The Devil's Daughter (Hidden Sins #1)(63)

She ignored the passive-aggressive jab and tried to focus. “You didn’t see anyone else?”

“There was no one else to see. We walked around the corner and here you were.” Martha’s dark eyes lit up with concern. “It appears you weren’t paying attention to where you were going and walked into the post.”

Eden eyed the post. That thing had been there since she could walk. No matter how distracted she was—and she’d been very distracted more than a few times walking down this hall—she’d never made contact with it. Martha knew that. She knew there was no way in hell Eden would run into the damn thing, let alone run into it hard enough to knock herself out cold.

She’s hiding something.

What’s new? If there’s one constant in the universe, it’s Martha Collins hoarding secrets.

Call her crazy, but a small secret part of her had been sure her mother wouldn’t do anything to put her in direct danger. Even with girls dropping dead around her, she’d somehow held out hope that Martha wasn’t involved—that her mother didn’t know what was going on under her nose.

That belief turned to dust in the face of Martha creating this lie that seemed solely designed to gaslight her into . . . she didn’t even know. She couldn’t think, couldn’t focus. Eden touched her face again. The pain was centered around her left brow, where the weapon had made contact. A shovel, maybe. Something hard and flat. She checked her watch. She hadn’t been out long—maybe ten minutes—but it was long enough for whoever hit her to move her here and for Martha and Abram to find her.

That’s not very long at all.

Either they knew exactly who hit her . . . or one of them was the one who’d done it.

She looked at Abram, but he gave her as little to work with as normal—which translated to nothing. The man was a blank slate, always had been. And her mother was far too adept at manipulation to give away something by accident—she’d had years and years of practice, after all. The realization left Eden cold. She searched Martha’s face. Tell me you didn’t do it. Tell me you’re not responsible for those girls’ deaths. Tell me you didn’t do it all to lure me home. But all she said was, “You’re probably right. Can you help me up?”

“Are you sure you should be standing?”

No, but that wasn’t going to stop her. She started climbing to her feet, and Martha rushed to assist. “Mom, I need to ask you a few questions.” The words left a metallic taste in her mouth, but she forced them out all the same. There was no time for pride. A clock ticked down in her head. She wasn’t sure exactly what would happen when it hit zero, but it wouldn’t be good no matter which way she looked at the situation. Another girl dead, or the unsub coming after Eden personally.

I know which I’d prefer. I’m better equipped to deal with anything this bastard has to throw at me.

She touched her face again. Though if anyone’s keeping score, we’re at unsub: three; Eden: zero. Zach was going to lose it when he saw her, let alone dealing with Vic once he got into town.

Martha was already nodding. “Of course. Let’s go into my office. Abram, would you be a dear and get an ice pack for Eden? I do believe that’s going to bruise up something fierce.” She headed off without waiting for him to reply, but then she had no reason to think he wouldn’t obey. He always seemed to in the past.

Eden shot him a look over her shoulder as she followed her mother, her mind going a million miles a minute. She didn’t think Lee was guilty of murder, but that didn’t mean his actions hadn’t indirectly brought the unsub’s attention to both Elouise and Neveah. Martha wouldn’t take too kindly to being passed over for younger girls, and all she had to do was make an offhand comment and Abram would see it done.

Abram wouldn’t flinch under interrogation. She doubted he’d flinch under actual torture. He’d just sit in that uncomfortable chair and stare at Zach with those dead pale eyes and say nothing. Sociopath was too nice of a description in her opinion.

Martha opened the door to her office and closed it once Eden had taken a seat. She didn’t immediately move around to sit at the desk, once again looking like she wanted to touch her, to offer some of the comfort she was so good at. Eden worked very hard to keep her body language as closed off as possible, and after a few long moments, her mother took the hint and sank into her seat on the other side of the desk. “Now, what questions, baby?”

Don’t call me that. She didn’t say the words, couldn’t afford to, and hated that her mother managed to silence her protests even now, even though it was Eden’s choice. It didn’t feel like her choice. She took a careful breath. “I need to know about the key.” She touched her sternum, though she doubted Martha misunderstood the reference.

Sure enough, her mother’s brows slanted down before she smoothed her expression out. “I’m not sure what brought this on, but unless you’re planning on being reinstated, I can’t share that information with you. It’s for Elysians only.”

“You didn’t share that information with me when I was an Elysian.” I was never one of you. If I had any choice, I never would have set foot in this place, let alone been raised here. There was no telling if her nameless father would have been any less a monster, but anything would have been a better choice than Elysia. A better choice than Martha.