Read Online Darkest Fear by Cate Tiernan - Free Book Online Page A

had, I think, two sisters: Juliana and Donella. I’m looking for Donella. I think her married name was Garrison. Do you know her? Does she live here? Did she used to live here, maybe?”
    â€œYour mother is Aracita? Donella’s sister?” the guy asked, looking at me intently.
    â€œYes,” I said. “Do you know her? Donella?”
    â€œHuh. Maybe you should come inside,” said the young woman, standing up.
    I didn’t even feel like I could stand, but I managed to get to my feet without toppling over.
    â€œDonella was my mother,” the guy said slowly, looking at me. “I’m Matéo Garrison. But my mother’s sisters are dead.”
    â€œNo,” I said, shaking my head. Donella was his mother? Was his mother. Was she dead also? “Juliana is alive. My mother was alive . . . till May.”
    This guy would be my . . . cousin. A cousin I never knew I had, never spent summers with, never saw in family albums. What had happened between my mother and her sister?
    The guy frowned. “Aly’s right—you should probably come in.”
    I didn’t know what else to do. I hadn’t planned for anything after this. Steadying myself, I followed Matéo and Aly through the overgrown grass to four cement steps leading to the side door, which had once been painted white. A large piece of glass barely held in place with chipped putty made up the top half of the door, and the bottom half had decorative molding.
    I heard voices as I climbed the steps; the door led into an enormous kitchen that seemed to be full of people. Smells of cooking food made my nose twitch, and I couldn’t remember the last time I had eaten. Some cold cereal at the Holiday Inn this morning?
    The room quieted as people registered that I was there. A quick glance showed that everyone seemed around the same age—early twenties. No one was old enough to be my aunt or uncle.
    Matéo said, “Come on this way,” and walked through the kitchen to a hallway beyond. The girl, Aly, and I followed him. I was wiped out, strung out, and still freaked about the jaguar . . . who must have been my haguaro cousin. Walking through a crowd of strangers, all of whom were looking at me, didn’t calm me down.
    The three of us went down a dark, wide hallway toward the front of the house. Right before we got to the beautiful gothic front doors, Matéo took a left into a lovely formal parlor with old-fashioned furniture.
    â€œYou want to sit down?” he said, gesturing to a deep blue velvet couch with an ornate wooden back. I sat down on it, hardly able tobelieve that I was here, that I had found an aunt I had never known about. “What was your name again?”
    â€œVivi Neves. Viviana.”
    â€œYou said your mother is my mother’s sister?”
    â€œYeah.”
    Matéo turned and went to a wall covered with all sorts of framed photographs. He took one down and brought it to me.
    It was a copy of the photo I’d seen in the bag in my dad’s safe.
    â€œWho are these people?” he asked, setting the frame on the table and sitting down.
    â€œThis is my tia Juliana, my mother, Aracita, and then Donella. This was taken in Brazil.”
    Matéo nodded as if I’d passed a test. And he’d just passed my test too—if he had this photo, he truly must be part of my family.
    â€œI never knew Donella existed,” I said again. “Is she . . .”
    â€œMy parents died a year and a half ago,” said Matéo.
    â€œOh, no,” I said, feeling myself deflate even further. I’d never known that Donella existed, but finding out that I’d come all this way for nothing was almost unbearably disappointing. “I’m really sorry.” Matéo and I simply looked at each other. I began to see a family resemblance in the line of his jaw, the slant of his dark eyes. Despite his tan, unfreckled skin, his