TOXIC BLOODLINES: PARADISE - BOOK 2/4

MOTHER!

SARA

Driving toward Kim's house, I parked for a few seconds to radio in. I had a sneaking suspicion that Ian had sent me this far out on purpose.

The math was not mathing.

If Kim left fifteen minutes after I did, how the hell could she be at her house so fast? It's an hour's drive to Paradise. "I'm gonna kill him," I sighed thinking of the amount of money I spent on gas.

TAP! THUD! BANG! Someone was trying to get into my car. Startled, I reached for my taser. "Elenore? What are you doing here?" I unlocked my doors. "What happened to your clothes?"

"Don't worry about that!" Elenore jumped in. "GO-GO-GO!" She shouted, out of breath looking back.

"What is going on?"

"BITCH, DRIVE!" She yelled, hitting the dashboard.

Then, a crow crashed into my windshield. SPLAT! Blood and feathers burst everywhere. "Not this again."

"It's Arik's mother! We have to go now!" Elenore revealed, struggling to put on her seatbelt.

"Hold on!" I reversed, watching the dark cloud of Crows approaching us. I quickly spun the car around and drove away. "Elenore, tell me everything. What did Arik's mom do?"

Elenore drank out of my water bottle. "Arik's mother is working with the Lightbringers—"

"—What?"

Elenore took a few seconds to catch her breath. "She came to see me earlier. That's why I came here. I knew she was up to something the moment she showed up. The way she treated Kim, the weird cryptic things she said last night. I didn't read too much into it until today," Elenore rambled. "Last night, she told Kim and Arik that Uri did not write that message at the church. How could she have known? She wasn't here. But that's what she wanted us to think. The Lightbringers only showed up when she did."

"Holy shit," I connected the dots. "She tried to convince Ian to kill her today... Oh my god, how did I not see this?"

"I suspect she was the one who wrote that message at the church. She orchestrated the whole thing to get Kim killed, and now she's back to finish the job," Elenore explained.

My worry began to build. "Arik's missing."

"What?" Elenore gasped.

"His mom took him. At least, we think she did. Kim came looking for him. That's why I'm here. I wanted to help."

Elenore sat back in her seat. "...How is it that the two sweetest people I know have the worst parents?" Elenore remarked.

"Speaking of problematic parents, I saw my dad today."

"Oop," she reacted. "Uncle Carlos got Ian his first back-alley tattoo for his thirteenth birthday. Uncle Carlos? Is he still cute? Does he still have that curly hair?" Elenore teased. "Jokes aside, are you okay?"

I sighed. "It's a lot to unpack."

"Spill, Sara. I need a distraction," Elenore insisted. "You saw your dad for the first time since everything happened. What was it like?"

"As it turns out, he didn't cut me off like I thought he did... or was led to believe," I gave her a look.

It took her a few seconds to read between the lines. Then her jaw dropped. "Get the fuck out of here," Elenore reacted.

"That's not even the fucked-up part," I jumped to my point. "Elenore, my dad was there that night... at Kim's Sixteenth," I revealed.

"Shut up," Elenore shifted to face me.