Vicious Minds (Children of Vice #4)(5)

I wanted to stay and look more because it was so pretty, but we got to the backyard and it was so big. The green grass went on so far, I couldn’t even see a fence. They even had lights and balloons on the trees all the way in the back. There were so many kids, some of them trying to go up the rock-climbing wall, and others played in the water park.

“Calliope. Calliope?”

“Huh?” I looked to my mom and she pointed to the side of me. “Go put your gifts down.”

I looked over, but I couldn’t see the table. There were so many presents, it looked like they ate the table and were becoming a mountain. I looked down at the two small boxes in my hand. I walked over and a man dressed in black appeared in front of me.

“Gifts?” he asked, looking to my hands.

I nodded and lifted them to him. He took them from my hands and I turned to walk away but before I did another man waved a wand over the packages. One of them snickered and then bent down, and I saw a gun on his hip as he just dropped them on the grass. When he looked back to me, I looked away quickly, running back to my mom.

Everything was so…rich, even the people. All the moms were covered in jewels and the dads had their best clothes on. I looked at them and then my parents. They looked nice too, they had their best clothes on too…but it wasn’t the same. They didn’t look the same. Why? And why was no one coming to talk to them? I thought people knew us. Right? I watched my parents and they only spoke to each other. They smiled and laughed together; seeing them made me smile.

They don’t have that. I grinned, looking over at the other parents. None of them looked as happy as my parents. How sad. They sparkled but they didn’t have love, so it was all right.

“Mommy,” I tugged on her dress softly.

“What?—”

She stopped because the doors to the backyard opened again, and everyone stopped talking. They walked out, all of them dressed in white, I didn’t really know Donatella, but everyone talked about her in my school. She skipped out happily, holding on to her dad’s hand, with a crown of daisies on her head. Her dad kissed her on the cheek, making her laugh and letting go. Her dad was handsome and had the same green eyes as her. Dona ran over to a brown-skinned girl with pretty curly hair. They went to the large sweets and tea table.

“Stay here, Calliope,” my mom told me.

I nodded, but I couldn’t look away from the woman with the dark brown wavy hair and brown eyes. The moment she came out everyone rushed to say hello to her. She wore long white pants matched with a flowing white shirt and she had diamonds all around her neck and hands. Next to her was Ethan. I couldn’t really see him. Too many people were close by, he was saying hi to everyone with her. She placed her hand on his hair, brushing it gently.

I bent my head to the side to see, but there were so many stupid tall people.

Move!

“Ethan,” I looked over and saw it was his dad calling him. He moved from his mother over to where his dad was talking to some men. His dad put his hand on his shoulder when he came over. I could finally see him. He looked like his dad. He had green eyes and messy brown hair, his face smooth and kind. A few other girls were giggling and looking at him from Donatella’s cake table.

“They’ve already started grooming him it seems,” my dad whispered to my mom, shaking his head as he held on to his glass.

“Isn’t this supposed to be a party for their twins?” my mom asked with the same frown on her lips.

“What did I tell you? The Callahans’ business and pleasure are always one and the same. This is a birthday party for their twins, but this is also another introduction for their first son, they want people to see the difference.”

“The difference?” my mom asked, and I wanted to know too.

He nodded. “Look around. All the other kids, even their own, are enjoying this wonderland they have created, but their first son isn’t a part of it. He’s standing beside his parents…they are saying he isn’t a child. He’s the next leader, all of this will be his next.”

“No matter what they do, he will still be a child,” my mother muttered in reply. “I can’t even imagine how scared he must be. How much they have already put him through. He’s supposed to be playing and instead he’s surrounded by old greedy and selfish men. Why in these modern times are they still holding themselves to this type of life. How much money could one family need? Aren’t they satisfied?”

“Better question is, can they be satisfied?” my father scoffed. He took a drink and shook his head. “And the answer is no. They are addicted to it…the power, watching all these morons bow their head to them over and over again as if they were royalty.”

Royalty. That was it. His parents were King and Queen. That’s why everything sparkled, and everyone wanted to be next to them. That meant Donatella was a princess…and their sons Wyatt and Ethan were princes.

What am I?

I looked back then, and when I did, Ethan was staring at me. His green eyes looked almost directly through me and before I could look away, he did. Observing other people around his yard, he looked kinda bored.

“It’s time to kiss the ring. My brothers would be spinning in their grave,” my dad muttered as he finished his glass.

My mom rubbed his arms. “As long as you aren’t in the grave too, it’s fine, let them spin.”