by Toni Aleo
My brows touch my forehead as I look from my father back to Fredrick. “We are together. We are family. Loyal to each other.”
Meeting my gaze, Fredrick nods. “I mean in union.”
Swallowing hard, I know he has a daughter, and I have a feeling I know exactly where this is going. “Union?” I ask, just to hear it from his mouth.
“I have a daughter who would very much love to marry you.”
I scoff, much to my father’s dismay. “I’m sorry, no.”
Father’s and JJ’s eyes widen in shock as my father warns, “Oceanus.”
“Excuse me?” Fredrick asks, and I shake my head once more.
“Not only do I not know your daughter, I am in love with another. I’m about to take over my own clan, which I doubt your daughter is ready to run at only eighteen. I want a woman, not a child. Not to mention, I can’t run this clan because your son will. I gain nothing from this arrangement. I don’t need the formula. My father does, make him marry someone.” I gesture to him dismissively.
My father barks, “Oceanus, that is enough.”
“Fine,” I say, holding my hands up. “But I’m not marrying her.”
Shaking his head, Father looks to JJ, who just shrugs, and both of them are clearly unsure where to go with this. Glancing to Fredrick, my father asks, “What about Cyrus? He is closer to your daughter’s age.”
But Fredrick doesn’t bite. “My darling Amelia wants to marry Oceanus. If she is to marry, that is your option.”
Father looks to me, and I shake my head. “Then I guess we aren’t getting the formula ’cause I’m off the market.”
“You will marry this girl, for your sister.”
“Nope,” I say simply. “My sister wouldn’t want this. I believe that in my soul.”
“William,” JJ says, but I still hold my father’s gaze. I won’t be bullied. I’m done. My heart is broken because of him.
“No, he will comply!”
I shake my head again. “I do everything for this family. I gave up the woman I love for this family.” My voice is breaking as I fight back my tears. “I do everything you say, even when I don’t agree. I won’t do this. It’s that simple.”
Slamming his fist to the table, Father stands, but I don’t flinch, nor do I care. I refuse to be unhappy, along with being married to someone I do not love or want. No way. “Leave.”
I’m taken aback. “Excuse me?”
“You heard me. You are dismissed.”
Unbelievable. Rolling my eyes, I head out the door, slamming it for good measure. My father has completely lost his mind. I may have just set myself back even further from getting to my rightful spot, but I won’t allow him to use me as bait. No way in fucking hell. I understand that I probably just hurt my sister in the process, but I truly believe she would kill me if she knew I’d done that. She wouldn’t want that. She’d want me to be happy. I’m not going to marry anyone if I can’t have Taegan.
Reaching for my phone in my pocket, I go to call Taegan, but then I stop. I can’t do this. She isn’t mine anymore. I can’t burden her with my family problems.
Letting out a long breath, I go to tuck my phone back into my pocket, but then it starts to ring.
It’s Cyrus.
My stomach drops as I hit the green button, fearful that he is calling to say something happened to Rebekah. “Cyrus.”
“Hey, when are you guys coming home?”
“A day or two. Why? Is everything okay?”
He hesitates, and I hear Rebekah complaining in the background. “Eh, well, yeah, but no? I kind of knocked Rebekah with my foot, and she can’t see.”
“Jesus,” I mutter before shaking my head. “Tell her to hang in there, we’ll be home soon.”
Hanging up, I tuck my phone back into my pocket and then head back to the office where JJ and my father are with Fredrick. When I open the door, I see my father signing something before handing it back to Fredrick. Standing up, they shake hands as Fredrick says, “So it’s final.”
“It’s final,” Father agrees.
“What’s final?” I ask, and Father looks to me, fire in his eyes.
“None of your business,” he snaps, and I glare. “What do you need?”
“I feel it is my business. This will be my clan.”
He scoffs. “Will it?”
“Yes, it will be. You can’t run it forever, Father, and my day will come. What have you done?”
“Again, none of your business,” he says, his voice low and warning. “Now what do you need?”
