***
When I found Violet and Nick, they were lying in the dew-covered grass out in front of the house. They were on their sides facing each other and grasping hands. In the blue light of a new dawn, I could see the affection in their eyes. In my sister, I saw the same lightness of love that was present in my own eyes every time I looked at James.
I should have been happy for her. Instead, I lost my temper.
“Get up!” I snapped at her, and several feet away, in the tree line, a trio of birds took flight. I kid you not, my anger even startled the still half-asleep wildlife.
Nick immediately jumped up, stammering as he attempted to explain exactly what he and my sister were doing lying side by side on the front lawn as the sun began to rise. After the night of indulgence, I dared not speculate how far their affection had carried them. I shuddered to imagine that Violet had moved from infatuation to a physical romance with the young man.
“Brynna, just don't, alright? You were actually cool last night. You were chilled out and having a good time. Why do you want to spoil it?” Violet asked as she slowly rose onto her feet. “More importantly, why do you want to ruin this for me?”
“If my one concern in life was to achieve a social status of 'coolness,' I would die miserably unfulfilled almost certainly.”
“Yes,” Violet nodded with her eyebrows raised, “You would.”
“Be quiet, for the sake of all deities and Gods!” I covered my face for a moment with a shaking hand. “I understand that he is quite handsome and...”
“...and he's a nice guy who protects me and likes me.” She added, “What more do you need to know? I don't ask questions about you and James. I trust your judgment.”
“I swear, it was a simple two-word command. Be quiet. I do not believe that it is a difficult direction to follow. What occurred here last night is not to be repeated ever again. The consequences of such mindless frivolity will rear their ugly heads. That much is certain.”
“What do you mean?” Violet asked, and she was completely serious all of a sudden. “Did you see something? What is it, Brynn?”
“I did not see anything. But I feel trouble brewing, and that is plenty. Now, if you two had... had...”
James had walked up beside me as I struggled to say the word. I was not a prude, as I am sure you have gathered, but when it came to my sister, I was simply not comfortable discussing carnal matters with her. The awkwardness would surely be the death of me.
“James, will you take her for a walk before her head explodes?” Violet asked him, “Seriously, man. Listen to her stammering. She's like a robot that just got water thrown on it. Help me out.”
James chuckled as he wrapped his arm around my shoulder.
“Just for the record, Brynn, that didn't happen!” Violet called to me.
As enough distance was put between Violet and me, I looked up at James.
“She is being truthful, isn't she?”
James kissed my head and grinned.
“I don't know, baby. Is she?”
I scowled at him in fury. He was toying with my emotions and turning my concern into a joke. I certainly was not laughing.
“I am just ecstatic that my worrying over my sister's choices in life is entertaining you. Believe me when I say that I have yearned my entire life to amuse someone with my anxiety.”
“Let me assure you, my dear Brynna, that your anxiety neither amuses nor saddens me. Merely, I am befuddled by it, for the sake of all deities and Gods.” I glared at him even more scornfully, “See? That was another one of my attempts to talk like you.” His lips pressed to mine in an obnoxiously over-the-top kiss. “You are quite humorous.”
“You are quite aggravating.” I pulled away from him, “And the all-access pass you have been enjoying in regards to my body? Consider it expired.”
I walked ahead of him, smiling slightly to myself. I heard him chuckle but then, the sound slowly died away.
“Wait, are you being serious?”
“I do not know, baby.” I replied as Frank held the front door open for me. “Am I?”
All whimsy evaporated when my eyes met Frank's. A sudden wave of emotion came over me; in the depths of the tidal mass, I saw fear, grief, and fury. James, seeing my body tense as though I had just received a physical blow, was at my side in a blink.
“What is it?” I asked Frank quietly.
Instinct was driving me forward before I could hear his answer. I was hurtling up the steps two at a time. My heart raced in frenzied terror, sensing that something terrible had just occurred. The Peace Fruit... It brought out the worst in those who succumbed to its twisting, smooth-as-silk vines...
Every dark desire of man could be achieved while one was intoxicated by its juices. The conscience disappeared, and the most vulgar, despicable acts could be carried out without fear of guilt. I had known that to be true even as I allowed myself to lapse deeply into the blissful hypnosis. Even as I did not fear the crash on hard earth that would surely result from the high, I could not avoid the trepidation felt when imagining what might await me as I fell. Now, I would see it firsthand.
