Page 3 of Death of a Mortal

Aemilia slipped behind Cassius with a wild, wicked grin. She relished my abuse. I relished her death in my dreams.

“Naci, you shouldn’t have! He’ll hurt you for that!” Nella said, grabbing my arm and attempting to pull me into our tiny bedroom, away from my impending suffering.

“It’s okay, little lamb,” I said with a soft smile. “If it keeps you safe, I’d throw every insult I can think of at them both.”

I tucked a lock of her thick golden-blonde hair behind her ear just as Cassius made it to where I was standing. I saw the fear well up in her wide blue eyes over what we both knew was about to happen. That look tore me apart, but it was better than her being hurt. For only fifteen, she’d already seen too much bad in the world.

Cassius yanked me away from Nella so hard I thought my shoulder had dislocated, then he wheeled me about to face him. He stood more than a head taller than me, with broad shoulders and crazed brown eyes. His build spoke of strength wasted away by years of heavy drinking, with the gut to prove it. He was massive compared to almost anyone, but especially me.

Alright, asshole, here we go…

“You clearly need a reminder who runs this house!” Spittle flew from his lips as he circled me like prey.

I didn’t move—I knew it would be worse if I did.

“Who puts the roof over your undeserving head and the food in your unworthy belly? You’re a disgrace to the Corren name. Even your mother was so ashamed of you that she ran out!”

There it was. The worst of the abuse. Worse than anything he could do with a belt or hand. My mother. No matter what he said, I imagined love in these dire moments when I thought of her. I’d been so young, I had no way of knowing if she loved me before she left, so it may have been wishful thinking. But it cut me so deep to hear him bring her into my torture.

I remained silent, despite my shaking rage, and held his stare in defiance. I knew I’d pushed him too far tonight, but I found it impossible to hold my tongue when he brought my mom up.

He was mean at the best of times, and Aemilia fed off his rage and hate toward me. I never could figure out why, though. Sure, I had an attitude and open disdain for them both, but their hate was so extreme that I couldn’t make sense of it. I didn’t know what I’d done,other than exist, that pissed Cassius off, and Aemilia just enjoyed being evil. But I had learned to stop questioning it and deal with it for Nella’s sake. She was so sweet and innocent, her heart too caring and open—the yin to my dark, lonely, and burning yang. She didn’t deserve this life, even if I did, which was why I fought tooth and nail to keep our father’s wrath aimed solely at me.

I was caught off guard as the first whip of his belt hit me on the back of my calf, sending me to my knees. My thoughts stayed on my mother and Nella as the pain sent shockwaves through my body. I tried my best not to cry out, as that would only incite him more.

As the second lash hit my back, I felt my thin shirt tear and heat build in the welted skin. Tears stung the back of my eyes, but I knew there was more in store for me than just this.

“Aemilia, sweetheart, give me your lightning so we can make sure the message really sets in.”

This is where things got bad.

I squeezed my eyes shut and saw the glow of lightning from beneath my eyelids, heard Aemilia’s amused chuckle coupled with the crackle of her powers.

Aemilia was so fucking special and fantastic because she had lightning powers. It was why Cassius loved her so much and hated the rest of his mortal children—why he gave her everything while Nella and I borderline starved. Aemilia and her lightning were proof that he once mattered to someone powerful—a fae.

I focused on a fabricated memory with my mother from when I was a small child as I braced for what would be a damning blow with that lightning-infused belt. I didn’t actually know her face, but in my mind, I saw the warmth in her tanned features and her wide smile, the love in her eyes, and I let it envelop me, if only in my mind. It was more of a hopeful glimpse of the past than a memory. But I saw her, and I imagined I could feel her too—her soft hand on my cheek and the comforting heat she radiated. Sometimes, if I imagined hard, I could smell honeysuckle.

This time, the belt wrapped around my thigh at his strike, and itsent electricity through my whole body, the sound crackling in my ears.

I let out an involuntary scream. I smelled singed hair as the static coursed through my twitching body and tasted copper, as if I had a coin in my mouth. Her lightning was so unlike the magic the fae harnessed for our electricity. It was far more wicked and unnatural.

“Pain is the only thing that can get through that thick skull of yours. I’ll strike Nella next if you don’t learn respect. So I’ll ask one time, are you gonna be more grateful and start showing me some respect?”

I opened my eyes as tears spilled over, and the last of the electricity sizzled out from my skin. I turned my head and caught Nella’s gaze, her eyes wide with fright and concern for me, the only real thing she had in this world.

“Yes, I will,” I ground out, defeated, through the lingering pain.

Cassius turned away, satisfied. My eyes found his retreating form and felt hot with anger and tears. I saw the candles on the living room mantel flicker as he walked by, headed toward the kitchen, and I felt the same flicker start in my chest and dance across my skin, then fizzle out just as the lightning had.

This had happened a few times before, candles or flames flickering, but I still didn’t have an explanation for it. Maybe it was just a draft, but at times it seemed like more.

I collapsed on the floor, face-first, panting and crying, convulsing from the effects of the magic. Aemilia’s satisfied humming followed the unmistakable sound of Cassius uncorking his precious brown liquor.

Nella ran to my side with a cool, damp towel ready to soothe the burning skin of my back and leg as Cassius mumbled something that sounded like “disgrace.” I couldn’t stand to call him Father, Dad, or anything that held even the slightest hint of respect or a familial bond.

“Naci, you’ve got to hold your tongue when he’s drunk. I can’t stand to see you hurt like this,” Nella said softly with tears wettingher own eyes. “Let me help you up. Come on, into bed. Before they decide they aren’t done.”

“Nella,” I huffed out. “I don’t deserve you. And you don’t deserve this. I’m just…I’m just so damn sorry I can’t do better for you. For us. One day, my little lamb. One day soon.”