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Aiden came off the side of his truck, his gaze widening when he saw my face. My heart stopped at the sight of his protective fury, knowing what Nathan would do to him.
He dropped the cigarette to the ground, then crushed it with the toe of his boot. His face had become instantly overwhelmed with fury.
“I’m fine,” I said hastily, touching my finger to my lips. I didn’t want him to freak out Dylan.
I always wondered if Aiden had betrayed me to Nathan. It had to be either Aiden or Lawson; the two of them had helped me escape the night I went to Brennan. They were the only ones who could’ve known where to find me.
But both Aiden and Lawson seemed so protective, and they had to have known how Nathan would react. It didn’t make sense. Still, one of them had sentenced me to a lifetime of cruelty that night, something I could never forget.
Aiden took a step forward, and I shook my head at him. The last thing I needed was to lose Aiden or Lawson to their own stupidity if they attacked Nathan.
“Can Dylan ride with you?” I asked. “Nathan wants us to come along.”
Aiden’s face shifted, and he seemed to visibly master himself. “All right.”
“I’ll get his car seat.”
It felt surreal to walk back into the quiet of the garage where I’d altered Nathan’s truck the night before. Everything was in its place, his tools hanging on the pegboards, Dylan’s bike and mine parked neatly at one side. ButIwouldn’t be in this place soon. Grabbing the car seat, I carried it back to Aiden’s truck, fighting the lump in my throat. I couldn’t stand to leave Dylan behind, but I didn’t know how to protect us both at once. I couldn’t find a way out.
As I straightened from Aiden’s truck, I glanced around and didn’t see Nathan. I hugged my brother with one arm, quick and self-conscious, and after a beat, he hugged me back. Nathan even grew jealous of my relationship with my brother.
“Amy,” he said, his voice uncertain. “I . . . ”
“It’s all good,” I said lightly. “Love you, Aiden.”
I didn’t want to leave those words unsaid. Even if he had betrayed me, I loved him. He’d been seventeen at the time; maybe he’d made one stupid mistake that had damned me forever.
“Love you too.” He pushed his hair back impatiently with one hand, revealing the long scar that twisted down his left temple from his hairline.
He’d gotten between Nathan and me, trying to protect me. Once.
I wanted to say more, but I never knew what to say to him or Lawson. The two of us stared at each other for a few long moments.
Then Nathan yelled for me. I hugged Dylan goodbye, kissing his forehead over and over, telling him to be good for Uncle Aiden.
Because I was trying to fake normal, I walked away from the two of them without looking back.
Even though it wrung out my heart.
CHAPTER10
Liam
The girl had been screamingin her dreams again. It was only when she woke up that I was finally able to catch a few decent hours of sleep.
My sense of time was always shaky, but she’d begun about five years ago. Those first nights, weeks, months had been the most brutal. I’d crawl under my bed, and Karissa would find me there, her eyes wide and horrified. I always felt guilty for what I put my sister through.
But I couldn’t make myself be normal no matter how much I wished it. When I was a child, I’d thought that if I prayed enough, tried hard enough, one day, I’d be normal, I’d be good, and then I’d be free.
I no longer believed I had to be normal to be good, and I wasn’t sure anyone was free.
I awoke to noticeable stillness in the house. They were plotting something. I knew my brothers better than they realized. They both had their secrets, and they thought they were wise, moving in the shadows.
Karissa was in the kitchen, curled up in one of the chairs, reading her book.
“They left you to watch over me,” I said.
She looked up, her eyes widening. “You are so quiet, Liam. I didn’t hear you come in.”
