Aunt CK thrashed. Her tears flowed freely now as she snarled at me. “You wereneverfit to lead! Youneverhave been! Harry was right this whole time. What kind of Huntscommander lets this happen? What kind ofniecelets this happen?!How could you?!”
Every one of her words slashed through me deeper than any blade in existence.
I took a step toward her, reaching from behind my mother to try and get to her. “Please, Aunt CK, I didn’t allow this. Cooper forced my hand?—”
“Don’t you blame my son for your weakness!” She spat at me. My eyes widened. Her anger was justified. She was hurt. Hurt people hurt people, especially those they think are to blame, but that didn’t make the heartbreak any easier to withstand. “You should havedefendedhim! Just like your mother is doing to you now! That’s what family does! You should have been there for my boy!”
“Carol-Kay, I understand you’re angry, but my daughter is not at fault—” Mama started, her voice like a salve as if she was channeling her healing powers there.
Aunt CK was not hearing any of it. Her eyes frantically darted to her sons. “And you two? You’re siding with her? Why? When she is the reason he isdead? She might as well have been the blade to his heart!”
“Mom, that’s enough!” Cole said. “Coopermurderedfirst. He broke the Hunter’s Code.
Cody nodded. “He knew exactly what was coming his way.”
Natassa joined in. “Quinn did what she could, Mom, but Cooper didn’t care. He knew what he was doing, and he was too far gone. His ambition was his downfall, just like Dad.”
“No, not my boy. He wouldn’t?—”
Nat didn’t give her a moment, continuing to batter her with her words. Nat and her mother had a rough relationship, but she was taking things too far. Her mom didn’t need to beat down. She needed a space to cope, not to be pushed into a darker reality. “Would you prefer to have just one son come back and lose two sons, your daughter, and your niece? Because that’s what would have happened if Cooper had his way, Mom.”
“Nat, stop?—”
She didn’t hear me. “He didn’t care if he had to kill his family to get what he wanted. He literally shot Quinn, Cole, and Cody several times. It was us or him. Pick how many caskets you want, Mother?—”
“Natassa,that’s enough!” I cut her off. There was a heft to my command that I hadn’t ever heard or used before. There was a hot, pressurized ripple of power that I had never felt before. It boomed throughout the room, slamming into everyone, demanding their attention, and calling on them to follow the order. Everyone flinched, like they had been struck. Nat, inparticular, froze for a moment with her mouth open. Then, she stepped back and lowered her eyes.
What the fuck wasthat?
It was like a… Huntscommander command, but how?—?
Before I could question anything further, Aunt Carol-Kay crumpled in her sons’ arms.
Her knees gave way, and she folded in on herself like someone had punched the breath from her lungs. The rage that had held her upright vanished in an instant. All that was left in its wake was grief. A raw, unbearable wail that I would haunt me forever tore free from her throat as she sank to the floor. Her hands shook. Her mouth fell open in silent sobs between her screams. There was no grace or composure to it. It was guttural. It was violent. It was sorrow in its purest form.
Aunt Tess was there as we all watched with overflowing tears of our own. She kneeled beside her sister with that silent gravity and understanding only siblings shared. She didn’t say a word, only wrapping her arms around Aunt CK’s hunched form and holding her tightly. She moved her to lean against her. Aunt CK clutched Aunt Tess like a child, like she would drift away if she let go of her. Slow and careful, Aunt Tess helped her stand, guiding her like she’d done this a thousand times before.
At the threshold to the foyer, she paused. She turned, her dark hazel eyes resting gently on me.
“You did the right thing, Quinn,” she said, her voice thick but steady. “It hurts like hell right now, but I’m proud of you, pretty girl.”
She smiled with so much compassion that my heart squeezed to the point of bursting. Then, she turned, leading Aunt CK with a quiet strength that only Aunt Tess possessed. Aunt Carol-Kay’s cries echoed back into the room, wild and ragged. The sound curled around the door threshold like billowing clouds of smoke.We listened until they were shut into the office near the front. Only silence remained after the click of its door.
Mama turned on her heel. Without warning, she stole my drink from the mantle and downed it in one long pull. Then, she did the same to her cup on the table.
After she set the cup down, she shook her head at all the news and crossed her arms. Then, with a long and heavy sigh, she turned to me. “Why didn’t you just tell me all of this, Quinn?”
I looked down, unable to look her directly in her eyes. I admitted, my voice shaky. “I was scared, Mama. I was so terrified that you would make me choose between you and Byrd. Or, far worse…”
“Oh, my sweet, precious angel baby,” Mama whispered. She stepped closer, placing her hands on my cheeks and brushing my tears away with her thumbs. “You should know I would doanythingto see you happy. I would never come between you and someone who makes you feel the way that Byrdie has. I’ve seen how you are with her, how much easier she makes life for you. Even in the glimpses I’ve seen, I know she’s so good for you. You both deserve each other. I almost died giving birth to you. I almost died raising and providing for you. I would do it all again for you and then some, if it meant seeing you smile and thrive. You must know that. I know you know that.”
“I know…” I whispered. “This was just… a lot, Ma.”
“I know, baby. You’ve carried all this for so long.”
She pulled me into a hug, and I immediately melted into it. It wasn’t just into her arms, but into everything she was: her scent, her warmth, her presence, justher. For a heartbeat of a moment, I was four years old again, clinging to her leg the first day of school, begging her not to make me go. We held each other close. I felt her heartbeat through her ribs, frantic and fierce, like it was trying to make up for all the time it spent fearing mine had stopped. Her hair brushed against my cheek,the soft, fine strands that smelled like her usual apricot and rosemary shampoo. She smelled like home with wafting scents of homemade cake and shea butter lotion. She was so soft, too, in the way that made you feel like you always had a safe place to land, like no matter how sharp the world got, she would round the edges for you. Her fingers threaded through the back of my hair and cradled my neck like I was made of something breakable. Honestly, as I buried my face in her shoulder, I felt like I was.
We just held each other. For just a moment, I let myself be small. Well, as small as I could be, considering my almost six feet worth of height and muscles that could crush just about anything. But, she didn’t let go. She just kept me surrounded in her affection.
