a face, trying to snatch it back to cover up, but the Cowardly Lion refused to let her. “What is wrong?”
“It’s all stupid,” she said, tears in her eyes. “I don’t like holidays no more! Santa didn’t come, I got no presents, and I didn’t even get my wish to come true!”
“What was your wish?”
“I want Mommy. I wanna go home.”
The Cowardly Lion blinked at her for a long moment before throwing the blanket back over her head, covering her up as he stood to walk away. The little girl listened to his footsteps crossing the floor before he called back to her quietly, “Goodnight, sweet Sasha. Happy New Year.”
The story concludes with Grievous (Scarlet Scars Book Two), available February 6, 2017!