She had awoken just after James and I had crept from the room. She had been rubbing her still-heavy eyes as her little feet pattered against the cold hardwood floor of the hallway. The white curtains billowed in the early morning breeze, but she walked through with ease, paying them no mind. It had been the smell of blood that had jolted her to full alertness. A door had been left ajar just beside where she was standing. Her childish curiosity had pulled her forward. Her hand had pushed open the door. The man was still in there, standing over the two bodies, his eyes not as blue as blindness...
“Brynna...” Frank's voice said behind me, “James, stop her!”
“Where is she?” I was muttering, unable to raise my voice above a crackling whisper. People gaped at me as I walked by and whispered behind their hands.
“That's her sister...”
“She's more like her mother than anything...”
“God, poor girl...”
“Where is she?!” I was able to speak loudly now as my eyes darted wildly around the hallway. I clawed and pushed my way through the gawking crowd of spectators. Up ahead, I heard her animal grunts, hisses, and even a feeble roar.
“Brynna, it was not his fault. It was the Peace Fruit...” Don was beginning to say, “Listen, we cannot judge him for what he did. That's not what we're about here...”
I pushed Don Abba with so much force that he was thrown several feet away. The door to that same room Penny had walked into was closed. The sound of nails running down the length of the wood on the other side sounded.
“Don't go in there!” Don exclaimed, “They're not supposed to change this young! We don't know what's wrong with her!”
I threw open the door to reveal the dimly lit, blood-splattered room. Inconveniently, the sun rose on the other side of the house. Its light had not yet reached the dark space before my eyes. The effect of such darkness was eerie, especially given the circumstances.
“Penny?” I whispered, and my eyes changed over to white. Even with my enhanced vision, I could not see her. A man was breathing laboriously on the floor, barely alive but still so far from death. He was the same man I had seen through Penny's terrified eyes. The claw marks on his body were neatly cut from his forehead to his chin, but as they moved down his torso, they sunk deeper and as a result, his flesh was torn sloppily.
“Penny?” I looked around frantically for her. In the corner of my eye, I saw a blur of movement dart under the bed. Outside, the onlookers gasped and grabbed onto one another in horror and also, perverted, voyeuristic excitement.
“Come on, baby. That's enough.” I forced the eruption of fear inside of my chest to calm. I needed to emanate warmth and serenity for her. Her killer instincts were switched on, and she would not come to me while I was afraid. The animal inside of her would only be soothed by the maternity I carried for her. Only through my motherly affection
would she be soothed.
“James, mellow out.” I hissed at him over my shoulder.
“What?” James whispered back, “What the hell are you talking about right now? I'm just going to reach under and grab her!”
“No! She's not herself. Calm yourself down.”
“Are you still high?!”
I scowled at him and barked in a furious whisper when I spoke:
“Shut up and do what I say!”
“Well, shit, you asked me so nicely, why would I not do that?” He rolled his eyes and sighed heavily, standing perfectly still. He opened one eye to look at me. “I can't do it when you're staring at me like that!”
“Fine, I will look away.”
I did. A long moment of silence.
“This is stupid.”
“Goddamn it, James!” I exclaimed loudly.
There was another loud flutter of movement under the bed and a roar that was a little stronger.
“Alright, I'm doing it.” James told me, “I'm calming down. You win.”
I felt the peace wash over him. It was natural, another positive perk of our evolution. That serenity radiated through the air and wrapped tightly around Penny like a soft baby blanket. Together, our combined tranquility coaxed her from her hiding place.
Consider it Pangaean parenting.
Her huge brown eyes met ours as she scampered to us. Her tiny arms wrapped around my neck as my own grasped her tightly. James encased us in his strong embrace. Outside in the hallway, I heard some of the onlookers clapping. I could have lit them all on fire with the look I cast their way.
Penny moved so that she could hold onto James. Her soft whimpers began as she buried her face in his neck.
“Shh...” James whispered. He kissed her head as we moved through the crowd. I kept my hand on her back as I scowled at Don.
“Come on. Everything's okay, baby.” James was telling her softly, “Brynn and I are right here.”
I did not need an expert on forensics to explain to me what had occurred. The man had killed two women while under the influence of the Peace Fruit. Penny had stumbled upon him as he stood over their mutilated bodies. In a quick move to eradicate all witnesses, he had attacked her, thinking that she would be easily dispatched. Unfortunately for him, he had not realized that the same powers that we were slowly grasping had begun to take hold of my sister, as well. She had killed him to defend herself.
