Read Online Fortune by Erica Spindler - Free Book Online

and pushed her hair away from her face. “Just like in the movies, we’re on the run from the mob!”
    â€œThat’s enough, Skye!” her mother’s voice rose. “I don’t want to hear any more of this ridiculous talk. Do you hear me? No more.”
    Tears flooded Skye’s eyes, and she flopped back to the mattress, rolling onto her side and turning her back to her mother. “Forget it. Just go away. After all, I need my rest. ”
    Claire sighed. “Your father wasn’t a nice man, honey. And his family…” Her words faltered, and she drew what sounded to Skye like a careful breath. “I’ll only say that I’m glad they’re out of our lives forever. That’s why I don’t like to talk about them.”
    Heart pounding, Skye turned and looked at her mother. “What do you mean, he wasn’t…nice? Did he, you know…did he hit you?”
    Her mother hesitated, then nodded. “Yes.”
    â€œOh.” Skye caught her bottom lip between her teeth, the pressure in her head almost unbearable. “Did he…hit me?”
    â€œNo. But—” She bent and cupped Skye’s face in her palms. “When we were with him, I was afraid for you.”
    Skye swallowed hard. “Is that why you won’t even tell me where I was born?”
    â€œYes. I—” Claire sighed again and bent her forehead to Skye’s. “Trust me, sweetheart. When you’re older, I’ll tell you more.”
    â€œPromise?”
    She nodded, then smiled. “Our soup’s probably boiled over by now. I’d better check it.”
    Skye caught her mother’s hand. “Mom? Do you ever wonder what it’d be like to have…you know, a real family? To live in one place and not…”
    Her words trailed off at the sadness in her mother’s eyes.
    â€œYes,” Claire answered softly. “Sometimes I wish that with all my heart. This isn’t the life I wanted for you. It’s not the way I wanted you to grow up.” Her eyes filled with tears. “I didn’t have—”
    Her throat closed over the words, and she cleared it. “I didn’t have that growing up and I always thought how nice it would be.”
    Her mother had been an orphan. Skye couldn’t imagine that. She couldn’t imagine not having her mother. She would die without her. Feeling guilty for having brought up the subject, she hugged her. “I’m sorry, Mom. I’m sorry I bugged you about…you know.”
    â€œYes, I know.” Her mother stroked her hair again. “Sometimes the truth hurts, baby. Sometimes it’s better not to know the truth.”
    Skye tipped her head back and met her mother’s eyes. Something in them, something dark and terrifying, made her tremble. “What is it, Mom? What do you see?”
    Her mother pressed her lips to her forehead. “It’s only the past. And the past can’t hurt us as long as we make it stay there. Will you help me?”
    Skye nodded, suddenly afraid. Of being alone. Of the past and the future. She clutched her mother. “Don’t ever leave me. I don’t know what I’d—”
    â€œShh.” Claire kissed her again. “Silly baby. I would never leave you. You’re my whole life. Didn’t you know that?”
    Skye relaxed and smiled, remembering a game they had played when she was little—when she had still believed in monsters and bogeymen and things that breathed heavily in the dark.
    Every night before bed, she had asked her mother the same thing: Would you fight the monsters for me? And every night her mother had searched out and destroyed the evil things for her. Only then had Skye been able to sleep. Only then had her nightmares retreated.
    She tipped her face up to her mother’s and smiled, still remembering. “Would you fight the monsters for me?”
    â€œThe biggest and the badest.