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Translation: Don’t tell Mari where you really went last night.
It’s alright. I’m used to Bastian and Evie’s mistrust.
When I hear Bastian’s door close at the top of the stairs, I clasp my hands. “You two need to let me go. You don’t want to stay here, do you, Levi?”
“Nice try.” He crosses one leg over the other and leans back in the chair.
Grayson brushes crumbs from the table onto the floor. “What my eloquent friend here is trying to say is, there’s no way Bastian would allow you to go on a dangerous mission yet.”
“Why does he care?” I plop down on the bench and tent my fingers. The guy hates me. He’d feed me to a pack of hungry werewolves if he had the chance. And yet, he saved me from a vampire and his blood-thirsty girlfriend.
“You’re our sister,” Levi says, a wide grin on his face. “Family looks out for each other.”
It’s easy to see Levi, and even Grayson as a brother. Except for keeping their location the night before a secret, they treat me with respect. And Bastian does too—at times. But there are things about him I don’t see in a brotherly way at all.
“I saved the two of you breakfast.” Grayson lifts a towel from a plate on the table. “Black looks good on you by the way.”
My cheeks warm as I instinctively try to smooth out the skin-tight fighting gear like I used to do with my skirt in Avren. It has become so comfortable, I almost forgot I was wearing it. I sit down at the table, my stomach growling at the sight of fresh eggs, bread, and strips of meat. “Thank you for making me feel welcome.” I run my hand down the sleeve of my fighting gear. “For this.”
Grayson lifts a shoulder and swipes a piece of bacon from my plate. “It was Evie’s idea. She didn’t think the other woman in the Kindred Few should fight in a recycled potato sack. It embarrassed her.”
“Well, either way, it’s growing on me.” I take a bite of eggs and chew as Grayson goes back to the dishes.
Levi gets up and sits across from me at the table, eyeing my other piece of bacon. I smirk and hand it to him. He devours it in two seconds flat.
“What happened to your family?” I smear a pad of butter on the piece of cornbread. As a member of the deaf community, the Council would never allow Levi to enter Avren, even as an Undesirable.
He hangs his head, palms spread on the table.
“You don’t have to answer.” Thoughts of my mother’s last day swirl in my head. Losing a parent at such a young age is difficult.
“The Council exiled them when Lady Raven rose to power.” Grayson dries his hands, faces us, and leans against the counter.
“I can answer for myself,” Levi signs furiously, his hands flailing. His face is red. “Stop acting like I’m incapable of anything.”
My heart sinks. It’s the first time I’ve ever seen Levi upset, and it spells out a source of tension between my brothers.
I reach out and take Levi’s hand in mine. “I asked you, but if it’s too painful, I don’t need to know.”
He grips my hand tighter, his blue eyes drilling into mine. “You’re my sister. You need to know. In the short time I’ve known you, you’ve held nothing back from me.” He draws his hand back so he can sign as he talks. “Both of my parents were deaf, born before the baby experiments started. When the Council changed hands, placing Lady Raven and Lord Arazian in power, they exiled the Undesirables, including my parents. They lived in peace in the wilderness for ten years before I was born. My father avoided the blue cuff because he couldn’t hear. They didn’t want him in Avren. Instead, he worked the fields for Bastian’s father. My mother stayed home with me.” The lump in Levi’s throat bobs as he swallows. “When I was ten, a swarm of Arazian’s Miscretes broke down the door to our cabin. They shook the entire cabin with their violent actions, waking me. I hid beneath my bed as the monsters tore into my parents’ bedroom. I clutched a pillow as tears streamed down my cheeks. The next morning, I finally dared to leave my hiding place. When I worked up the courage to look in my parents’ room, the only thing the Miscretes had left behind were streaks of blood.”
I want to gather little Levi into my arms and tell him he’s loved, but he’s a man now, and as much as it pains me, I stay on my side of the table. “What happened to you?”
“When my father didn’t show up for work, Mr. Hale sent two workers to our cabin to look for him. After a thorough search of the cabin, they found me, pale and shaking beneath a blanket, afraid the Miscretes had come back to finish the job.” His lip quirks to the side. “Bastian and I grew up together—the natural and adopted sons of Jaresiah and Sarah Hale.”
I don’t want to ask what happened to them. It is a story for another time and maybe it’s Bastian’s tale to tell.
“I hit a tree with an arrow today.” I carry my plate to the sink and wash the crumbs away with my hand and a bit of soap and water. It’s not a boast, but like Levi, I want to show the others I’m capable of more than they give me credit for.
“When you hit a hundred trees over a hundred days, we’ll let you come with us on a mission. For now, you and Levi will watch over the homestead.” Grayson rolls down his sleeves, opens a cabinet, and begins putting dishes away. “Consistency is key.”
It’s no use. If Grayson’s not on my side, it’s not like I’ll convince Bastian or Evie.
“We’ll hopefully only be gone a week. Two days there, two days back, and three to carry out the plan. The two of you can’t get in too much trouble in that time.” He swats me on the bottom with a spatula, making me jump.
I snatch it from his hand and chase him around the room trying to smack him back, knocking over a chair and a bowl of pinecones.
Bastian barrels down the stairs, a frown on his face. He’s not wearing a shirt, and his pants are low on his hips. I freeze and hide the spatula behind my back, wishing I could hit him on the backside with it.
