The Rush (The Siren Series) - By Rachel Higginson Page 0,35

I clenched at the napkin in my lap, dreading whatever had my mother so nervous. Her eyes flickered everywhere in the room, except to Nix and this only made me more anxious.

“She’s very devoted to her father,” she finally admitted.

A rush of air expelled through my mouth and I felt myself visibly relax into my seat. Nix shot me an intolerant glance but I smiled brightly, hoping to avoid an explanation. I loved that my sister had a father and they were so close. I loved that she had been saved from our world, from my mother…. From Nix. But obviously I couldn’t explain that to them.

Nix slid his wine glass between his thumb and middle finger slowly. He didn’t have very many tells, his ability to mask every emotion was one of his greatest skills. But his fingers were white with the effort to stop himself from crushing the glass between his fingers.

I wiped at the corners of my mouth to keep from smiling at his frustration. “So she isn’t willing to go back to trial?” I asked in a meek voice.

My mother’s sharp green eyes found mine with such intensity that it felt like she slapped me. “No, she doesn’t want to dispute custody. She says she’s happy with the way things are.” My mother’s words fell off her tongue like malicious drops of acid. How dare one of her children be happy…

Nix’s gaze bore into my mother like he could change the finality of her tone with a powerful look. His lips had formed a tight frown and I watched, practically mesmerized, by the pulsing, angry vein in his neck. When he finally spoke, his words were carefully controlled and measured. This was Nix with barely concealed anger management issues; this was Nix just at the verge of losing control. Terrifying. Captivating. Deadly.

“She doesn’t know better, Ava,” he finally relented. “She’s been with that man for as long as she can remember, she doesn’t know life differently. Continue how things are, we’ll work on the details together.”

My mother nodded curtly, as if she were in complete agreement. It was only the tremble of her fingers when she reached for her glass that gave away her internal fears. I found her quiet terror comforting, even though it meant that if my plans failed in the future I would be imprisoned to a life of fear.

“But I will not tolerate this for much longer,” Nix continued, “Your failure to possess your own offspring is not acceptable. Her father is an anomaly, I understand that, and I’d rather not risk exposure by pressing him too hard. But there cannot be loose ends, there cannot be….” Nix cleared his throat, pulling himself back from the hateful monster he was becoming.

“So you don’t think that could ever happen again?” I asked before I could stop myself. Ryder had felt like this giant impossibility ever since I met him, but I had forgotten Honor’s father was also completely resistant to my mother’s spell. Maybe there were men alive that could resist us. Maybe there was hope!

“Ivy you have nothing to worry about,” Nix answered, misreading my curiosity. “What happened with Smith was a fluke. It won’t happen again, especially not to you.” His eyes settled on me appreciatively and I could almost feel my mother’s bitterness radiating between us.

What he didn’t know was that I thought it had already happened to me.

My mother wasn’t alone. And I could solve this new gap between us caused by Nix’s implications if I was honest with her about Ryder.

But I never would be. Never ever.

“Smith and Honor are extenuating circumstances,” my mother defended herself. “Who knows what those chemo drugs did to his mind, to his brain. Nobody expected him to survive those treatments or his disease, not even his expensive team of experts.” We sat in silence as my mother’s unnecessary argument settled around us. I didn’t have an opinion that could be said out loud about her situation and no matter what my mother said, Nix had his own ideas that would not be dissuaded. “Maybe I should talk to my lawyer about that. Maybe it just wasn’t his relationship with me that was affected. Nobody knows the long term effects those drugs could have on his mental capacity.”

Nix made a noncommittal sound and gestured for the waiter to come over and take our order. Nix proceeded to order for all three of us without asking our opinion, and then dismissed the waiter just