Misted (Team Zero #5) by Rina Kent

I give Jessica a reassuring glance, hoping she’ll remain calm. I always ignored Molly’s manipulative side, but only because I thought she did what she did to survive like all of us. But obviously, she has an agenda and I don’t doubt she’ll kill Jessica to accomplish it. I already failed Sarah. That won’t happen with Jessica.

“Do you remember your life before The Pit?”

I’m taken aback. What does that have to do with anything?

“Of course you don’t.” Molly rolls her eyes. “Omega and all that shit wiped your memories clean. But the thing is, Mist, I do. I remember everything you ruined.”

“What the heck are you talking about?”

“Your slutty mother took my father away from us. She seduced him and kept him for her fucking self.” Molly’s light brown eyes darken more than I’ve never seen them before. “Scott was my father. Mine!”

“Scott…? Oh. The boyfriend.”

I didn’t know he had a family elsewhere, but then again, my memories from back then are sketchy at best. I only remember the parts where he made my skin crawl and that my mother always took his side.

“I have nothing to do with what they did. I run away from home when I was nine,” I say in a calm tone trying to subdue Molly’s growing temper.

When I glance at Jessica, her eyes are glazed over while she stares at Sarah’s corpse. I move sideways to block the view — even partially. It’s the only thing I can do under such circumstances.

Molly releases long, cringe-worthy laughter. “You sure did, but Scott didn’t leave your whorish mother.”

“Honestly, Molly?” I try to keep the condescending tone out, but it peeks through anyway. “I’m sorry your father was a piece of shit who abandoned you, but I couldn’t give two fucks about him and that woman you keep calling my mother.”

“He didn’t abandon me!” She screams and tugs on Jessica’s hair so hard, the latter stumbles and a muffled scream cuts through the tape.

“Okay, he didn’t. He didn’t.” I use a soft tone to cool her down. She’s too agitated and at this rate, she’ll kill Jessica in a psychotic act.

“He was a good father.” Molly flips to a dreamy, distant tone so different from her rage-filled one. “He was the best father. When your slut mother died of cancer, he came back for Mum and I. We were happy for a few months. True he beat us. True he threw things on us, but we were a happy family.”

Her gaze zeroes in on me with so much hatred, it hurts. I doted on her and protected her like she was my blood sister. “Then he was killed in cold fucking blood.”

“What…?”

“Someone broke into our house!” She shouts, her shoulders tensing as she tugs on Jessica’s hair harder. “Daddy hid me in the wardrobe thinking it was one of his meth providers. It fucking wasn’t! The intruder slit Daddy’s throat open like he was some sacrifice and while Daddy was dying and gurgling on his blood, the murderer said, ‘This is for putting your hands on Mist.’ And then he was out.”

My lips part. Shit. Molly watched Hawk kill her father because of me.

That was both Hawk and mine’s original sin. Me for telling him about my mother’s boyfriend. And him for taking his life like he had every right to.

I open my mouth to say something, I don’t know what, but I want to talk to Molly. She cuts me off with tears in her eyes. “When Mum heard the news, she rushed home and died in an accident on the way. I told the police about the murderer who’s no older than a teenager but kills without second thoughts. But guess what, Misty? The police officer I told my story was under Hades’ control.”

Wait. Molly was taken to The Pit a few years before my tragedy with Hawk. I didn’t know he killed Scott at that time, but if he did right after I told him about it, then it’s no coincidence that Molly — Scott’s daughter — joined The Pit right after.

“Hawk was already becoming Hades’ ace sniper,” Molly continues in a deceptively calm tone. “I was a rock in his shoes. An insignificant nobody. Do you know what happens to an orphan seven-year-old girl who goes against Hades? She gets kidnapped into The Pit to keep her little mouth shut.”

“Molly…” My heart breaks for the child version of her.

“I didn’t mind.” She nods as if to herself. “It was my chance to take revenge. I gotta admit, getting close to Hawk was impossible. He’s kind of a scary arsehole who shuts everyone out. But you were so fucking inviting, it was a piece of cake. God. You really believed I was weak and took pity on me, trained me, and thought yourself my fucking benefactor. And that’s what ruined you.”

“What are you talking about, Molly?” I don’t like where this is going.

“You know, Mama taught me to be patient. When Daddy kicked and beat us, all I had to do was wait for it to eventually go away. It’s true that I wanted revenge against you, but I knew I was weak compared to your Omega shit. I was patient. Sooo very patient. I watched over the years, noticing how you and Hawk were each other’s world. To ruin you, I had to take away the one thing you cared about the most: your disgusting little world.”

She grins, caressing Jessica’s hair like she’s a pet. “I always followed you out on your missions and stayed in the room beside yours. Those motels have the thinnest walls. I heard you fucking and talking about a future – disgusting by the way. When I found out you were pregnant and planned to run away, I finally made my move.”