Clay looks over to the doors, and then his body becomes the only thing I can see anymore when he blocks the crack while prying the doors open. The squealing of the doors being tugged off track screeches out before his hand pops out to help me to the floor.
I release the cable when I concede, and I sigh out loudly as I stare at the room full of glum faces.
“You followed me?” Brazen asks in a nearly muted tone.
“You snuck out. Only someone on a deceitful mission sneaks out. I wanted to know what you were hiding. Little did I know I’d land right in the middle of a pile of secrets. All of you have been lying to me,” I murmur in disbelief.
“I haven’t,” Grayson rolls out casually as he plops down.
Hale rolls his eyes at the young one, and then he turns his eyes back to me.
“Araya, how much did you hear?” he worries.
“Well, let’s see. I heard you lied to me about fucking Alex, which makes no sense at all. Do you really think I didn’t fucking know they were still out there?”
His eyes widen as confusion spreads over his face.
“What do you mean?”
“I’m not fucking stupid, Hale. I’ve dealt with that possibility daily. The chances of every member being in that building were slim. My pupils aren’t the least bit dilated right now because I’ve prepared myself for this day. You’re an idiot for not telling me something like this. I need to know this sort of shit. The last time I checked, it’s my blood they want, not yours. That makes it my fucking business,” I scream out, and he flinches after hearing my scolding.
“You want to know what else I heard, Brazen?” I blare while cutting my eyes to my soon-to-be-ex fiancé.
He takes a deep breath while leaning back in his seat, and the fear of losing me stings his eyes.
“Araya, please don’t do this. Don’t leave me, baby,” he calmly pleads.
“Leave you? Why would I do that? Why would I want to leave someone just like the asshole who lied to me for years because he didn’t think I could handle it? Why would I want to leave the man I thought was so dedicated, honest, and trustworthy when you were so eager to lie to me? Hell, you even planned out how you were going to get away with it. Now why would something that deceitful make me want to leave you?” I cry out, and my tears drip mercilessly.
“No. No, baby. Please understand,” he coos while jumping up to run over to me. “I fucking love you too much to lose you. Please don’t do this.”
I rip free from his grip, and then I walk over to look Clay in the eye.
“We went to Cheyenne together. We grew up in the same hell hole. I stood in front of that whip several times for crimes I never committed to spare the others… including you. I’m so much stronger than you gave me credit for. I bit down every time that whip cut through my flesh, and I took it when no one else could. I chose to be that person who stood up for everyone else. The one time I needed you to stand up for me, all you did was toss out some words in my favor. You should have told me. You owed it to me to tell me.”
His eyes tear up, and he starts to speak when I hold my hand up to insist upon his silence, for I care nothing about his excuses.
“Araya,” Hale sighs. “I wanted to keep you safe.”
“You’re the worst of them all. I’ve always confided in you about everything, and I’ve never held back the truth no matter how devastatingly honest it was. You’re nothing to me anymore, and I pray I never go savage again because I don’t ever want to see you for the rest of my life span I can only hope ends soon,” I choke out.
“Don’t say that,” Brazen and Hale murmur in unison.
“Let me ask you liars something,” I growl. “That day you came out with Grayson and Angelica, did she show you? Did she reveal her secretive gift that demonstrated she was my sister?”
They all look down except for Clay, and Grayson squirms uncomfortably as he realizes he too has betrayed me.
“That’s what I thought. You weren’t ever going to tell me, were you?” I sob out.
“That’s my fault,” Angelica says in defense of the cowards in the room. “I asked them to let it be me or our father who told you.”
“Our father?” I scoff. “Don’t get it twisted little girl. He’s not our father. Saving my life once doesn’t entitle him to forgiveness or acknowledgement. He left me to rot in Cheyenne. You think you’re pitiful because you don’t fit in? Well bless your fucking heart. I drank blood daily to heal from lashings I never deserved. I stepped in front of children being abused in ways you could never imagine. I lived a life where hell seemed to be a better option. Then I crumbled the whole fucking compound the first time I went savage. The real first time I went savage. Clay just likes to pretend it never happened because I was merciless. I ripped apart men who were running for their lives. I tore apart homes holding people who viewed our lashings like a spectacle. I shredded the place, and I was only in phase one. Our father put me there. Our father left me there. Our father didn’t give a fuck about me or what I went through.”
The glass shatters all around from the mirrors that once lined the walls. Her eyes run with the tears I’ve provoked, and she sobs loudly as she faces my reality. My cruel words have sliced through her, and Grayson’s eyes narrow at me.
“It’s not her fault, Araya. She was just as scared and destroyed as you. She had nothing to do with this.”
I grab a vial of olophine from the medicine cabinet, and I casually inject myself before countering the naïve fool.
