Sleep of Death (Charlotte Westing Chronicles) (20 page)

Chapter Thirty-T
hree

I manage to go to the bathroom on my own—thank-freaking-goodness. And when I step out I can smell the Italian food that Mom’s setting out for us on the kitchen table. I’m hoping food will make all of this easier.

“Char.”

A hand on my good arm; I turn my head to Sierra’s whisper. She’s standing in her bedroom doorway, her face pale. I try to remember that she’s gone through a lot the last twenty-four hours herself. She watched me bring her own death into the house. And because she’s a supernatural, I know she remembers the timeline before Sophie jumped me back.

She remembers
dying.

I wonder if she remembers me
watching her draw her final breath.

“We’re in a tight spot, aren’t we?” she says, her voice heavy with weariness. “What are we going to tell her? We’d better decide fast.”

My heart races and I didn’t consider how hard it would be to tell
Sierra
my decision. I only thought about the actual explanation to Mom.

“Sier
ra, you know that time skipped back, right?”

She swallows hard and nods.

I can feel my nerves humming within me, but my voice is steady and calm. “You were dead. I
watched
you die.”

She says nothing, but her hand is tight on my arm. I’m not sure she realizes she’s
squeezing me at all.

“Do you know what Daphn
e did after stabbing you?” I ask softly, but there’s a deadly edge to my tone and Sierra’s rigid posture tells me she hears it. “She went in and killed Mom, the same way she killed her own parents.” I turn so I’m facing Sierra fully. “I looked into that room and I saw my mother
dead
and lying in a puddle of blood. And if it hadn’t been for Sophie, she would still be dead now.”

“Charlotte—”

“All I’m saying is that I will never,
never
let my mother die because
I
have left her too ignorant to even be aware that she needs to defend herself.” I point down the hall toward the kitchen. “I’m going in there and I’m going to tell Mom what I am. I’m going to tell her about Dad, and about Mr. Richards, and Jason Smith. I’m going to tell her about Sophie, and …” I swallow. “And Linden. And you can’t stop me.”

“You can’t do this,” she hisses.

“Oh, I won’t tell her about you,” I say, and my voice is strong and firm. I’m not afraid of Sierra as I speak these words. Everything inside me is screaming that this is the right thing to do. Consequences be damned. If my own mother hates me after this, I trust that she’ll eventually come around.

But I will not let her die again. Ever. Not if I can help it.

“Your secrets are your own. I don’t have that right.” Although I’m not actually sure how I’m going to dance around them. Our secrets are so intertwined it’s hard to tell where hers end and mine begin.

And vice-versa.

Sierra tries again. “Charlotte, you’re not thinking straight. You should at least wait until … until the morphine is out of your system before you even
think
about making a decision like this.” And now I hear fear in her voice. I wonder if she’s more afraid than I am.

But I can’t listen. “No!” I hiss, bringing my face close to hers. “I already lost my dad. I am
not
going to lose my mother because I’m afraid of my own secret.”

“Wait,” Sierra says, sounding genuinely desperate as she grasps at my shirt and pulls me back. “You know about my job. About my
position
. What am I supposed to do? Honestly.
What am I supposed to do
?”

I look her in the eye and swallow hard, but I don’t lose my nerve. Not an ounce of it. “I guess it’s time for you to decide which is more important: your Sisters, or your sister.”

Sierra’s face goes white.

I can’t comfort her though. Not now. “You do what you want; I’m telling her about
me
.” And I turn away from Sierra and make my way down the hall toward my mother.

Because sometimes
, saving someone’s life in the future has to be done today.

Acknowledg
ments

I think every author’s first personal project deserves a special sort of acknowledgments section. Thanks to Kristan, Ben, and Jamie for critiquing my synopsis and encouraging me to finish the story even before I knew any extra encouragement was going to be needed. Thanks to Saundra Mitchell (www.SaundraMitchell.com) for my amazing cover! It was exactly what I wanted! Thanks to editing from both Faith Hochhalter (The Book Babe!) and Kenneth Pike. One of them was on drugs; I’ll let you decide which.

Thanks to
you
if you’ve gotten this far! This project ended up being one hundred percent about putting something out there to make readers happy, and I hope you enjoyed this second installment featuring Charlotte Westing! One way or another, I hope to have the third out in 2015.

If you enjoyed this book, I would
so
appreciate you taking the time to share a few words on any eBook retailer out there. You have no idea how helpful reviews are.

Thank you again for reading!

xoxo

Aprilynne