I feel everyone’s gaze on us, and I know this isn’t the place to argue. Swallowing hard past the lump of anger in my throat, I nod. “We need to go home. Now.”
Thankfully, I don’t have to explain. JJ and Father just get up, and we head out. While I’m thankful for that, I know something was done during my absence.
I’m just unsure what it was or what will happen next.
The plane ride home with my father was both brutal and uneventful.
We didn’t acknowledge each other, nor did we discuss anything considering what had happened, or even Rebekah. I had told JJ that Rebekah had been hurt, and he told Father, but that was it. We are both too proud. Plus, I was livid. I was mad that he had ruined my life thus far, add to that the fact that he wanted to make it worse by marrying me off to my cousin. If I can’t have Taegan, I don’t want anyone. I don’t understand how that is hard to comprehend, but I refuse to back down. I can’t back down.
I can’t just protect everyone else; I have to protect my own heart too.
When we arrived home, I was unable to see my sister because she went straight into the lab with my father. We are not permitted inside the room, so we have to wait, and I hate waiting. Leaning against one side of the door, Cyrus matches my stance, and I can tell he blames himself.
Which he should.
“I didn’t mean to.”
“I know,” I look over at him. “But it happens.”
“She let her guard down.”
“Which I will discuss with her.”
Smiling, he meets my gaze. “It felt great to get one on her. She’s so tough, man.”
I grin, proud of the fighter my sister has become, even with her rookie mistake. “She is.”
“She’ll be okay, though, right?”
“Yeah, I’m sure,” I say, though I don’t really know. Sighing loudly, I ask, “Other than almost blinding our sister, anything else happen?”
He shakes his head. “Not really. It was pretty chill. She worked, she slept and ate, and I did the same. It was easy.”
“Did she go down into the bastille?”
“Yeah,” he says. “I think she talked to Killian too, though she has everyone lying for her.”
“Awesome,” I mutter on a sigh. I knew it. I just knew she’d go down there. “Did you hear anything?”
He nods. “He shifted for her.”
My eyes widen. “Did you see who it was?”
He shakes his head. “No, it was dark, and she was blocking my view. I also didn’t recognize his voice, but she knew him.”
“She did?” I ask, stupefied. “Really?”
“Yeah, they talked like they knew each other, and I think they’ve got feelings for each other.”
“What?” I ask incredulously, unable to fathom what my brother is saying. “Are you sure?”
“I am. He was protective of her and wanting her to be careful going down there. It was crazy. I don’t know who he could be. I’ve looked through the Kelleys’ family history, and I can’t think of anyone.”
“Did you ask her about it?”
He shook his head. “No. I didn’t want her to know I was spying.”
“True. Do you think she’d tell you?”
“No,” he says honestly. “Or, at least, I don’t think she would.”
Nodding, unsure what to do with this information, I look to the door. If my father knows this, he’ll question Rebekah ruthlessly, and it will cause m
ore drama than needed. But, like Cyrus, I’m unsure if she’d tell me. If she has the guys down there lying for her, more than likely, she won’t tell anyone. She’s protecting that shifter, and I don’t understand why. No, I’ll sit on this. Feel her out and see what I can get out of her.
When the door opens, we both come off the wall as JJ walks out, taking Cyrus by his arm and walking away. I’m unsure what they are doing, but I’m more concerned with Rebekah, so I fill the doorway to see her. When she turns, her eyes light up. Even though she is still beautiful, I could slaughter Cyrus for messing up the side of her face so much. One side of her face is dark blue and black, but she doesn’t seem to care as she yells my name. “Osh!”
Taking her face in my hands gently, I shake my head. “Jesus, Cyrus got you good. You slacking?”
She laughs as we walk out together, neither of us saying anything more to my father, who is watching us. “No, he caught me as I was trying to get up.”
“Sister, you know better.”
“I know. I was thinking about something else.”
“Again, you know better,” I laugh, though I do want to ask what she was thinking of.