James laid Penny down on the bed and muttered to me that he was going to run her a bath. He kissed my forehead before he walked away. Furiously, I began to wipe the blood from Penny's face, cringing as several drops came close to rolling into her eyes. Her soft cries of terror clawed my heart viciously. Only rage could bandage those wounds. I was far beyond angry. My rage extended to so many different people, I could barely keep their faces straight. James's handsome face dissolved into Don's and then to Adam's. I saw my mother, who would have such cutting words to say about the incident; I saw Maura, who was not there... I rubbed my temples as my head pounded.
When James reappeared to tell me the bath was ready, I scooped Penny up and pushed past him furiously. When he attempted to follow me in to the bathroom, I slammed the door in his face and turned the lock. I listened as he rattled the doorknob.
Penny had suffered minimal physical wounds. A few scratches on her skin were the worst of the damage. A small raised bump on her forehead was little cause for concern. The man's blood swirled around her in the steaming bathwater. Even the lavender and wildflower infused soap could not erase his smell. I hummed softly to her, attempting to soothe her with my voice. The song and the soap were lulling her to sleep. By the time I wrapped a towel around her, her cries had stopped, and her eyes were drooping. Her head nestled under mine as I carried her back out into the bedroom.
“Vamoose.” I muttered to James after I had moved to the dresser beside the window.
“I know you're pissed off, but for the life of me, Brynna, I cannot decipher exactly what I did to you this time.” He whispered back angrily.
“Take your self-righteous indignation out into the hallway.” I raised my voice to a conversational volume but did not betray my disgust and rage to him just then. I would not show my anger in front of Penny. I would not argue with James in front of her the way my mother and father had fought viciously in front of Elijah, Violet, and me.
“Don't even start this shit with me. After what happened...”
I sat down on the bed and looked over my shoulder at him.
“Go.” I ordered firmly. My eyes were set in steely resolve.
“I am getting really sick of your bullshit. Just so you know.”
The door slammed behind me. I wanted to follow him, screaming until my lungs were devoid of air about showing his childish anger in front of my sister while she was so upset. However, if I were to do that, it would be quite hypocritical. The whole statement would be rendered moot by my own immature show of rage. I dressed Penny quietly, shushing her when her cries began again.
“What happened?!” Violet and Elijah had come running in.
“Be quiet!” I snapped at them before looking back at Penny. She was looking at me with big, terrified eyes. Tears streamed from them down her round cheeks again. I pressed my lips to her forehead and continued stroking her hair. I held my hand out behind me and mimed silently for Elijah and Violet to stay away until she was asleep. They obeyed.
The terrible events of the early morning had taken their toll on her. The physical exertion of what she had done had exhausted her body. The terror of killing a living being had wrung her young mind dry. What she needed more than anything was a long sleep. When she awoke, we would deal with the after-effects of such a terrifying occurrence.
My sister was five years old when she killed a man. It had been in self-defense and because she was changing early. I would remind her of that every day. Every day, her mind would find that evil man, and she would succumb to a guilt far beyond her years. I prayed to a God in whom I did not believe every night that she would forget his face. But every morning that followed, I would realize, begrudgingly and with fury in my heart, that my prayers had gone unanswered.
Don and James were talking furiously at the top of the stairs that led to our floor. I approached them, listening in on the conversation before they noticed my presence.
“Things got out of control, and for that, I apologize.” Don was saying quickly, “Those two women will be buried, but Donovan must be saved.”
“He tried to kill her! He tried to kill a five-year-old girl!”
“We cannot hold him accountable for what he did.”
“He wasn't even high, Don! Where is your head at right now?!”
“I do not judge people for what they do. I can't, James. That would go against everything I believe in! When I brought people here, I promised them a place to live where they would not be judged.”
“You can't be serious! He raped and killed two women! He tried to kill Penny! What kind of message is this going to send to your people? You're going to let them believe that you tolerate rape and murder?!”
“Precisely. Humans are inbred with dark desires. We all have them, James. You can't deny that. I cannot hold Donovan responsible for doing exactly what I said I would allow.”
“You said you would allow assault and...”
“No. I said that there would be no rules. This is a consequence of that notion, but every great society has moments of downfall.”
“So, this is a great society now? That's what this is about?”
I had approached them. Don's expression soured upon seeing my face. I scowled at him darkly, my heart racing in rage at all he had said.
“This is not a great society, Don. This is a circus.” I spat at him, “You will hold that abhorrent pig responsible for what he did to my sister. If he had killed her, I would have destroyed him. In fact, I will still kill him for what he did!”
