The Key to Fear - Kristin Cast Page 0,99

end it. A recorded confession and answers to some questions will be a good place to start.”

Cath studied Aiden and then Elodie, who had done a terrific job nearly blending into the wall. “You’ll let them both go?”

Blair’s gaze swept over the pistol on the corner of the desk and settled back on Cath. “I’ll take you and let them go. I can fix the trouble they’re in with the Council. Especially if I’m trading an Eos leader for two kissing teens.” Blair crossed her arms over her chest. “As Director, I won’t need any leverage. And the Key will appoint me immediately.” She paused and hung a smile on her lips. “After all, this is what happens when citizens don’t have effective leadership.”

Cath’s foot hung in the air for a moment before she committed to stepping forward.

Aiden pushed himself to his feet. “Mom! You can’t. They’ll kill you!”

Blair hiccupped back a sob. Aiden was choosing between them, and he wasn’t choosing wisely.

Cath’s eyes rested on Aiden as she clenched and unclenched her fists.

Blair swallowed her despair. “Holly, please record the events in the room.” With Cath out of the way, she could fix all of this. She could fix Denny. “If you want to save your son, it’s now or never, Mother.”

With her trademark poise and grace, Cath Scott walked forward to stand between her adoptive daughter and Major Owens. “My name is Cath Scott, although, to many, I am Echo.” With her shoulders pulled back and her chin lifted skyward she continued in the even, slow lilt Blair had once found so comforting. “I’ve been a member of Eos since their inception. I regret nothing. I only wish I could have done more.” Cath took a breath. Her eyes skimmed Blair before settling on Aiden. “I love you both deeply. You were the best decision I have ever made.”

Cath surged forward at Rhett. She crashed into him. His arms windmilled as he fell into the corner of Blair’s desk. His head hid the stone with a sickening crack as Cath struggled to her knees, spun, and grabbed the silver pistol.

Blair scrambled backward. She wasn’t Cath’s favorite, but Cath couldn’t end her like this. Cath wouldn’t! A sob flew from Blair’s lips.

The gun glinted in the harsh light as Cath pressed the barrel under her own chin. “After the storm comes the dawn!” Cath cried, and pulled the trigger.

The gunshot was louder than Aiden expected. The kind of piercing sound that slaughtered all others. He felt it too. Like the sound itself had reached into his chest, grabbed his ribs, and rattled his bones like cage doors.

Aiden opened his eyes to blood and gore. Red so bright, so alive, that the streaks melting against the walls were like staring into the sun.

What had happened?

The smell of copper hit him as soon as he let himself inhale.

And then came the sound. The deep keening that flayed his skin and left him raw.

He had only heard it once before.

The night his parents died.

*

Aiden’s fingertips dug into the carpet. His panting breaths blew around the dust bunnies Momma was always asking him to vacuum out from under his bed. Next time, he’d listen. Next time, he’d do anything Momma wanted as long as she and Daddy were okay.

Sobs tore through the closed door to his bedroom and seemed to scorch the air. “Momma! Daddy!”

It was his sister, screaming for their parents.

Tears burned Aiden’s eyes and he clapped his hands over his mouth to keep his cries from escaping. Blair had told him to stay under the bed and stay quiet.

“Momma! Daddy!” Each of his sister’s cries squeezed his heart.

The door to his room hissed open. Aiden pressed his hands against his lips, his fingernails digging into his soft cheeks.

“Denny?” Blair’s voice was tiny, frail. She shuffled toward the bed. Her feet were covered in red, like she’d stepped in a bucket of paint and had forgotten to wash. She dropped to her hands and knees and peered under the bed.

Aiden reached out for his sister, but she didn’t return the gesture. Instead, she pressed her cheek against the carpet and let out a quaking breath.

“Momma?” Aiden retracted his hand and wiped his cheeks. He couldn’t stop crying. “Daddy?”

Blair swallowed. Her usual soft and loving expression had been replaced with something Aiden had never seen before. “Follow me, Denny, okay?” Silvery moonlight streamed in from the window, shining in the river of tears leaking from Blair’s dark eyes. “And when we leave your