Chapter 51

• Emersyn watched Aspyn come down the slide. She squealed with delight and landed on her bottom on the ground. Each time she heard her laugh, or saw her smile, she wanted to cry. Not out of sadness, but with relief. Her daughter was free. She would never know the horror that her mother had lived through. She hoped she was young enough that she’d forget all of it. Lindon, hearing her mother cry, seeing the other women bruised and void of any spark for life. All of it, that’s what she wanted for her.
• “Be careful.” She held her breath as she went up the ladder again. Wren was right behind her. She owed so much to that child. Wren had been by her side when she couldn’t be there. While she was only six, she acted much older. For such a young one, she had seen too much. Crossing her arms over her stomach, she wondered if they would be able to find her mother.
• Penny had told her that Wren’s mother was one of the clan Lindon had taken away and no one knew where. How could he do that to his own clan members? A chill went through her, and it had nothing to do with the cold outside. He had killed, maimed, and sold his own clan members. She would have to ask Noah if they had any ideas where she might be.