Fragile Reign (Mortal Enchantment Book 2) by Stacey O'Neale Page B

way.”
    “Those are my terms.” Darius replied, dismissing Marcus with the wave of his hand.
    Marcus strode over to his father. Both of them panting heaving breaths. The crowd silenced, eager for one of them to speak. “If you insist on going through with this, you leave me no choice.” A droplet of sweat trickled down Marcus’s face. “I challenge you for pack leader.”

 

Chapter Eight
    Kalin
     
    Mom didn’t need to say a word. It was written all over her reddened face. She was pissed. Raging like an earthquake measuring 8.0 on the Richter scale. As she paced, she rolled up the sleeves of her white button-down collared shirt. Her normally smoothed hair hung down her back in crimpy waves as if she hadn’t dried it after a shower. Many questions lingered in my mind. How did she get here and who had she been speaking with?
    In my entire sixteen years of existence, I had never seen her so angry. Worst part? It was all because of me. “I’m sorry I didn’t tell you. I didn’t want you to worry.”
    “Kalin, I am your mother. It’s my job to worry.” Mom threw her hands in the air. “And you are my child, which means you don’t get to decide what I need to know.”
    Suddenly, I was making excuses like a kid who had come home with a bad report card. “I didn’t want to put you in danger. You were safer at home. I had extra knights guarding the house to make sure of it.”
    “You were protecting me?” She shook her head in disgust. “You have this whole thing backwards. It’s MY JOB to protect YOU. Not the other way around.”
    While Mom paced the room—saying a whole lot of something under her breath—I glanced over at Dad. He hadn’t moved one inch since he saw her. His eyes were wide while his lips were slightly parted. I couldn’t tell if he was breathing, so I nudged him with my elbow. “You could try helping me out.” I whispered.
    “Sorry.” He said, jolting like I had just awakened him from a daydream. “What should I say?”
    I raised my eyebrows. “How about letting her know it was your idea not to tell her. I think that would be helpful.”
    Dad cleared his throat. “Tricia, much of this is my fault. I should have—”
    She made eye contact with him for the first time. For a moment, her shoulders relaxed. Then a smile appeared and quickly disappeared almost like a twitch. Before I could blink, she went right back to anger mode. “Oh believe me, I blame you too.”
    Dad made his way over to her, taking her hands in his. All the bitterness drained from her face. It was so obvious they still had deep feelings for one another. I couldn’t help but smile. “It’s wonderful to have you here. You’re just as beautiful as I remember.” He said, massaging her palms with his thumbs. “Will you be staying?”
    “I’m not sure.” Mom answered, frazzled. “My plan was to come here and strangle you both.” Appearing pained, she pulled her hands away. “But now that I’m here, I don’t know what to do.”
    I cut in, grabbing one of each of their hands. “You should stay, Mom.”
    In a soft tone, Dad added, “I really wish you would.”
    Mom put her other hand on my cheek. “You look so grown up. I hardly recognize you.”
    It was hard to believe I had only been in Avalon for two weeks. After everything I had been through, I felt like I had aged ten years. I certainly wasn’t the same person I was in the mortal world—that I was sure of. I placed both of my hands on top of hers. “It’s still me.”
    Her voice turned serious. “From now on, I want to know everything. Do you understand?”
    I nodded.
    She softly flicked the tip of my nose. “I want to hear you promise.”
    I chuckled. “Okay, okay. I promise. No more secrets.”
    “Good.” She said, releasing a lazy breath. Then she turned her attention to Dad. With her hands on her hips, she asked, “Now, where will I be staying?”
    Dad’s entire face lit up like a Christmas tree. “Anywhere you’d like.” He held