“You most certainly will not!” Don shot at me, “Two wrongs do not ma
ke a right, Brynna, and I will thank you to remember that!”
“I will rip his body apart. If I could also consume his despicable soul, you can bet your life that I would! If I could steal from him whatever eternal salvation awaits us when we depart this world, I would!”
“I might not have any rules for you to follow, Brynna, but you will not touch him.” Don ordered in fury, “I might not like order, but as long as we are all living here, we will not harm each other.”
“He killed two women! He tried to kill my sister! That is harming people, is it not? Where do those events fit in your idealistic world of bullshit?!”
Yes. I cursed.
“Get yourself under control before you come downstairs.” His eyes glared into mine, “James, you are responsible for her. If anything happens, I will throw all of you out. Is that understood?”
“We are leaving! And he most certainly is not responsible for me!” I exclaimed angrily before storming away.
“You can't leave! There's no safe place out there for you, Brynna! Your father is looking for you! He has a bounty on your head! You have nowhere to go!”
“Ignore her. She's just having one of her little girl tantrums.” James told him loudly as he leaned against the wall.
I turned around, walked up to him, and slapped him so hard across the face that Don gasped.
“What the f—” James started to say, but I hit him again.
“I am already livid. My fury is directed right at you. Do not tempt me to commit violent acts. Do you understand me?!” I growled furiously after my eyes had turned red.
“Let me tell you something, you crazy...” James began.
I turned and huffed away before opening and closing the door to Violet's room. Her suitcases were still lying on the floor, only half-empty. We had been in Don's house for weeks and still, she had not unpacked completely. I wondered if perhaps she was wary of staying, or if she knew that I would make us leave. For a moment, my heart jolted in guilt. How could I uproot their lives when I knew how much they loved living there?
Because two women were killed and those other people in the house enjoyed recklessly and publicly indulging their most carnal inclinations. Because heavy drug use was not only allowed, it was encouraged. What more did I need to know?
The door to the room slammed, and James stormed up to me. His hands grasped my upper arms painfully as he spun me to face him.
“That is enough!” He snarled with his face close to mine, “You are not going anywhere. Your father wants you dead. If he gets you alive, there is no saying what he'll do to you! I am not going to have that on my conscience. Have I made myself perfectly clear?!”
“Do you really think that I am going to obey your orders like I am some intellectually insufficient, pitifully smitten schoolgirl, James Maxwell!? I will not stay here another day, and you will not follow me! What happened to Penny is your fault! You were high, and you were not there for her!”
“Newsflash, sweetheart, neither were you!”
I swung my fist up to hit him, but he grasped my wrist firmly. Beneath his fingers, the bone began to break. I barely winced.
“Hit me again, and watch what happens.” He warned me, and now his eyes were blazing red, too.
“Let go of me!” I shouted at him before pushing him with my free hand. “If I had not been going downstairs to check on you, I never would have breathed in that smoke! It is your fault that I wasn't there for Penny! You were so recklessly stupid! You were so childish, wanting to get high because all of your stupid friends were! You are so stupid, James!”
The hand I was pushing him with flew up to slap him again. That was when whatever fragile hold he had on his anger was lost. That was when whatever remaining juice from the Peace Fruit that was flowing through his veins whispered angrily to him that he had to defend his physical health and his masculinity.
James had been gifted with great strength. As a result, in a physical fight, he would inflict great damage on me. I wished that I had remembered that, but it was too late by the time I realized it.
His arms wrapped around me and lifted my small body up. Then, he slammed me down hard on Violet's bed. Despite the thick padding between the two coverings, my back hit the hardwood floor beneath the bed.
Do you remember how I described to you the feeling of one cornered? Well, when James pinned my arms above my head with one of his hands, I fought with that same desperate, mindless, intensity. I forgot the notion of suppressing my fear in order to avoid being seen as weak. I screamed and kicked him. I lunged forward, trying to sink my teeth down into his throat. Nothing, not even my best effort, could successfully subdue or even weaken him.
He was hissing insults at me through his clenched teeth. If he was to be believed, I was a female dog, a morally loose female, and a mental patient. Most disgustingly, he spat out a derogatory slang term for a woman's lower anatomy once or twice. I fought to free myself from his grasp, all the while bracing for the moment when his fists began to rain hard, excruciating blows upon me. I had fought my father just like that so many times. I could not believe that the man I loved was capable of the same cruelty.
“James, stop it!” I screamed after dodging the first punch he threw at me, “JAMES! STOP!”
