Tyne liked Anna, but he wasn’t in the mood to talk or explain himself.He followed her down the hallways, silent and relieved that she seemed to get the hint.She didn’t ask questions.She didn’t even ask him if he was okay.She just walked until they reached the area of the house where the bedrooms were.
Tyne remembered.He wasn’t surprised that they were led to two of the guest bedrooms.His room had no doubt been assigned to someone else as soon as he’d left.
“The rooms are connecting,” Anna explained.“In case you need that.Your mother told me to let you know that she’ll expect you at her apartment for dinner in an hour.”
Tyne grunted.Anna took it as his answer, smiled at him, and turned to leave.Tyne didn’t wait for her to vanish down the hallway.He pushed open the door closest to him and walked in.
He was relieved when Meyer didn’t follow.He needed a moment alone.
It wasn’t nearly long enough.By the time he was done showering and putting on the clothes that his mother had someone leave on the bed, it was time for him to pick up Meyer and go.Tyne’s brain was screaming at him to stay in the room and hide, but his mother would come and drag him to her apartment if he tried that.She was used to being obeyed.
Tyne knocked on Meyer’s door, relieved when he didn’t have to wait for more than a few minutes.Meyer had showered, too, and Tyne swallowed at the sight of his still-damp hair.He wanted to reach over and touch it the way he had after Meyer’s leg had been broken, but he didn’t dare.Even now that Meyer knew everything, Tyne wasn’t sure he could allow him close.How could he trust Meyer not to leave him again?
“Ready?”he asked.
“I don’t feel like I’ll ever be ready to face your mother.She’s intimidating.”
Tyne snorted.“You’ll be fine.She always liked you.”In fact, she’d liked Peyton more than she’d ever liked Tyne.Tyne had given up on trying to get her to like him a long time ago, and he wasn’t going to start again anytime soon.
“Any tips?”Meyer asked as they started walking.
“Not really.Nothing I can tell you will help us deal with this.The best thing we can do is stay quiet, eat as quickly as possible, and come back to our rooms.”
“Why do you think she wants to see us?”
“Because she can.Because she has the power to force us to stay.”
Meyer was silent for a moment before he nodded.“I don’t think I like your mother.”
Tyne pressed his lips together so he wouldn’t laugh.“I don’t think I like my mother, either.”
But unfortunately for both of them, the only way out of this was to have dinner with her.It was only one evening.Tomorrow morning, they’d be out of here, and if Tyne had any say, he’d never be back.He didn’t everwantto be back.
It was hard not to turn around and run the closer they got to the apartment where he’d grown up.His parents had never moved out.It was where the clan leader lived, and Tyne’s mother had led the clan since before he was born.She was a good leader.She put the clan before anyone and anything, including her own son.
He knocked on the door because this wasn’t his home anymore, and it hadn’t been in a long time.It swung open almost instantly, and his father appeared.He smiled at Tyne, but when he reached over, possibly to hug him, Tyne moved around him and walked into the apartment.
His relationship with his father had always been easier than his relationship with his mother, but he was angry.No one had stood up for him, not even his father.
“You’re here,” Tyne’s mother said.
“You ordered us to be, so yes, we are,” Tyne said.
He looked around the apartment.Nothing had changed.It still looked the same as it had when he’d lived there, including the leather couches and the art on the walls.
“I’d think you’d be happy to see your parents for once.How many decades has it been?”
Not enough, Tyne thought, but he didn’t say it.Instead, he plastered a smile on his lips.“Amber isn’t here?”
“Why would she be?”
“I thought you’d want her and Meyer to have time together.”
Meyer sucked in a breath from where he stood next to Tyne.He inched closer as if afraid that Tyne was about to throw him to the wolves.Tyne would never do that, but maybe Meyer didn’t realize that.He didn’t know Tyne very well.
“What I want is to know what happened,” Tyne’s mother said as she stepped closer.
She was wearing a black evening dress and was impeccably put together, as always.Her earrings glinted in the golden light coming from the lamps, and her red lips were curled into a disapproving expression.She was used to people obeying her, and she expected Tyne to do so, too.
