Kaius the Fierce by Cara Wylde

Chapter Fifteen

“Put her down, leave, and I won’t press charges,” Aunt Meg repeated herself for the last time.

Grace couldn’t breathe. The situation had escalated beyond measure, and she felt powerless. She could beg her aunt to stop whatever she thought she was doing, but then Carl would be free to take her daughter and run away. She couldn’t fight him. He was tall, slightly overweight, and so much stronger than her. Maybe her aunt knew what she was doing, so she could wait and see. She stole a glance at Sasha, who was paralyzed, tears streaming down her cheeks in rivulets. She’d stopped struggling, her big eyes staring at the gun. Grace felt her heart breaking. She was too young for this. Too young to see her aunt pointing a gun in her general direction, a gun she wasn’t even sure she knew how to use. And Carl... What did Sasha think about Carl? That he was a friend? That he was distant family? He’d been nice to her, and now he was acting crazy, and she was obviously scared of him.

Grace herself felt confused, so she could only imagine what Sasha might be feeling.

“Meg, put the gun down,” Carl said in a serious voice.

“This is my house, and I give the orders, young man.”

“Meg, you’re making a mistake. Sasha is my daughter, and it’s my duty to protect her.”

“Jesus Christ,” Grace groaned. In that moment, she wanted to kill him. With her bare hands. “Why would you say that? Why?”

“Because it’s true.” He turned to Sasha, who was staring at him with wide eyes, but still trying to keep her little, tense body as far away from him as she could. He was holding her tightly, careful not to let her jump out of his arms. “I’m your Daddy, sweetie. They made me keep it a secret from you. Your aunt and your Mommy said that if I tell you the truth, they won’t let me see you anymore.”

Sasha sniffed loudly, then wiped her face with her sleeve and furrowed her brows.

“You’re not my Daddy.”

“Oh, cupcake... But I am...”

Grace gritted her teeth. Sweetie, cupcake... The jerk had some nerve.

“I don’t believe you,” the girl said in a firm voice. “You can’t be my Daddy, because a real Daddy wouldn’t have abandoned me. I just met you, and you only visited twice. I don’t have a Daddy, just a Mommy, and I’m okay with that.”

Grace covered her mouth with her free hand, while she didn’t let go of Sasha’s hand. She could have suffocated her little girl with kisses, but the madness wasn’t over yet. She stole a glance at Carl, trying to determine if Sasha’s words had made him angrier than he was. But he seemed to be in shock.

“Sasha, I’m here now. I came back for you and your Mommy.”

The girl squeezed her mother’s hand and looked at him as defiantly as ever.

“Too late.”

“I am your father.”

“I don’t want you to be. You’re not nice. You’re not nice to Mommy, you’re not nice to Auntie Meg, and you’re not being nice to me now. I don’t want to come with you. I want you to put me down.”

He hesitated. Grace felt that was her moment.

“Carl, give her to me. Come on.” She held her arms up. “Come on. It’s over, okay? Just give her to me and leave. We’re not going to press charges. As long as you promise you’ll never come here again.”

A vein pulsed on his temple. “It’s my right...”

Grace sighed, tired of it all. He didn’t even sound that threatening anymore, only ridiculous. If she thought about it, Carl hadn’t exactly been stable when they’d dated years ago either, so why would he be now?

“No, Carl, you have no rights. You made your choice even before Sasha was born. She told you herself. It’s too late.”

“Grace...” Now he was the one looking at her pleadingly. “I have nothing...”

Well, that was one thing she didn’t care about. “Give her to me. Come on...”

“I came back for you... for my girls...”

She shook her head. “We are not your girls.”

Aunt Meg was still pointing the gun at him. It was clear she wasn’t going to shoot, but she had no intention of backing down, either. By this point, the gun was more of a statement than anything.

“Sasha...”

The girl shook her head.

“Give her to me...”

