“How the hell did you get out?” Teo closed and locked the door as people migrated into the kitchen, drawn by our voices.
Marc poured coffee into two mugs, then reached for the sugar. “Faythe broke us out.”
“And who broke you out?” Vic asked, arms crossed over his chest as he leaned against the kitchen wall. He was still mad, and evidently rescuing Marc didn’t earn me any points in his favor, because I’d rescued Jace, too.
“What am I, helpless?” I grinned and accepted the mug Marc handed me, but Vic only nodded in acknowledgment of my skills. “Where’s my dad?”
“He’s at the lodge, questioning Malone’s every word to keep the council busy. We were just about to execute a jailbreak.”
“Yeah, I kind of have that covered.” I set my mug on the table and glanced around, trying to gather my thoughts. “Okay, Marc and Jace need food—something hot and heavy on the calories—and I need a phone.”
Vic fingered the phone in his pocket—the phone he was pointedly not offering me—while Teo pulled a glass pan of something hot, cheesy, and half-devoured from the oven.
“Here.” Brian Taylor handed me his cell, and I smiled at him in thanks. While the guys scooped big servings of baked pasta onto plates, I texted my dad to keep the other Alphas from overhearing our conversation.
It’s F. We r out. @ the cabin.
A moment later, his reply came: On my way. And in spite of the circumstances, I spared a moment to be amused by the fact that my father knew how to text. Ethan had taught him, insisting that the new skill would come in handy. My heart ached with the realization that he wasn’t around to brag about being right.
While Jace and Marc ate, I helped myself to a plateful of some vaguely Italian-looking combination of noodles, cheese, and tomato sauce, and had half of it scarfed before I noticed Vic scowling at us from the living room. Irritated now, I made eye contact and tossed my head toward the hall.
He nodded curtly and met me there, then followed me silently into the first bedroom we passed.
“Okay, get it over with,” I said, leaning against the closed door.
“Get what over with?”
“You’re pissed at me, and everyone can see that, but our lives just might depend on each other in the next couple of hours. So grow a pair and say your peace, then get over it.”
His scowl only grew. “You slept with Jace.” It wasn’t a question.
“Yes. And frankly, I don’t have to justify that to you.” He started to object, but I cut him off. “Mostly because it’s unjustifiable.” And suddenly I felt Ethan’s absence stronger than I had since the day he’d died. I needed to talk to someone about Jace and Marc, and as awesome as my father’s advice was, he was still my dad.
“Well, at least you recognize that.” He huffed, but looked half-mollified by my admission.
“Will you sit?”
Vic hesitated, then pulled a desk chair away from the wall and sank into it. I let my back slide down the door and sat with my knees pulled up to my chest, looking up at him, drowning in the overload of pain and conflict that came rushing back, now that we were out of immediate danger. “I’m lost, Vic. I don’t know what I’m doing.”
He rolled his eyes. “And I thought this was going to be hard…. You just tell Jace thanks for the ride, you’re sorry you’ve turned him into a panting puppy dog, but what happened was wrong and you can’t live without Marc.”
Tears filled my eyes and I brushed them away before they could fall.
“Shit,” he whispered, and the chair groaned beneath his shifting weight. “It’s not that easy, is it?” I shook my head but refused to look up. “Do you love him?”
I nodded and wiped unshed tears on my sleeves. “I wish like hell that I didn’t, but if wishes were raindrops, I’d already have drowned. The truth is that I can’t stand the thought of losing either one of them.”
“Fuck.” Vic got up from the chair and sank to the ground a foot away. The distance he left between us said he still disapproved, but he’d put himself on my level, in full talk-it-out mode. “Marc knows it’s serious?”
“Do you think he’d be this pissed if he didn’t?”
“I think he’d have killed Jace already, if he didn’t think he’d lose you for it.”
“I know.” I reached up to snatch a tissue from the desk on my right.
“You have to choose.”
“I know.”
“You have to choose Marc.”
I had no answer to that. I did have to choose Marc. But I had to choose Jace, too. Yet that wasn’t an option. And I couldn’t hover in decision purgatory much longer.
“I’m sorry, Vic. More sorry than you could ever imagine. I just want you to know that. And to know that this isn’t some stupid rebellion. I would never risk what I have with Marc over something like that. This is real, and it’s the hardest thing I’ve ever had to do, and it’s torture for all three of us. And it’s all my fault.”
“Well, you’re right about that.” Another man who wouldn’t sugarcoat things for me. “But I think Jace shares more than a little of the blame.”
I blinked to clear my vision and wiped the last of my tears on the tissue. “Is there anything you wouldn’t have done for comfort after Sara died? If you were alone with her best friend, and you’d both just lost a huge part of your lives, and you were both hurting so bad it felt like the pain would swallow you alive?”
