“Holy shit.” Eva wets her lips and blinks. “Did she...”
I shake my head. The urge to defend Freya hits me out of nowhere. “She says she hasn’t killed anyone but she-” I break off and try again. “He made her...”Shit.Now I can’t even speak.
Horror pulls at Eva’s face as she figures out what I’m trying to say. “She’s the protégé, the one who cut the crosses.”
I nod and fight the pressure building under my eyes.
Eva’s hand flutters to her chest. “Oh God, Eli. Your mom.”
My breath hiccups out of me in a broken sob. I press the back of my hand to my mouth, like I can physically hold back the pain. I’ve been trying to do just that since I was fourteen because Maddie Briggs wasn’t just Maxwell’s seventh victim.
She was my mother.
“How can I like her, Eva?” My eyes find Eva’s across the room, pleading for answers she doesn’t have. “She cut into my mother’s body. She tortured her. I should hate her.” I push away from the counter and clench my fists. “I need to hate her.”
I pace over to the wall and lean against it, resting my head on my forearms.
Eva comes up behind me and rubs circles on my back. “But you don’t.”
I press my lips together and shake my head. “I really don’t.”
“Not hating Freya doesn’t make you a bad son, Eli.”
I don’t answer.
Eva sighs and carries on rubbing my back. “How old was she when Maxwell took your mom?”
I work my jaw and do the math in my head.Fuck.My heart cracks a little at the answer. “She’d have been seven.”
“She was just a child, Eli.” Eva’s voice hardens. “A child raised by a monster. She didn’t stand a chance.”
I turn around so I’m facing Eva and slump against the wall.
“Deep down, I think you know she’s not to blame. You wouldn’t like her otherwise.” Eva presses a finger into my chest, right where my heart sits. “More than like her.”
I can’t quite find the words to agree. Logically, I know Eva’s right, but it still feels like a betrayal. It’s been sixteen years. I’ve failed to catch my mother’s killer and now I’m falling for his fucking daughter.
Eva takes a step back and crosses her arms. “I’m going to say something now and I need you to not break anything in my lab. I don’t want any holes in my walls, and I don’t have time to stitch up your knuckles.”
I brace myself then nod for her to continue.
“What would your mother have said if Maxwell was forcing Freya to cut her?”
I’ve imagined my mother at the mercy of Maxwell countless times. None of them hurt as much as the visual of a young Freya holding a knife to my mother’s chest.
I screw up my face and stop myself just short of snapping at Eva. Because I know exactly what my mom would have said. “She’d have told her to do it.” My voice comes out hoarse. “‘Better her be the one hurting than a child’ she’d have said.” I can’t stop the tears now, but I refuse to make a sound.
Eva pulls me into a hug and holds me until I hug her back.
“Maybe you found each other for a reason,” she says when we break apart.
I’m not sure I believe in fate like that but I’m glad I came to Eva. Her question may have hurt but it was what I needed to hear. My anger for Maxwell and the grief from losing my mother were clouding my thoughts. Things won’t be simple between me and Freya. I still hate that she has secrets. I still don’t fully trust her. But Eva’s right. My mum wouldn’t see my feelings for Freya as a betrayal. She wouldn’t want me being cruel to her. If anything, she’d want me to look after her. To make sure she was okay after being raised the way she was, having to do the things she did.
I wipe my face dry and grab my Stetson of the counter. “I should let you get back to your job. We’ve got a killer to catch.”
Eva nods. “I’ll call with the results as soon as I have them.”
I pick up my coffee and stop at the doorway. “Thank you, Eva.”
