Iniquitous (The Marked #3)(83)

It was the daylight.

I heard footsteps rush up behind me, but I held my hand out and stopped them from going any further.

“Mom.” I called her out on purpose, needing for her to retreat from her attempted prison break. All she’d have to do was take one step outside and she’d realize that the sun was no more of a barrier to her than the moon was.

Her back straightened into a line. Slowly, as though she had all the time in the world, she turned around and faced me. Her brows were pulled down low over a pair of striking silver eyes. She couldn’t have been a day olderthan twenty-five, but her eyes were carrying a much heavier number than that.

“What did you call me?” she croaked. Her voice had the same raspy texture that Tessa’s had although that could have just been the result of not speaking for years.

The floor undulating beneath me as though it were conspiring to knock me on my ass. I found my center and kept myself focused on luring her back inside and not on the fact that I was speaking to my dead mother.

“I’m not here to hurt you,” I said and took a step towards her.

She clicked out her fangs and I quickly retreated.

“Who are you?” she hissed.

“My name is Jemma Blackburn. I’m your…” I swallowed the boulder-sized knot in my throat. “Daughter.”

She flinched, though it was barely perceptible had I not been staring at her like I wanted to sear her face into my brain.

She didn’t respond to my statement. Instead she asked, “How long have I been incapacitated?”

“I don’t know,” I answered honestly.

“You’re the one that brought me back?’

“Me and my friends did, yes.”

Her eyes narrowed into vertical slits. “Why?”

“Because,” I said and then tried again to take a step towards her, this time with my hands up. “We need your help.”

“My help?” she repeated doubtfully as she cast a glance at the tube dangling from her vein. “Or my blood?”

“Your blood.” I didn’t see the point in lying to her. She already didn’t trust us. Maybe telling her the truth might yield a different response from her. Like cooperation.

She relaxed her shoulders a little and raised her chin. “What do you need my blood for?” Her tone wasn’t so much suspicious as it was curious.

“I’ll explain everything, but you need to come inside first. It’s not safe for you out there.”

“It’s not safe for me in here either,” she countered. Her eyes roamed over my shoulder at whoever was standing behind me. “That blond one tried to stab me with his wooden stick. I don’t think I like him very much.”

“Well since you impaled the blond one with that same wooden stake,” hissed Dominic from behind me. “He doesn’t like you very much either.”

I glanced over my shoulder and noticed him clutching his abdomen. Splashes of his crimson blood seeped between his fingers and my stomach dipped at the sight of it.

“It’s just a flesh wound,” gritted Dominic upon seeing my worried expression.

“Unfortunately,” muttered Trace under his breath.

Realizing he was okay, I decided it was best if they all cleared out. Having so many people around was probably making her jumpy and suspicious.

“Can you guys give us a minute please,” I said to the four of them, though I kept my body angled towards my mother. “I need to talk to her alone.”

“Jemma, I don’t think that’s a good idea,” interjected Gabriel, but I wasn’t backing down this time.

“I wasn’t asking permission, Gabriel.”

Realizing this wasn’t up for debate, Gabriel conceded with a curt nod and then left the hallway in silence. Dominic and Arianna followed closely behind him, though Trace didn’t budge an inch. He was almost as stubborn as I was, if not more, and I knew he wasn’t going to leave my side no matter how hard I demanded it.

“Why are you among Revenants?” she asked harshly, bringing my attention back to her.

“We’re not all Revs,” interjected Trace as he crossed his arms over his chest. He was obviously offended that he got lumped in with the rest of them.

“They’re my friends,” I answered plainly. I didn’t like where this was going.

“Your friends? Really?” She laughed under her breath as though it were the most absurd thing she’d ever heard. “Where is Thomas in all this? I’d love to hear what he has to say on the matter.”

I bristled at her question. “My father’s dead, and if he weren’t, I’m pretty sure he’d have a lot to say on the matter.” Mainly that I was grounded for the rest of eternity.

Her hard expression cracked at the news of my father’s untimely departure. It was the first sign of emotion I’d see from her all day. “What happened?” she asked, her quiet tone thick with sorrow.

“What do you think happened?” I asked rhetorically. I didn’t want to discuss my father right now—not with her. Not after she abandoned him and left him to raise me and my sister on his own. “Look, we didn’t bring you back to reminisce about all the good times we never had. Your sire ripped a giant hole in our world and we need his blood to close it back up and since he’s no longer a member of the ‘Currently Living Club’, your blood is the next best thing.”