Page 113 of Icarus

Helios’s father grabbed him and tore off his balaclava. He spared a single second to process the shock of seeing Icarus instead of Angus, but he adjusted swiftly. He yanked Icarus up by the hair and pulled his head back, sharp and merciless.

“What have we here? Not as valuable, but just as pretty. Sound familiar?” Mr. Black hissed. His face was a twisted mask, Helios’s features in bas-relief, red with fury. The same color Helios turned from embarrassment and pleasure.

The hysteria of it all made Icarus want to laugh from fright.

“For months I’ve watched you and your rat of a father drain my fortune, scuttling around my home like vermin. The amount of investment property you’ve removed from this home? It was worth it. You’ll never see the light of day again.” Mr. Black’s breath was hot on the front of Icarus’s neck and it made him want to throw up all over again.

“And you in particular.” He shook Icarus sharply, tearing out strands of his hair. “You think you can come in here and steal my art. Fine. Walk my hallways, eat my food? Fuck my son?”

Icarus hoped Helios was far away. He didn’t need to hear this.

“I didn’t want to take any of your shit. Did you think I fucking taught myself? I’m just a kid!” Icarus yelled. “I do what I’m told.”

Mr. Black didn’t need to let go to backhand Icarus so hard his teeth rattled. “Did your father tell you to destroy my wife’s workshop?”

Icarus groped behind him so he could figure out just how far he was from the stairs.

“That was an accident. I’m sorry. I never intended for that to happen, and I couldn’t stay to clean it up. If I could, I’d clean it now.”

From this agonizing angle, he couldn’t see Mr. Black’s face. Couldn’t read his expression to figure out how to say what Mr. Black wanted to hear. He was so good at that, so good. But with his head pulled back like this, Icarus was helpless.

“You have how many days left? Three, four, until you can be tried as an adult?” Mr. Black shook Icarus’s head. “Ohhhh, this was worth the wait. I’m going to steal your whole life, Icarus Gallagher.”

“You’re just like him, then,” Icarus said, and it cost him to admit it.

“You think you’re so different, but you and Angus are the same.” He panted. “You don’t know how to love and you’ll never be able to learn. All you do is take lives and live in selfishness. You deserve each other.”

Icarus spat at Mr. Black’s face and threw himself backward. He plunged down the staircase, reckless and unpredictable.

Mr. Black shouted in surprise as he jerked forward a few steps himself, before letting go of Icarus’s hair to keep from toppling with him.

Icarus braced himself as his bones collided against carpeted floor. The pain jarred him, but he tucked and rolled and the years of gymnastics saved his life. The instant Icarus had a leg underneath himself, he sprang up and stumbled the rest of the way down the stairs.

He sprinted across the living room and up the flight of stairs on the other side. His head was pounding from the fall and he felt dizzy and nauseous, but he had to keep going.

“I'm not like him. I’m nothing like him!” Mr. Black roared, but Icarus wasn’t listening and he didn’t care.

He charged up the stairs to the third floor, breathing a sigh of relief when he didn’t see Helios still struggling anywhere along the way. He must be in the laundry room already, waiting for him.

But Mr. Black was catching up quickly.

“Helios! I’m coming!” Icarus yelled.

He turned the corner and had made it halfway to the laundry room when Mr. Black grabbed him from behind again. Slammed him up against the wall.

“Can’t you just let us go!”

“You are not stealing my son from me,” Mr. Black shouted, spittle landing on Icarus’s cheeks.

“I’m not stealing him,” Icarus whimpered, pulling back. “We’re running away. You don’t even want him! Why do you care so much that I do?!”

Mr. Black shoved him again, harder, and spots swam before his eyes.

“Angus knows I’m on to him. He’s gotten the threats, met with my attorney. Why did he send you in here again? What game is he trying to play?”

Pain hit Icarus like a typhoon as all the pieces of the past few months fell into place. The unexpected trips Angus took, the phone calls, the shouting in their storage room. His father was a coward and selfish to the end for not including him. For not trusting him to carry the weight of their undoing. He couldn’t begin to process this betrayal right now.

Icarus shoved at Mr. Black’s chest, but he was steady as iron. Frustration bubbled up in Icarus’s throat and he could feel it rapidly turning into tears.