Innocence (Tales of Olympus #1)(66)

And suddenly she had the strongest longing to be back at the farm where everything was simple.

If only she could go back in time. Her mom wasn’t really that bad. And it was nothing Cora couldn’t handle now. She wasn’t a child anymore. She could stand up for herself now.

After a day like today… And everything with Marcus…

If only she could go back to a life of rising when the sun came up, spending her days on the land, and sleeping after a hard day’s work.

Gods, she’d do anything to go back to that.

The woman looked like she was going to make another snide comment before dismissing Cora completely, when Cora reached out a hand. “Can I borrow your phone?”

“What?”

“Can I borrow your phone? I forgot mine at home and there’s someone I need to make a call to.”

The woman’s eyes narrowed in confusion but she opened her clutch and slid out her phone. “If you use it to text something to Marcus pretending to be me, he’ll see right through it.”

Gods, the petty games these people played. “I’m not texting or calling Marcus.” Cora snatched the phone out of her hand and stared at her. “Do you mind waiting outside?”

The woman snorted an amused laugh and sashayed to the door. She looked over her shoulder once as she grabbed the door handle. “I’ll be waiting right outside when you’re finished.”

Cora nodded distractedly, already dialing.

She glanced underneath the stalls, but the restroom was empty apart from her.

“Hello?”

Cora closed her eyes and leaned back against the counter at hearing her mother’s voice.

“Mom.”

“Cora!” A clatter sounded over the phone. “Cora, where are you? Where is he keeping you? Are you okay? Tell me where you are and we’ll be right there. We’ll kill that son of a bitch.”

“No, mom,” Cora frowned. “I’m fine. It’s okay. I thought maybe we could—”

“Where are you? I swear that bastard will never hurt you again. We’ll make him pay. I’ll cut his heart out of his chest and we’ll go back home where no one can ever hurt you again—”

“Mom!” Cora spun around and slapped a hand on the counter. “Listen to me for a second. I’m fine.”

“Tell me where you are,” her mom all but shouted.

“Right now, at a gala at the Elysium hotel. And the rest of the time he’s keeping me at the Crown. Why didn’t you tell me about dad? And what he did?” She hadn’t meant to ask it, but it popped out.

“Because you were never supposed to be part of this world. It was always supposed to be you and me. Just you and me. And that’s how it will be again. We’ll kill that son of a bitch and—”

“No,” Cora said, irritated and angry. “I don’t want you or my uncles to hurt him.” As soon as the words were out of her mouth, she realized they were true.

“What?”

Cora stared at the floor and lifted a hand to her forehead.

Gods, she was fucked up. Because it was true. She didn’t want Marcus hurt. And what that woman had said earlier, it had bothered her. She had been jealous.

And as nice as farm life sounded…she couldn’t go back. It was too late for that. What she’d begun with Marcus, whatever this was, she had to either see it through or get out of it on her own.

She looked at herself in the mirror. And now the woman reflected back didn’t look like as much of a stranger anymore. She looked pale but striking. The jewel tone red of the dress made her skin look luminous.

“He’s gotten into your head.” Her mom stated it icily.

Cora couldn’t deny it. Why wouldn’t she want all the retribution her mother was promising otherwise?

“We haven’t been able to get into the city but we’re working on it, baby. We’re coming.” Her mother’s voice was so ice cold that it sent a chill down Cora’s spine.

Cora had heard it like that before, usually before a punishment, one of the bad ones.

“I have to go, Mom. I can figure this out on my own. I just wanted you to know I’m okay.”

Cora hung up the phone before her mom could say anything else. And she strode to the door, opened it and all but slammed the phone down into the beautiful blonde’s hand.

It had been stupid to take it and stupider to call her mother. Even hearing her voice brought it all back.

The slaps if she burned the bacon at breakfast. Being shoved to the ground and locked out of the house if her mind wandered off and she was late returning from the fields. Denying her meals if Demi thought she was getting too thick around the middle. The daily barrage of demeaning words and name-calling.

Yes, Marcus had put a collar on her. But he’d never once hit her. He didn’t call her names and if he continued allowing her freedoms like this, getting out of the penthouse, maybe even going back to volunteer at the shelter—

So because he’s the lesser of two evils, suddenly he’s your knight in shining armor?

“You know,” the woman whose name Cora still hadn’t learned, lifted an eyebrow at her coyly. “Marcus can be adventuresome in the bedroom. The next time he and I get together, it could be fun to have you as the third in our ménage à trois.”