The second punch landed hard on my jaw.
I was horrified to see that his eyes had dissolved back into that deep blue of the fruit's juice. Somehow, the Peace Fruit (so stupidly named) still held him in its grasp.
His free hand was tugging at my sweatpants in a struggle to pull them down.
“James, please don't! James, please stop!”
Consider it shameless. Consider it weak. I know that I do still. I was almost in tears as I begged him. I was unable to picture any scenario more horrendous than James, whom I loved so incredibly much, assaulting me in the most terrible and unforgivable way.
“James! Please, honey, this isn't you! JAMES!”
His teeth sunk down into my shoulder. I landed a perfect kick between his legs, and his jaws released. We both howled in pain together.
“Honey, please! James, stop!” I whispered to him as he gathered himself back up. I was struggling to free my wrists from his firm grasp again. “Look at me. James, honey, look at me!”
The door came crashing down. James looked up, and his grip released. I swung my fists up in a fury and managed to hit him several times in the face. I did not care who had arrived just in the nick of time. I only wanted to inflict as much physical damage on James as I could for what he had just attempted.
Of all the people on Pangaea, Adam was my “rescuer.” He shouted over his shoulder, presumably at Violet, Alice, and Quinn to stay back. Terrified, they nodded and shrunk away. Adam threw James backwards, shouting in a language unknown to our kind. Even in my state, shock registered upon hearing James shout back at him in the same tongue. The evolution apparently had intellectual side effects beyond what I had previously believed.
James’s new strength was a force to be reckoned with. But Adam had lived for thousands of years with the same power and as a result, even my boyfriend did not stand a chance against him. Adam threw James back into the wall, shouting still and trembling in a rage that could have shook the ground beneath our feet. They fought for several minutes, and I laid on the bed, curled up in a ball, shaking with sobs that never came. Tears brimmed on my eyes as I buried my face in my hands, but I did not shed them. Still, even after all that had just happened, I could not cry.
“Don’t hurt him…” I managed to gasp out when James gave a shout of pain.
I loved him still. I knew that he was not himself. Sure, he would have to deal with my terrible anger while he won back my trust. I wondered briefly if he would even try to resolve the issues that were now standing firmly between us. A tugging part of my cynical heart told me he would not, and I didn’t know if I cared or not.
“Adam, stop!” I shouted after turning over onto my side to look at him.
Adam looked back at me before
grabbing a hold of James’s shirt and hauling him over to the door of Violet’s bedroom. With an almighty thrust, he threw him into the hallway.
“Elijah!” I screamed when my brother immediately went for his throat, roaring in protective rage.
“Don’t!” Adam shouted deafeningly. The house trembled in fear at the sound. Elijah hissed at Adam but released his grip on James. I did not see James run.
Other people had gathered in the doorway, thirsting for a show of drama. A front row seat was coveted by all; their lives had no meaning, I decided. They needed to witness theatrical events in order to feel fulfilled. Perhaps they even held themselves in higher regard as they watched me, knowing their lives had not taken such a traumatic turn, even after they had been high. Only through noble actions of their own were they spared from experiencing my pain.
Adam’s hands, so rough in texture but so gentle in movement, pulled my pants up. I covered my face, feeling the skin of my cheeks burning in a humiliation so toxic, I believed it would be the poison that ended me. I could not understand his words, for he was speaking in his language, but his tone was gentle, soothing. The beast of Pangaea was trying to calm me.
“Make them go away.” I whispered to him.
Instead, he picked me up with ease and ran from the room. I closed my eyes, feeling the air whizzing past me as he bolted from the house, over the lawn and into the trees. When he laid me down in a soft patch of grass beneath a towering oak, I looked up at him.
In the mid-morning sun that shined through the trees, the color of his eyes seemed to glow. Reflected back at me, I saw both a fearful concern and a desire to quiet the thunderous emotional storm inside of me. His hand rested on my face as he leaned down to kiss my forehead tenderly. His lips moved down my face, pressing to both of my still burning cheeks, my nose, and both of my closed eyes. Just as his mouth stopped to hover above mine, he pulled away.
“I do apologize,” He muttered after looking away from me, “I have allowed my human side to get the better of me.”
I shook my head and sat up quickly.
“Thank you.” I said without a scrap of actual gratitude in my voice. Perhaps it was an old habit unable to die, but I still could not trust him completely. In fact, I could not trust him at all. He had saved me in the interest of a motivation that was not clear to me. His tenderness from a moment earlier was simply meant to make me drop my guard.
