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“He’s going to kill us! I told you, you were insane.”
“I know,” I said, nodding. “You did. Did you have fun, though?”
Max paused, then considered. His fear turned to a slight smile. He nodded. “Yeah… I did.”
“That’s all that matters,” I said. “When dad comes down on us, I’ll take the hit.”
“You don’t have to do that.”
“And you don’t have to get in trouble on your birthday. Just say I’m a terrible influence. Or better yet, say nothing.”
“Mom is going to bind your magic for three months, this time. You know that, right?”
“If I’m lucky.” I swung an arm across his shoulders. “C’mon. Let’s get you some water and a breath mint.”
Chapter
Four
Max and I both settled ourselves into the back of my father’s sleek, black sedan without saying a word. For a while, no one spoke. In silence I watched my father’s eyes in the rear-view mirror. They were fixed firmly on the road… until they weren’t.
He had these piercing green eyes that seemed to take up the entire space of that mirror. I felt like I was falling into them, like they were stars, and I was a rogue planet without an orbit. I couldn’t escape them.
“I’m s?—”
“—don’t,” he cut me off, then paused. After a deep breath, he asked, “Are you alright?”
“I’m… okay. Why?”
“And your brother?”
I waited for Max to speak. When I glanced at him, I realized he was asleep with his head against the car window. That was probably for the best.
“He’s in for a hangover,” I said. “But he’s okay.”
Another long, drawn-out pause. “Why?” he asked, the gravity of his eyes increasing.
“Why what?”
“Why did you do this?”
“Dad—”
“—don’t think about lying to me, Beatrice. I want you to tell me why you did this, how you did this, and why I’m the one picking you up right now.”
I swallowed.
Hard.
His tone was curt, and sharp. He hadn’t told me he was disappointed in me, but I could hear it in his voice, I could feel it in the air. My father wasn’t the kind of man to get angry. I had never heard him raise his voice at me, my brother, or my mother. It just wasn’t his way.
Which made these conversations so much more difficult.
I sighed. “It’s his birthday, dad.”
“And?”
“Not that I don’t appreciate everything you guys do for me, but my twenty-first was kind of boring. I wanted Max to enjoy his.”
