The Devil's Daughter (Hidden Sins #1)(64)

But he was gone before Elysia started. Her mother had birthed that damn cult mere months before she birthed Eden herself. As far as she knew, her father had never come looking for her, but there was no telling the truth. Maybe he’d come for her and been run off.

Or maybe she was just reaching for impossible dreams, like she had when she was too young to know better.

“You were a child.” Martha gave a sad smile. “Some mysteries aren’t meant for children.”

“That didn’t stop you from tattooing it on my chest against my will.” She tried to get control of her anger, but the pain radiating from her brow outward made it so damn difficult. “No one else has this mark. The other three, yes, but not this one.”

But her mother just gave her that pacifying smile. “If you want to talk about coming home—”

“You’re impeding an investigation and withholding what could potentially be vital evidence.”

Martha’s gaze sharpened. “What does the key have to do with a dead girl in Clear Springs?”

Damn it. She’d said too much. She worked to keep her expression bland. “You tell me.” She already knew it had something to do with Persephone and Demeter, but Martha had borrowed from other myths, too. There was no telling how she’d twisted the story to suit her needs.

“Don’t be difficult, Eden. If you’re in danger, you need to tell me.”

She stared. “You can’t have it both ways. Either I’m walking into columns or someone is out to get me. You can’t pat me on the head and then tell me you’re concerned for my safety. That ship sailed too many years ago to count.”

“You’re being dramatic.”

She opened her mouth, but the door behind them cut off her response. It was just as well. For all her pleas and words about offering support, Martha hadn’t changed. She still cared about her secrets and her power more than she cared about anything else. Eden accepted the ice pack Abram handed her, ignoring the childish impulse to throw it at his feet. The look on his face gave her pause, though he had eyes only for Martha. “There’s trouble.”

Her mother was on her feet immediately, following him out of the room without a backward glance. It was just as well. Eden took half a breath to consider following them, but she couldn’t ask for a better opportunity than she’d just been handed. She pushed to her feet and hurried around her mother’s desk, knowing it was only a matter of time before Martha sent Abram to escort her out. Daughter or not, if something was happening to make the Elysians close ranks, Eden wouldn’t be welcome in the commune.

She opened the top drawer and felt around, allowing herself a small smile when she found the catch for the false bottom. Her mother thought she was so clever, but Eden had found this particular hiding place when she was thirteen. She lifted the panel out and ran her finger down the list of passwords, stopping at the one marked CAMERAS. ABRAM. Didn’t see that one coming.

She started to replace the panel but stopped, a flash of metal catching her eye. Frowning, she slipped her hand farther into the drawer and pulled out a revolver. Eden blinked. What the hell is my mother doing with a gun? Martha was renowned for her hatred of the things, and she didn’t even allow Abram to carry one when they were in Elysia. In the outside world, he insisted for her safety, and she’d agreed to it only under duress.

It was the only time she’d seen her mother give in.

That still didn’t explain what one was doing here, in Martha’s personal desk. As if she’s afraid of something. But what could she possibly have to be afraid of? She is the monster under the bed in Elysia. She hesitated, but there was no time. After replacing everything exactly as she’d found it, she put the false bottom back into the drawer and arranged the things that had been on top of it. She’d just started for the door when Abram appeared, suspicion clear in ever line of his body. “What are you doing?”

“I got dizzy.” She touched her face and winced. “Head injuries are tricky, you know.”

He pointed her out of the room and then locked the door behind her. She started for the exit, and instead of melting off into the shadows, he followed. Goose bumps broke out over her arms as his footsteps echoed hers, just like what had happened earlier. Eden watched him out of the corner of her eye. Was it you?

The sneak attack didn’t seem like his MO, but stranger things had happened. She rubbed her arms. Coming home had been a mistake. She was so wound up that she was jumping at shadows, and paranoia was starting to get the best of her. Is it really paranoia if they’re all out to get you? She preferred to think of it as well-earned caution.

Abram held the door open for her, and she sidled past him and outside. To distract herself—and to distract him from thinking too much about what she was doing in Martha’s office—she said, “So, what was the big emergency?”

It was Martha who answered her. “They took my boy. They took both my boys.”

She frowned at her mother, taking in the way she clutched her dress and the wild look in her eyes. Eden didn’t believe for a second that it was genuine grief. Sure enough, there were a handful of people around, all watching with varying stages of anger and disbelief.

Eden didn’t have time for that shit. “What are you talking about?”

“Sheriff Owens just arrested Joseph.” Abram’s voice was too close behind her, and she jumped, feeling like she’d been shocked. She turned to glare, but the anger on his face stopped her. He continued on, pitching his voice too low to carry. “And I suspect you already know where our Lee has gone missing to.”