Page 83 of Haven

Haven.

Rory was dating Axel Morningstar’s daughter?

She didn’t tell me.

Why would she? I would’ve reacted how I did when she was with Widow and when I caught her with Vesper. My sister knew what she wanted, even if it was the enemy. I couldn’t be angry when all I wanted was to be home with her. I would give anything to see her happiness, even if it mortified me to see her heart get broken, but that’s assuming my friends would hurt her.

I thought about our last conversation before this happened. I was angry…livid, but also scared. But I shouldn’t be afraid of my friends hurting her…You’re acting just like Mom and ruining my fucking life!

God, that stung, but not as much as hearing I hate you fall from her lips before she ran away crying. It was all my fault to begin with. My fault for being stuck here, my fault for what happened to her when she was hurt. My fault for this monster coming back to haunt her.

I was the one who hurt her.

God, I wish I could take it all back. I treated her like a fragile little girl when Rory was a fierce firefly. She was shining through her darkness.

“I’m sorry, firefly,” I whispered, the words scraping against my throat like sandpaper as a tear slipped down my face.

“You’re going to ruin years of fucking planning because you can’t fucking think,” the woman snapped as angry footsteps echoed down the corridor. I groaned in agony. What were they going to do now? “Men. All you fucking do is think with your goddamn dick.”

“She’s mine, dammit.”

“No she’s fucking not!” That voice was different. “She was meant to be mine! He lied to me. Aurora is mine. Not yours.”

The man chuckled. “The adults were talking. I don’t have time for this.”

God, what was going on?

He was going to hurt Rory…but so was she? I was in misery, but I needed to fight so I could get home to her. I would be a better sister, even if it meant dealing with hell and crawling back to her.

Seventy-One

Rory

Hades had to work, and while I wanted her to be here with me, I knew she had to help people. While I was alone, I decided I would start the process of looking for my sister. I had no idea what to do, but I had to do something. Her disappearance was related to me and my past, so I needed to dive into my past and remember. That was the funny thing, though. I spent the last eight years trying to forget about my past. It worked because I forgot patches of things that involved another kid. Jude didn’t have any more kids with me. I was his special princess. Fucking bastard.

I pulled out my iPad from my bag and Googled Jude Booker. His name made my skin itch and my scars ache, but I needed to do this. If there was a boy there or any other kids, then there should be reports somewhere. It took several different searches before a news article popped up. I clicked it and read through it. A teenage boy broke into a pharmacy looking for drugs; he had bruises and ripped clothes. Officers said he was talking about a lost princess that he needed to find.

Princess.

The article didn’t have his name because he was a minor. That led me nowhere. Jude didn’t have a son. I Googled his obituary to confirm there was no mention of any children, only a grandmother in Vermont.

I looked at more articles, but I knew articles written by strangers trying to make a dollar wouldn’t give me the information I needed. What I needed to get my hands on were the case files and reports from the detective in Nevada. I could ask Melisa. Cinder told her a lot. I needed to check on her, anyway. I still didn’t know if she and Cinder were screwing around or not, but they were friends for years, and not knowing if she was alive or not had to hurt her, too.

ME

Do you have files on my case with Jude?

MELISA

Why?

ME

I need to remember so I can find Cinder.

MELISA

Rory, how is remembering your trauma going to help?