His face suddenly relaxed, and he offered me a tentative smile. “After I received the letter, I started to suspect I might’ve been wrong,” he explained in a soft, sheepish voice. “Now, after everything, I’m sure that you’ve been right all along about what really happened eight years ago.”
The words—words I’d been waiting to hear all this time from someone,anyone—should’ve soothed the hurt, lonely part of me that felt like I was fighting alone in search of the truth.
Instead, they stoked a cold flame within me that iced my blood.
It was far too little, too late.
“Do you think it makes it all okay, then?” I asked in a drawl, masking my cold rage with pure sarcasm. “Did you think I would be thankful that you believe me after all this time, after all the accusations you threw my way a year ago?”
That wiped the smile off Thayer’s face, and I found savage satisfaction at seeing him shift uncomfortably in his place. “I wasn’t there, Drew,” he murmured, looking away with a grimace. “I didn’t see what you saw.”
“So you chose to alienate me and take Mom and Dad’s side to show me just how much you didn’t believe your only surviving sister,” I hissed bitterly. “Got it.”
He reached for me, taking my hands in his, gray eyes frantic. “I’m sorry,” he said hoarsely, and to my astonishment, I saw tears rise to his eyes. “I’m really sorry, Drew. I should’ve never called you all those names. I should’ve never dismissed you outright. I’m sorry I didn’t listen. That Irefusedto listen.”
Seeing his tears brought mine to the surface as well, slicing through the coldness I was feeling. “It angers me that you had to be in danger yourself to believe it,” I barked at him, tightening my hold on his hands. “It angers me that the only reason you came looking for me was out of fear for my physical safety rather than my mental well-being.”
His tears fell, and suddenly I was enfolded in his tight arms. “I’m sorry,” he whispered. “I’m so sorry, Drew, I’m sorry ...”
I cried now, too, as I found all the fight I’d felt leaving my body, defeated in the face of my brother, my strong, resilient brother, actually crying in front of me.
Even when our sisters died, I hadn’t seen him cry.
And for some reason, that broke me further.
I pulled my arms around him and hugged him back, burying my head in his shoulder. “You hurt me,” I muttered, whimpering. “You really hurt me. But I’m sorry, too, for the things I said.”
He shook his head, tightening his hold on me. “Don’t be,” he said, sniffing. “I deserved every word you threw my way, because you were right. I had always promised you, Will, and Jules that I would protectyou. Be there for you. Love you unconditionally. And I failed at each and every promise I made.”
My throat constricted as the memories of that day eight years ago hovered in my mind. “Even if you had been there with us,” I whispered, “you wouldn’t have been able to do anything, even if you tried.”
That’s rich,a voice murmured in my head as Thayer’s soft sobs filled my ears.Considering you didn’t even try.
I pushed the thoughts away. It was neither the time nor the place to deal with them anyway.
So I held on to Thayer and hugged him tightly, unable to hold on to any grudge anymore. Not now, now that he’d apologized, that he was crying in my arms, that he’d admitted I’d been right, even if it was far too late.
Life was too short to keep on hating the only sibling I had left.
And with the danger still lurking behind the corner, I refused to lose him too.
I could feel Enoch’s eyes on me as Lucien and his Betas returned to the house and settled around the table.
Ignoring his looks, which made me feel like he was trying to peer into my soul, I stared at Lucien, who motioned for me and Thayer to join them. Enoch sat at the table too.
When I sat next to Lucien, I could see the Betas were staring at me strangely. Yesterday, they had barely spared me a look, and now it seemed as if they couldn’t take their eyes off me.
I had a hunch as to why that was, and I knew I was right when Lucien leaned down and murmured in my ear, “They know.”
Goose bumps rose all over my skin, though not from his confirmation of my suspicions, but rather because his voice made me shiver. His lips had brushed accidentally against my earlobe, and that made me feel all kinds of things I really didn’t want to feel right now.
Giving him a jerky nod, I leaned back from him, hoping for some personal space.
However, while he leaned back, he spread his arm on the back of my chair in a way that made me feel as if he was making a claim of some sort.
That movement wasn’t lost on the Betas, nor on Thayer, who, with bloodshot eyes, stared at Lucien’s arm as if he had a personal vendetta against it.
When the minutes ticked by and no one was talking, I couldn’t help but break the silence and ask, “What are we waiting for?”