Abide: An Awakened Fate Novella by Skye Malone Read Free Book Online Page B

he didn’t always agree with Dad’s decisions, and he would never betray his family by taking our father away from us.”
    Niall was silent.
    “I don’t care who it was, or how much he agreed with them,” I continued. “He would never, ever allow someone to do that. Not to Dad, and not to us.” I moved to keep his focus as Niall turned aside. “He loves us, Niall. He could never be that horrible–”
    “I’m not saying he doesn’t love us,” Niall snapped. “Okay, Ina? This isn’t against our grandfather. This is me trying to keep our family safe.”
    He spun away, swimming back to where he’d been by the door. “I mean, that’s all I’m trying to do here. That’s all I’ve ever been trying to do. And if Granddad…” He made an angry sound. “Maybe he was trying to protect us too, you know? Maybe he just saw this as the only way to keep us safe, even if it came with a terrible cost. Because to him it was worth it. Because he loves us. Because he’s a good person, even if he did things that make him not seem that way.”
    I stared at him.
    “I care about our grandfather too,” Niall continued, looking up at me. “But what I saw…” He shook his head. “There’s a lot of bad out there, Ina. Dangerous, horrible things like… like crazy girls, and monsters, and stuff you can’t even imagine, and we’re in a war against all of it.” He paused. “Maybe Granddad just chose the wrong side.”
    I didn’t respond. I wasn’t sure I could.
    Niall grimaced as if trying to calm down and then he turned, touching the lighter patch of stone by the doorway.
    “Ren won’t hurt him,” he told me firmly. “Even if our grandfather did work with those people… he’ll still be okay.”
    He swam from the room without another word.
    I didn’t take my eyes from the doorway.
    The way he’d said that…
    Shivers ran through me. My teeth were chattering.
    His words…
    The look on his face…
    That desperate, angry, hurt, and tense look, like he’d been pushed too far and was about to break.
    A sharp breath entered my lungs.
    He’d done it. Oh sweet merciful…
    Zeke hadn’t been wrong.
    My stomach lurched. Gasping, I turned and my hand found the edge of the table just to stop me from sinking to the ground.
    Niall… he’d…
    I swallowed hard, trying to keep from throwing up. My gaze darted around the apartment, searching for something, anything to connect me to a reality other than this one.
    There was nothing. The stupid, empty, boring room stared back at me.
    I had to get out of here. Do something.
    Niall had killed our father.
    I choked, my hand clenching on the side of the table. My big brother who’d put squids in my hair… he’d murdered Dad.
    My gaze snapped to the door. I needed to tell Ren. He’d probably still be on the upper floor. He had to know this.
    Niall might be in the hallway.
    My heart raced. Kicking my tail hard, I sped to the window and shoved past the leaves to the outside.
    “Princess?” the guard cried as I shot by him.
    I kept going. The opening to Ren’s floor came into view quickly, with guards on either side.
    “Move!” I shouted at them.
    They darted out of the way and then spun to follow me. Racing down the hall, I ignored them, my gaze fixed on the door to Ren’s study.
    His guards flanked it. He had to still be there.
    “Highness,” the guards at the doorway protested as I came speeding toward them. They moved to block the entrance. “You can’t go inside–”
    They caught me when I tried to push by them.
    “I have to talk to him,” I insisted, breaking from their grasp and looking past them to the door. “Now. Let me in.”
    “You can’t–”
    I darted at the door again. “Now, damn you!”
    They grabbed me. Twisting in their grasp, I drove my elbow into the midsection of the one on my right and he choked.
    Spikes came out on my arms.
    The men let me go.
    Shoving past them, I rushed into the room.
    Ren paused halfway to the door, alarm on his face.