“I know, I know,” she says, waving me off. “Did you have a nice trip?”
I shrug. “If you think standing around as Father interrogates everyone is nice…I guess so.”
“Did you guys go to each faction?”
Entering the family room, we both sit as I nod. “Yeah, and I’m telling you, the Kelleys are up to something.”
Her eyes flicker with recognition as she looks away. “Really?”
“Yeah, I don’t know what, though.”
When she starts to pick at her nails, I know she knows something. As she looks up at me, her body language is guarded, and I hate that. Doesn’t she know she can tell me anything? Clearing her throat, she says, “I heard Christiana was shifting into guards to get in here.”
Taken aback, my eyes widen. “What? Who told you that?”
“Some drunk shifter the other night.”
She’s lying. “Really? When?”
“I don’t know. She apparently shifted into Samuel too, trying to get to me.”
“What the hell? And you’re just now saying something?” I ask, completely dumbfounded by all this. Why did she wait so long to tell me?
“I can handle myself. I wasn’t scared.”
“You drive me crazy, sister,” I complain as I take out my phone, feverishly typing away to Hank, our lead guard, and then to Samuel and JJ. “Next time you hear something like this, you tell me. You got it?”
“Yes, sir,” she says, saluting me like the brat she is.
Looking back at her, I say, “I told Hank to get bracelets made for our guards. I may get some extras for us that are made of silver. If she tries to shift into a guard again, we’ll hear the sizzle of her wrist.”
“Yum,” she says, though her face is anything but pleased at the thought.
With a laugh, I nod. “Anything to keep you safe.”
“I’m fine.”
“Whatever. Don’t fight me on this.”
“Fine, I won’t,” she says, and I smile at her teasing. “So did you go see the Conners?”
Swallowing, I nod as my body goes taut. “We did.”
“Did you see Taegan?”
“I did.”
“How did that go?”
I laugh. “It was like walking through the fiery depths of hell. It was horrible.”
Her face is full of sorrow as she asks, “Are you still going to the wedding?”
“I am.” I meet her gaze. I feel if I’m honest with her, maybe she’ll be honest with me. “No matter how much I don’t want to.”
“I’ll go for you. Hopefully, I won’t be on lockdown soon. Father found a formula.”
“I know.” I lean forward on my knees, holding her gaze. I weigh my options. I could tell her what happened, but why? It doesn’t matter, and it will only worry her more that I don’t know how Father got the formula. “And I’d love for you to go, but I need to go, too. I told her she should marry the guy, that I understand.”
“Why would you do that?”
“When you love someone, you do what’s best for them. She’ll be happier than waiting for me to get my head out of my ass and follow my heart.”
Leaning toward me, she captures my gaze. “I vote follow your heart.”
“Says the young girl with no worries and zero love experience. You don’t even know what love is.”
I’m baiting her, and as I expected, she responds, “I do.”
“Who, then? Who did you ever love?”
“Ryland.”
Whoa. That name. It crushes me. Ryland Kelley, the youngest of the Kelley children, died in his sleep for some unknown reason only three years ago.
Rebekah was completely and utterly in love with him.
I shake my head. “I haven’t heard his name in a long time.”
“I know,” she whispers, and it’s like the ghost of him is in her eyes. She had loved him, very much so. And while it would be the same story as Taegan and me, I think it hurts more when you’re a child, as they were. Ryland had even written my father a letter, begging for a chance to love Rebekah freely. He was ambitious, a good guy, and I can still hear my sister’s cries when we were informed of his passing.
I whisper, “And I’m sorry, sister. I know how much he meant to you, but you don’t understand what would happen if I followed my heart.”
“You’d be happy.”
“Yeah, but I wouldn’t have my family. Did you see how fast Father turned on Jonas? I can’t let that happen, I can’t not see my baby sister,” I say, reaching out to squeeze her hand, trying to convey that I’m fine. Though, I’m not.
“You’ll always see me, Osh. Always.”
Letting out a harsh sigh, I shrug. “Oh, well. One day.”
