Norman:
My brothers had rushed to save Helanie. I thought they were being dramatic until I arrived at the location.
I watched Helanie stand in the kitchen, her back pressed against the counter, her face pale. Her eyes were wide, as if she had been scared out of her mind.
"She ca here and insulted my son-in-law," Dewitt said. He was truly an amazing guy. Amazing in the sense that every ti he opened his mouth, I wondered if he had a brain.
He had always been such a fascinating clown to . Soone who didn’t care about his people and only wanted to show off his power.
"And you didn’t bother asking her why? He must have done sothing for her to leave those marks on his cheek," Emt hissed, making flinch a little. He wasn’t acting like himself--or at least not like the version of himself he’d shown for so long.
"She must have co after him--" Before Dewitt could fill Rayden’s head with more ideas, Maximus silenced him.
"Your son-in-law is a grown man; he can speak for himself." I was now carefully observing the change in my brother’s behavior.
They were acting wild, like unleashed beasts, but only when it ca to Helanie. The girl lowered her head, probably biting the inside of her cheek to stop her lips from trembling.
It was an odd sight for . The sa girl who had been ready to blow my head off, who had smashed a vase over my head, the sa Helanie who completed strange tasks without the help of her wolf, now stood before us looking like a scared kitten.
The easy answer would be to say she was faking innocence, but it didn’t seem like that. She seed genuinely terrified. What did Rayden do to her?
My eyes traveled to Rayden, who was watching Helanie with a mixture of anger and anticipation glinting in his eyes.
"She ca into the kitchen to try and flirt with , and when I turned her down--" he couldn’t finish his story because Kaye cut him off.
"And in anger, she slapped you, etc., etc.--you couldn’t co up with sothing more believable?" I noticed Kaye’s fists clenching. He clearly wanted to be alone with Rayden to have a more private ’conversation’ with him--using his fists.
"Helanie!" As soon as she heard her na from Emt, her body jolted. She didn’t want to be noticed? Yes, she wanted to stay invisible.
"What did he do?" Emt asked her in a gentle, calm tone. All eyes shifted to her, but mine stayed on Rayden.
He was acting strange.
"We had an argunt," Helanie said quietly, without lifting her head.
"See? Just an argunt, and she attacked him," Dewitt chid in. I swear, if I hear him one more ti--
"Old man, can you shut up for a minute?" After silently observing everyone, I couldn’t hold back any longer. My low, gruff tone caught everyone off guard, I could tell. Even Dewitt stared at like a housewife discovering her partner’s betrayal.
"Helanie!" I reached her, shielding her from everyone else’s gaze with my body.
"Tell what happened," I said, leaning down, my hands braced on the counter beside her. She looked so delicate, like a daisy caught in a storm.
"I don’t want any trouble," she whispered so softly I could barely hear her. I had to lean closer, tilting my head toward her lips to catch her words.
"Please! I don’t want the council here."
I straightened up slightly, our eyes eting, our faces just inches apart. That was because I’d leaned in too close trying to hear her.
"Who told you the council would co here?" I asked, and she shook her head steadily.
"You don’t want to tell ?" I pressed, and she nodded.
"Look, if you don’t explain, you’ll look guilty. His claims will seem true--that you attacked Rayden."
She was barely breathing, standing frozen with her head bowed. I didn’t like seeing her like this. Even though I despised her, I preferred the version of her that annoyed the life out of .
"Okay, just relax--" I straightened up, pulling my hands off the counter when I realized she was growing more uncomfortable the longer we stayed like this.
"I’ll find a way to get you out of this," I said, my eyes fixed on the wall behind her. When I stood tall, she seed so small, she barely ca into view.
After thinking it over, I slowly turned around, narrowing my eyes at Rayden standing behind Dewitt.
"You! She had a complaint against you." I rembered how they all bullied her into trauma when Lucy fell.
"She accepted his apology," Dewitt smirked, causing and my brothers to exchange a look. But before we could think much more about it, Lamar burst in, having been kept out earlier.
Seeing him with Helanie again made roll my eyes at her. Why was she hanging around soone who had beaten her and left her in the woods? If she hadn’t been found in ti, she might’ve lost her life--and her chance to be in the academy.
"They kind of forced her. She wanted information about the Tenth Floor, so Luna Estella and this guy--I an--" Lamar hesitated and shifted his tone after catching a sharp glare from . I could call Dewitt an old man, but Lamar would get in trouble if he did so. "He told her if she didn’t sign the letter, she wouldn’t get the information."
I turned to stare at Dewitt in disbelief.
"So, you tricked her into coming here, making her think she’d get information, only to make her sign the forgiveness letter and then trap her here, bowing to the one who bullied her nonstop?" Emt spoke softly, his head lowered, probably to hide his eyes.
I knew he was losing control. That couldn’t happen. He tended to lose control far too easily.
"Just one question--why are the rogue brothers coming here to defend a re student?" That’s when Dewitt revealed why I hated him most--he picked up on energy far too quickly.
Reviews
All reviews (0)