#Chapter 83: The Slap

Agnes The slap was so loud it was like a gunshot through the quiet house. My stepmother staggered backwards, cupping her hand against her face. She stumbled back against the foyer table so hard that it sent the vase on top toppling over, glass, water, and flowers shattering across the marble floors. “You little…” She quickly recovered, shaking her head. When she pulled her hand away, her face was red and covered in a large, hand-shaped welt. I had to resist the urge to slap her again on the other side, even though I really wanted to see her entire face covered in my handprints. But I restrained myself, if only because I was quickly realizing that it wasn’t exactly becoming of a Luna to hit another woman, even if it was justified. When my stepmother could finally speak, she said, “What was that for?” I grit my teeth and took a step closer, quietly reveling in the way she shrank ever so slightly beneath my shadow. “What do you think it was for?”