“Could be today if you wanted.”
“Yeah, it could be,” I agree, shaking my head. “But it won’t.”
I stand up, and she does the same, before I cup her sweet, naïve face. “I hope for more for you, though. That you’re loved to the fullest by a good man.”
“A Patchwork man.”
“Well, of course,” I laugh, because what other choice does she have?
“Unless you change the laws,” she offers. Well, that is one choice. I let my hands fall as she says, “You could tell Taegan to wait, change them, and then marry her.”
I can’t help but laugh. As much as I would love for that to happen, it won’t. War. War would break out. “That would cause an insurgence.”
“Or it would cause peace.”
Which is also an option, one I could pray for all day, but there is no certainty. “I don’t know. We’ll cross that bridge when we get to it.”
I turn, ready to leave to allow her to stew, maybe come to me later. But before I reach the door, she says, “But what if I do want to be with someone else? A wolf, a shifter, a vampire, a one-eyed purple monster, will you stop me?”
I pause at the door, my heart dropping. I don’t know what she is thinking, but this shifter in the bastille is dangerous and could kill her. I have to ward her off from him. Convince her that he would never be anything to her, no matter how much she cares for him. Clearing my throat, I admit, “I wouldn’t want to.”
“But you would.”
“I would.”
“No matter how much that breaks my heart?”
“We have to do what is right, what is expected of this family, Rebekah, and that’s following the rules. Don’t forget that. Though, you do constantly.”
Grinning, I’m sure everything I said doesn’t matter. When she has her mind set, she’ll do what she wants. “I do.”
Just as I expected. I want more for my sister, but like my father has told me every time, changing that rule may not work. I wish I could be carefree and dream like Rebekah, think such a move would cause peace, but I don’t know. Holding my sister’s gorgeous gaze, I smil
e. “Be good, Rebekah.”
“Never,” she calls to me, and I laugh as I walk out, running right into Cyrus as JJ walks past us.
“I didn’t tell anyone else,” he whispers to me, and I nod.
“Good. She didn’t give me anything, except about Christiana.”
“Which she hadn’t given me,” he adds, and I bite into my lips.
“We’ll sit on this, wait,” I decide, and Cyrus agrees just as Rebekah cries out.
Cyrus is moving before I do, his voice booming through the room. “Let her go!”
When I enter the room, I see JJ holding Rebekah under her arm, his grip tight as his eyes are full of anger. “What’s going on?” I ask as JJ lets her go, and she rushes to Cyrus’s side.
“I’m taking her to her room,” JJ says, pointing at Rebekah. “But she’s resisting.”
Before I can say anything, Cyrus is speaking, low and authoritative, in a way I’ve never heard from my brother. “Probably ’cause she’s been doing everything on her own time since you guys have been gone. She’s okay. She doesn’t need you.”
That pisses JJ off, with good reason. I look to Cyrus, unsure where he is going with this. “But, brother, JJ is supposed to watch out for her.”
Rebekah’s eyes are wild, and before anything can be said, she reaches out to me, taking my money clip out of my pocket, and throwing it at JJ. He catches it with ease, his eyes wide and confused as I yell, “Rebekah!”
Eyeing JJ as he glares, she shrugs, “I thought he was a shifter, he’s acting weird.”
We all look to JJ as his face doesn’t change. He’s glaring while handing me back my money clip, and he sneers, “I’m not acting weird, you’ve pissed me off. I know you’re lying to me.”
“About what?” Cyrus asks, shaking his head. “She’s done nothing but be honest with me. And really, she doesn’t need you,” he says matter-of-factly, looking to Rebekah. “Go to your room.”
“I wanted to go to Father’s office,” she replies, but Cyrus shakes his head.
“He’s in a meeting. You’ll have to go later, but you need your rest,” he says, turning his back to JJ and me before whispering to Rebekah. I don’t know what the hell is going on and when Rebekah started taking orders from Cyrus, but before my eyes, my sister nods.