“I know that you do not trust me, Brynna, and for that, I am very sorry. I did not present myself to you as I should have. Killing your people was an action on my part that was not pondered through completely. I did not think of the consequences. I only thought of Purissimus.”
“Did you encourage Don to eat the Peace Fruit?” I asked.
“Yes. I did.”
“Why?”
“Such reckless indulgence is so fitting of his persona, is it not?”
“I suppose so. I would just like you to be aware of the consequences. My younger sister killed a man today. That man had assaulted and murdered two women. Penny caught him in the act. A few others have died, though I do not know how. I only know that they have been killed.”
“Some went willingly. The Peace Fruit enhances that which will invoke a state of peace, hence the name. For some, that peace could only be achieved in death. They wanted to escape all that is happening here.”
“If you had left us alone…”
“My reasoning behind this war will make itself evident to you in time.”
“I doubt that sincerely.”
“I am sure you do. Just know this, Brynna: I am not your enemy. Your disgusting male partner may plant distrust of me in your mind, but it is a lie.”
“Another consequence of you encouraging Don to give us drugs was what James did to me. His eyes were still blue.”
“Yes. The Peace Fruit has been known to cause grisly after-effects in those who ingest it.”
“I have an idea, Adam and it is a very admirable one.”
“I would love to hear it.”
My eyes darkened as I looked at him. My voice trembled with fury as I spoke.
“Stay away from me. Stay away from my sisters and brother. Stay away from the house. Slink back into your city, and live out your miserable, immortal existence far from us. Stop interfering in our lives and tempting us with things we do not need. I do not care about your reasoning. It will not become clear to me, because I will not think of it for even one moment.”
I expected my own anger to come back at me, swinging wildly and in indignation. I expected, at the very least, a flash of hurt in his eyes. But alas, I must have forgotten briefly with whom I was dealing.
Adam chuckled softly, and a chill swirled down my spine. He leaned forward and ran his finger down the length of my face.
“Your anger is admirable. Your spirit is strong. I find you fascinating, Brynna Olivier.”
“I find you aggravating,” I smacked his hand away, “Do not touch me.”
I stood and turned to run back to the house.
“I wish you the best of luck in repairing what has been broken between you and your mate. He loves you very much.” Adam said as he followed after me.
“Why are you walking behind me?” I turned around to walk backwards. I did not like being in his presence and not having my eyes fixed on him at all times. As I have said, I did not trust him or his unsavory intentions.
“I am seeing you home.”
“I do not need you to see me home.” I replied irritably.
“Believe me when I say that you do.” He smiled arrogantly.
“What is it with stalking men? Do you have no pride in yourself? I believe my message to you just now was very clear. Can you not gather that I want nothing more to do with you?”
“Consider that fact gathered, my dear.”
I turned back around and rolled my eyes skyward. I could not imagine a man more annoying. I could not imagine a man more intimidating. The two traits were strange in their coexistence.
When we reached the house, I opened the front door, ignoring the stares of those who had clearly been awaiting my return. Just as I stepped inside, his hand grasped my wrist gently. I shuddered as a warm, tickling sensation traveled slowly up my arm. When his other hand took my other wrist, the same feeling took hold. The two currents ran until they finally joined together at my wounded shoulder. I closed my eyes as I felt the skin mesh back together, knowing that the evidence of the gaping bite-marks had been erased.
“Your wrists were broken.”
Adam’s voice snapped me out of my drunken daze.
“Your shoulder was still bleeding, also. You will find them all as strong as the day you were born. Goodbye, my beauty.”
He zoomed off across the field, gone from my sight as quickly as he had emerged. As the effects of his healing power wore off, I registered what he had called me. I exclaimed loudly and stomped my foot in disgust. I hated him. I hated how his nature baffled me. Whatever armor guarded his heart could not be breached even by my most stinging rejection. Instead of musing for hours on such an annoyingly frustrating tendency, I silently resolved to find another way. Surely, there was some way to hurt him.
When I returned to my room, Penny was still asleep. Violet, Elijah, Alice, and Quinn were waiting for me, but I quickly shooed them away. I needed peace and quiet. I needed to sleep as my sister was.
“We will talk about this when I wake up. I need some time alone.”
“Brynna, I’ll kill him when he gets back…”
“You will do nothing of the sort. Goodnight.” I closed the door and walked slowly back to the bed. I laid down beside Penny, not even bothering to change my clothes or cover myself with the thick, animal-skin blanket.
I just closed my eyes.