21 On the security monitor was the carcass of an abandoned old factory. It was almost completely without light-damp, dark, and terrifyingly still. Only the sound of rainwater pooling on the eaves ticked and dripped. I felt as if I could smell the nauseating stench of decay in the air. My stomach rolled; I felt violently ill. What made me even sicker was what lay behind that rusted, iron door. Locked inside were Odette... and Clint's own mother. Annabel was bedraggled and filthy; two rags barely covered her upper body, and she wasn't ever wearing trousers. Odette was skin and bone, her buttocks and legs burned into a raw, festering crimson. The twc of them were ravenously tearing at a rat between them. You get away! I saw it first!" one spat. You slut! You can't even keep an eye on my son! He nearly died for that Soleil of yours! Anc 'ou've the nerve to fight me for food?!" Annabel grabbed Odette's thigh and squeezed hard. Odette screamed with a sound that tore straight from her chest. But the instinct to survive kept her from letting go of the rat; in a desperate reflex, she bit dowr ›n Annabel's hand. "The two of them twisted and fought, a scene too gruesome to watch. felt sick to my core and had to gulp down an entire glass of iced water to steady myself. Clint watched the same footage with nothing but cruelty in his eyes. had never imagined he could be so merciless, even to his own mother. If I had once thought of im as merely a faithless man, now, I could only see him as a terrible demon. Soleil, can you see this?" he said, his voice cold with satisfaction. "To apologize to you, I broke Odette's legs! I locked them up. I made them suffer worse than death. I let them feel the pain you vent through." Odette noticed the camera's red light and wailed directly at it, every sound ragged with terror 'Clint! I know you're watching! Save me! I know I was wrong! I'll apologize to Soleil right now! Please! Please spare me!" n the oppressive silence I kept, the curses and cries from Annabel and Odette echoed through the ruin. 'Clint, I'm your real mother! How dare you treat me like this! Aren't you afraid of the consequences?!" Annabel's retort was full of chill. "When you let Soleil suffer seventy-two strokes of family punishment and nearly break her legs, did you ever think this would be your end?" Her words cut through the air. I stared at Clint in shock, unable to believe what I was seeing. "How can you do this? They're human, too!" Clint met my gaze with an iciness that seemed to pierce. "When they hurt you, did they ever spare a thought for you being human? Soleil, I just want you to know how far I can go for you." I shook my head, fear and unease filling me. "Clint, what you're doing... How is that different from them? You've become... a monster!" The words seemed to hit him. His eyes flashed as if wounded. "Monster? This is all because of you! If you hadn't left me... If you hadn't been with Alec, I wouldn't have become like this!" I took a deep breath and forced myself to stay calm. "Clint, this was your choice. It has nothing to do with me. If you stop now, there's still time." He laughed then-a sound laced with madness and despair. "Stop? It's too late! Just wait, Soleil 'll make everyone see what happens to those who betray me!" His eyes went bloodshot; his fingers flew over the keyboard. In a short while, several hulking nen appeared at the factory gates. Clint! What are you doing?" Odette's voice had already been worn thin to a whisper. There was nothing in Clint's eyes now but hatred. "Do it." The men lunged like beasts in heat at Odette and Annabel's. No!" I shut my eyes in despair, unable to bear the sight. But before my despair could swallow me, a familiar voice flared and lit a tiny spark of hope. Enough!"