Marc poured coffee into two mugs, then reached for the sugar. “Faythe broke us out.”
“And who broke you out?” Vic asked, arms crossed over his chest as he leaned against the kitchen wall. He was still mad, and evidently rescuing Marc didn’t earn me any points in his favor, because I’d rescued Jace, too.
“What am I, helpless?” I grinned and accepted the mug Marc handed me, but Vic only nodded in acknowledgment of my skills. “Where’s my dad?”
“He’s at the lodge, questioning Malone’s every word to keep the council busy. We were just about to execute a jailbreak.”
“Yeah, I kind of have that covered.” I set my mug on the table and glanced around, trying to gather my thoughts. “Okay, Marc and Jace need food—something hot and heavy on the calories—and I need a phone.”
Vic fingered the phone in his pocket—the phone he was pointedly not offering me—while Teo pulled a glass pan of something hot, cheesy, and half-devoured from the oven.
“Here.” Brian Taylor handed me his cell, and I smiled at him in thanks. While the guys scooped big servings of baked pasta onto plates, I texted my dad to keep the other Alphas from overhearing our conversation.
It’s F. We r out. @ the cabin.
A moment later, his reply came: On my way. And in spite of the circumstances, I spared a moment to be amused by the fact that my father knew how to text. Ethan had taught him, insisting that the new skill would come in handy. My heart ached with the realization that he wasn’t around to brag about being right.
While Jace and Marc ate, I helped myself to a plateful of some vaguely Italian-looking combination of noodles, cheese, and tomato sauce, and had half of it scarfed before I noticed Vic scowling at us from the living room. Irritated now, I made eye contact and tossed my head toward the hall.
He nodded curtly and met me there, then followed me silently into the first bedroom we passed.
“Okay, get it over with,” I said, leaning against the closed door.
“Get what over with?”
“You’re pissed at me, and everyone can see that, but our lives just might depend on each other in the next couple of hours. So grow a pair and say your peace, then get over it.”
His scowl only grew. “You slept with Jace.” It wasn’t a question.
“Yes. And frankly, I don’t have to justify that to you.” He started to object, but I cut him off. “Mostly because it’s unjustifiable.” And suddenly I felt Ethan’s absence stronger than I had since the day he’d died. I needed to talk to someone about Jace and Marc, and as awesome as my father’s advice was, he was still my dad.
“Well, at least you recognize that.” He huffed, but looked half-mollified by my admission.
“Will you sit?”
Vic hesitated, then pulled a desk chair away from the wall and sank into it. I let my back slide down the door and sat with my knees pulled up to my chest, looking up at him, drowning in the overload of pain and conflict that came rushing back, now that we were out of immediate danger. “I’m lost, Vic. I don’t know what I’m doing.”
He rolled his eyes. “And I thought this was going to be hard…. You just tell Jace thanks for the ride, you’re sorry you’ve turned him into a panting puppy dog, but what happened was wrong and you can’t live without Marc.”
Tears filled my eyes and I brushed them away before they could fall.
“Shit,” he whispered, and the chair groaned beneath his shifting weight. “It’s not that easy, is it?” I shook my head but refused to look up. “Do you love him?”
I nodded and wiped unshed tears on my sleeves. “I wish like hell that I didn’t, but if wishes were raindrops, I’d already have drowned. The truth is that I can’t stand the thought of losing either one of them.”
“Fuck.” Vic got up from the chair and sank to the ground a foot away. The distance he left between us said he still disapproved, but he’d put himself on my level, in full talk-it-out mode. “Marc knows it’s serious?”
“Do you think he’d be this pissed if he didn’t?”
“I think he’d have killed Jace already, if he didn’t think he’d lose you for it.”
“I know.” I reached up to snatch a tissue from the desk on my right.
“You have to choose.”
“I know.”
“You have to choose Marc.”
I had no answer to that. I did have to choose Marc. But I had to choose Jace, too. Yet that wasn’t an option. And I couldn’t hover in decision purgatory much longer.
“I’m sorry, Vic. More sorry than you could ever imagine. I just want you to know that. And to know that this isn’t some stupid rebellion. I would never risk what I have with Marc over something like that. This is real, and it’s the hardest thing I’ve ever had to do, and it’s torture for all three of us. And it’s all my fault.”
“Well, you’re right about that.” Another man who wouldn’t sugarcoat things for me. “But I think Jace shares more than a little of the blame.”
I blinked to clear my vision and wiped the last of my tears on the tissue. “Is there anything you wouldn’t have done for comfort after Sara died? If you were alone with her best friend, and you’d both just lost a huge part of your lives, and you were both hurting so bad it felt like the pain would swallow you alive?”