Finally, he hung his head and complied. Gently, he allowed Sasha to slip into her mother’s arms. The girl wrapped herself around Grace’s neck and torso, with both her twig-like arms and legs, and held on tightly. She was too big and heavy for Grace, but that was the last thing she was going to complain about. Carefully, Grace took a few steps back, leaving Carl to stand alone in front of the door. Fortunately, he hadn’t gotten to open it earlier, which meant that even though the neighbors might’ve heard them shouting, they didn’t know Meg had pulled a gun on someone. A stranger to them, for sure.

“Thank you, Carl,” Grace forced herself to say. “For being reasonable.”

“Reasonable?” He turned his hands into fists. “I just wanted...”

“Enough talking,” Aunt Meg said. “Time to go. You’re not welcome here, so don’t you dare come back. You won’t find Grace or Sasha here next time. Only me. And depending on my mood, I might call the police, or I might shoot you myself.”

“Please go,” Grace begged. “Please. Nothing happened, okay? Just go.”

Carl tightened his jaw and pursed his lips. He looked miserable, and his ego had taken a massive hit. There was nothing left for him to do, so he walked backwards, opened the door, and walked down the front steps as he kept his eyes fixed on the barrel of the gun. He wasn’t stupid enough to turn his back to Aunt Meg, though deep down, he knew he was safe as long as he did what the women asked. He walked like that a few more steps, and when Meg finally lowered her gun, he let out a breath of relief, turned around, and rushed to the driveway, where he’d parked his car.

Meg slammed the front door closed, then went into the kitchen, opened the fridge, and took out a bottle of cheap wine. It was already open, so she poured herself a full glass.

“Oh my God!” Grace collapsed to her knees. Sasha wiggled out of her arms and placed her little hands on her shoulders. Grace looked into her eyes. “Oh my God, baby! Are you okay?” Sasha nodded. “I am so sorry. I’m sorry I didn’t tell you about your father, I’m sorry he... he just did that...” She couldn’t believe what they’d all just gone through. She cupped her daughter’s face with her hands. “I am so sorry. Will you ever forgive me?”

Sasha shrugged. “It’s okay, I guess. I don’t want him to be my Daddy.”

“Oh, baby...” Grace’s heart ached. “But he is...” Carl didn’t deserve a daughter like Sasha. The wisdom with which she’d spoken to him a few minutes before had struck her and surprised her pleasantly.

“No. I want to go with you to the nice place in the mountains and meet the mage who says funny things.”

Grace nodded.

Aunt Meg was bent over the sink. She’d drunk half of her glass. The gun was on the counter, since she didn’t yet have the energy to put it back into the safe, from where she’d gotten it.

“You should go. Now.”

Grace pulled herself to her feet. “My plan was to stay the night. I didn’t want to rush this.”

“It’s better for you to go as soon as you can. Just in case that nut job changes his mind and comes back around. This time, he might not be impressed by my unloaded gun.”

“Jesus, Meg! The gun isn’t loaded?!”

“Your Uncle Keith didn’t keep it loaded,” she chuckled, remembering her late husband. “He never expected to use it. It’s his father’s gun, actually, he didn’t know what to do with it, and he just kept it in the safe. Took it out from time to time to clean it and such...”

“Oh my God!” Grace pressed her hand to her chest. Her heartbeat was returning to normal. “You scared me!”

“Well, I scared that idiot, too, and that’s all that matters.”

“If he comes back...”

“I’ll make sure it’s loaded.”

Grace shook her head. “I don’t know, Aunt Meg. I don’t know who you are anymore...”

Meg laughed and drank the rest of her wine. “Go pack, you two. Long journey ahead.”

Grace took Sasha’s hand in hers. “What do you say?”

“Yes, let’s pack. I’ll help.”

“That’s my girl...”

They went upstairs, and even though Grace tried to stay calm and relaxed, and tried to show Sasha that it was all okay and the danger had passed, she could barely contain her anxiety and desperation to get out of there and back on the first train that would take them both into the mountains. Carl would never dare to look for them there. Kaius was no Aunt Meg.