Page 73 of Pretty Savage: Defy

She lifts the dress higher, and the skirt spills toward the floor in a sweep of red silk. It’s beautiful. Dramatic. The kind of gown meant for a woman who knows every person in the room will turn when she enters.

Nausea climbs my throat at the thought.

“I’ve got jewelry to match,” Sam says brightly. She goes to the dressing table, where four matching black velvet boxes sit, each bigger than the next. “They’re Ashford heirlooms. One of the women bonded to Carrson’s great-great-grandfather wore them to her own prebonding ball. Mother got Carr’s permission for you to wear them.”

“Why would she do that?”

“Because it’s my job to prepare you for tonight,” Rebecca answers from the doorway.

Sam and I turn toward her.

“Normally, a mother prepares her daughter for bonding. The prebonding ball is part of that.” She steps farther into the room.

She’s dressed in a tailored pantsuit over a cream-colored blouse, the wide legs swishing around her ankles as she walks. A gold belt circles her waist, and the backs of her high heels shine under the lights. She looks like a businesswoman returning home after closing a deal, which I guess isn’t far from the truth.

The newspaper ran a story this morning about the healthcare bill she pushed through. Sam showed it to me over breakfast, her face glowing with pride.

“Since you don’t have a mother…” Sympathy passes across her face. “I’ll step in.” She moves closer, her voice softening. “I didn’t have a mother to help me either. My friend Louellen prepared me.”

“I’m sorry.” Up close, Rebecca is even more intimidating. Her strawberry-blonde hair is swept into a smooth chignon, a shade darker than Sam’s, but they share the same aqua-blue eyes. “Did your mother pass away too?”

“No, but she wouldn’t have understood what was happening. She might not have approved.” Rebecca smiles sadly. “You see, I was an outsider too. Just like you.”

I turn to Sam.

“It’s true,” she confirms. “Mother wasn’t born into The Order. She joined in college, when she attended Ashford University. She studied psychology.”

I try not to gape, but it’s hard. Who would willingly join a blood-bound secret society?

Especially a woman?

Rebecca catches the question on my face. “I knew what The Order was before I joined. I wanted what it could give me.”

“And what was that?”

“Power,” she says simply. “The kind that turns an idea into law.” She turns to Sam. “You can go now, darling. Only a Mother can help Laurel from here on out.”

Sam hesitates, looking from me to her mother. I doubt she realizes she’s positioned herself slightly in front of me, as though she’s protecting me.

“Are you sure?” she asks. “I could stay a little longer?”

Rebecca’s expression firms. “Are you questioning me, Samantha?”

“No, Mother.” Sam lowers her eyes.

Sam steps forward and gives me a quick hug, then turns to her mother and embraces her too. I wasn’t expecting Rebecca’s arms to clasp so hard around Sam’s shoulders. She closes her eyes and pulls her daughter against her, holding her close.

There’s love in the gesture. Tenderness.

I’m probably not meant to hear what Sam whispers into her mother’s ear before stepping back, but I do anyway.

“Help Laurel.”

Rebecca nods, one hand resting on Sam’s shoulder before she lets her go. She watches until Sam disappears down the hall, then turns to me.

“Follow me.”

Rebecca leads me downstairs and through the kitchen, where the air smells of cinnamon and cloves. At the end of a narrow hallway, she opens another door to reveal a broad staircase leading downward.