Bastard didn't cut it. Athena declared in her mind, tears streaming down her eyes.
Inhaling deeply, she slipped her hand into Ewan's, tears pouring out the more when he clasped it and squeezed. She wanted to say something to him, but words failed her.
Unlike she who hadn't known her parents, Ewan had known them, had laughed with them, idolized them, and they had been taken from him.
Worse, the monster had tried to kill him off too. Why?! To what end! Was Herbert's heart that blackened with hatred?
"Why did he want to kill my boy then too?" Florence whispered, long abandoning her control over her eye faucet. Her shoulders quivered as she spoke.
"I don't know…" Spider whispered, looking forlorn, grieved like them all, when he noted that the question had been meant for him.
His face fell, eyes squeezing shut for a second as if fighting old memories. "I've been working on discovering this truth for years, and it eluded me every goddamn time. Maybe he was just drunk on power?"
