Raven's Song

Honesty

Mom was sitting at her laptop in the kitchen when Tylor finally convinced me to get out of bed and shower before I went to talk to her. He was with Spencer in the guest room. I needed to do it on my own. If I'd made it through everything that had happened in the past seventy-two hours, I could make it through a conversation with my mom. Except I hadn't made it through everything on my own. Tylor had always been pulling strings behind the scenes, but I was still in one piece. I wasn't an emotional wreck. That was a huge win.

She perched her glasses on her head while I hovered in the doorway. I watched her close the lid of her laptop and fold her arms on the table in front of her as she watched me. She hadn't changed at all, except everything had changed. She still had the same pin-straight blonde hair and striking green eyes. The same splash of freckles across her nose and cheeks. The same stare that looked concerned, but it had hidden intentions.

"How do you feel?" she asked finally.

I shrugged and sat down on the chair across the table from her. "I'm alright. Sore. Tired. But fine all things considered."

She nodded. "I was so worried about you."

"Why?" I asked, frowning at her. "If you cared so much about me, you would have at least kept in contact."

"Honey," she said softly, "I just couldn't do it. After you sided with your father, I thought it was what was for the best."

I laughed, shaking my head. "After I sided with him? You left, Mom! You abandoned us! It wasn't much of a choice to stay with Dad! After you left him with no money, did you seriously think I was going to leave him with no one?"

Mom rubbed her temples, closing her eyes. "I didn't know that I caused as much harm as I did."

"You knew," I sneered. "You knew and you didn't give a shit. You only came crawling back because my name will be in the paper and the photo op will help your career." I shook my head. "You do not get to use me to better yourself. I've been through too much to let that happen."

"You mean the boy?" she asked as she looked up at me. "Your father called me to ask about his case." I folded my arms over my chest. "He wanted to know if there were any holes I could poke in the stories told at the trial and the stories the boy told your father."

I hated my mother. But she was good at what she did. I didn't want to hear what she had to say about Tylor. From the way her head as slightly tilted and how her eyes looked slightly upwards, she had found something. I didn't want to hear what it was. I was not walking away from Tylor.

"Tessa wasn't just his girlfriend," Mom said when I didn't speak. "She worked for his father after they started dating. Tylor didn't realize there had been a set up to test his loyalty. He told Tessa some information that she wasn't supposed to know, and he got caught. That's why he has those scars all over his body. They took him away and slowly tortured him to make him pay. I'm not even sure he knows that's why they did it."

"His story is similar to that," I said flatly. "But if you know, how does he not?"

She sighed. "He probably knows. He may have just been trying to protect you. But what you need to know, Kenna, is that he did kind of groom you like your father suspected." She was avoiding my question. "He needed a replacement for Tessa. You were supposed to be that person. He told his father that he was working on convincing you and that was what put you in that cabin over the weekend. That was what the negotiation was supposed to be about. He didn't do what pleased his father and there were consequences. Tylor was just smarter this time. Him having safety nets in place is the only reason you are alive, Kenna."