The Night Children

Chapter 52

I placed the body of Fin gently on the ground, conscious of the many eyes that followed my movements. I hated feeling how limp he was, or the fact that he would lay here in the snow for others to prey upon but I had no choice. 

Isaac snorted, dismissing Fin, causing Miss Anderson to glance in his direction. Her eyes narrowed significantly, her smile curling into a sour snarl.

"You," she hissed, coiling her fingers around the hilt of her sword. "I never thought you would be one of them."

Isaac merely watched at her, his gaze unblinking but I could tell his brain was ticking over.

"Maybe because you were too busy testing to see if Renee was one of us." He lashed back, however he said it in a teasing manner, as if he found her sudden rage amusing. Miss Anderson only gritted her teeth before tearing her eyes away from him. All her members stood motionless behind her, like soldiers waiting for their leader's command. Her eyes flitted to mine, her mouth twisting into a grin.

"Renee, how fortunate it is to see you again," She paused, biting her lip. "Alive." She then burst into a cackle however all her members behind her didn't utter a word or a smile, their faces slackened with little expression. She glanced down at her unsheathed sword, examining the jewels with glee. "I assume you now know your mother works for me."

I said nothing, however I glanced back over to Mum but she was staring ahead of her, her eyes steeled over. She didn't look like my mother with her hair out, her face washed and weighted down with silver armour. "And due to swearing an oath of loyalty, it was very easy for me to ensure she turned against you in the court."

I swallowed my rage, forcing myself not to look away from Miss Andersons eyes.

"Did you ever wonder where your mother disappeared to most nights?" Miss Anderson continued, her voice high in pleasure at seeing my discomfort. She looked back at my mother but she didn't meet her gaze, her eyes unmoving from the wolves ahead of her. "The pub or her pathetic tunid bestfriends is not the correct assumption." She let out another burst of laughter before clearing her throat. She let her eyes scan back towards the wolves, her smile falling from her lips. A certain darkness seemed to seep across her face, draining her grey eyes of the little colour they had in them originally to leave her looking like a faceless shadow. It was like she loathed nothing more than the wolves, like her life depended on ridding of them.

"Children," She boomed, no longer addressing me but the growling wolves surrounding us. "You and your pitiful pack members probably wondered who was killing you off one by one." She looked towards the Alpha, a cruel smile playing at her lips. "That she wolf, Francesca wasn't it," She put her finger to her lips in an act of deep thought, but her eyes gleamed with the reality of a joke. "Shame I had to shoot an arrow through her head, she was a very pretty one."

The wolves let out howls of anger, pacing amongst each other but a snarl from the Alpha silenced them all. His tail twitched but he made no movement towards Miss Anderson.

I was staring at her in shock, forcing myself to close my open mouth. So after all this time, she was the boss of the Parade. She was the shadow who shot at Aleena and I. She was the wisp of a voice that flung arrows into the wolves. She was the culprit all along. And I hadn't seen it.

"You nearly killed Aleena." I heard myself say, my voice hardened with venom. Miss Anderson turned back to me, her eyes lightening with a certain playfulness.

"That was a mistake honestly," She said with a smile, although it didn't touch her eyes. "I was aiming for you."

I opened my mouth to shoot her a retort but Isaac interrupted.