Throne of Vengeance (Throne Duet #2) by Rina Kent

I told Daddy it looks like a fight, but he said it’s a war and if I want to win it, I need to follow his steps.

We walk for a long time through hallways I’ve never been down before, ’cause I’m still a kid and Daddy doesn’t like it when I go to his office.

Mammy only has the backpack on her back. I think we’re not gonna stay long in the new home ’cause Daddy will be mad and then Mammy will be sad.

I rest my head on her shoulder and breathe in the smell of milk and honey. It’s my favorite scent ever ’cause it means everything will be okay. Then I pat her back ’cause she’s shaking. I wanna ask her if she’s cold, but she said to be silent.

So I pull back and smile at her. Her face is pale and her eyes have red lines in ’em, but she smiles back like the angels from the painting in Daddy’s office.

When I asked her what angels do, Mammy said they’re pure, bring light, and help children like me grow up. That’s why Mammy was made for me. She’s the angel who will help me grow up, and then I’m gonna be the ogre who protects her ’cause ogres are stronger than angels, even if they smell sometimes.

Mammy stops near a door, peeks outside, then holds me tighter as she walks slowly, her back to the wall until we reach our garden. It’s massive as well with long fences and wires. They appear like the devil’s horns from the creepy show Uncle was watching while I spied from afar.

She stops beside a wire and pulls out her phone from her trousers, then puts it to her ear. Her foot taps rapidly on the ground as she listens through the phone.

Tap. Tap. Tap.

Her hold around me tightens the more she focuses on the phone, then she puts her thumb in her mouth, chewing on her nails. Daddy doesn’t like it when she does that.

“Pick up…pick up…” she murmurs. “Bleeding hell.”

“Mammy, isn’t that a bad word?”

“Shh, Kyle.”

“But ye said it was bad.”

“I’m sorry, baby boy, I shouldn’t have said that.” She smiles. “Mammy is just a little excited. Forgive me, okay?”

“Okay. I won’t repeat it in front of Daddy.”

“Good boy.”

“What are we doing in the garden, Mammy?”

“I’m waiting for a friend to come to pick us up.”

“You have a friend?”

“Aye.” Something weird passes in her eyes. “He’s an old friend. I think ye’ll like him.”

“Why haven’t I seen him before?”

“Because I knew him before ye were born, baby boy.”

“Am I going to meet him now?”

“Hopefully.”

“Is he going to play wizards and ogres with us?”

“We’ll try to invite him.”

A soft sound comes from behind us. It’s as quiet as a bird landing on a dead leaf, but Mammy freezes and places a finger on my mouth.

I stay silent. I don’t mind staying here, but if Mammy is leaving, I want to go with her too.

“All clear,” a man says in a rough, harsh way. I think it’s Luke, Daddy’s best man in black. He came all the way from Ireland.

Daddy is the big boss man from Ireland, too. I had fun when we went there months ago, but I don’t think Mammy did.

She told me she’s from Northern Ireland and Daddy is from Dublin. Apparently, Northern Ireland and Ireland are different countries, but they speak similarly. Not too similar, though, because Daddy hates it when I speak like Mammy. But I like how Mammy talks; it’s how angels speak. Daddy knows nothing.

Luke and his voice disappear, but she continues holding my mouth for a long time before she releases a breath.

She then puts the phone to her ear again. “Come on…come on.” Her eyes light up even in the dark. “Oh, thank God. Where are you? Yes, I’m at the back gate. I already disconnected the cameras, and it won’t be long before someone finds out. I have mere minutes. Kyle is with me.”

She listens for a little, then she trembles like a child in the cold. I stroke her cheek with my tiny fingers to make her feel warmer like she does to me.

Mammy is too focused on the phone as she whispers, “He knows. It won’t be long before he kills us.”

Her lips pale as she listens a wee more. I hate the one she’s speaking to because he’s making Mammy unhappy. I’m gonna punch him.

“What do you mean you’re attacking? That’s not what you promised. You said ye’ll help me get out of here. I need to leave. Ireland and the States aren’t safe for us anymore, and…”

She trails off when loud bangs erupt in the house.

Pop. Pop. Pop.

I flinch in her arms and Mammy holds me close, tears streaming down her cheeks as she speaks to the bad man on the phone. “I trusted ye, a Russian, over my own countrymen—how can ye do this to me?”

She doesn’t wait for a response as she shoves the phone in her pocket and runs. The pops are getting closer, like in the stories she told me while doing the sound effects.

Even though she’s trembling, she doesn’t stop until she reaches a small wall with no wires on top. She grabs my hands and winds them around her neck. “Hold on tight and don’t let go, Kyle.”

“Okay.”

She pushes my hair out of my face and smiles, but it’s filled with tears. “Ye’re such a good boy, sweetheart. Ye shouldn’t have been born into this world. I shouldn’t have brought ye into this chaos. Mammy is so sorry, but I’ll make it better.”