Chapter 5
FIVE
LAUREL
“They saw us! Run, Laurel!”
I shrieked and ran as fast as I could. Jule laughed behind me as the server yelled, but we were too fast. He’d never catch us.
Right now, we weren’t the boring, fancy Fairchild heirs in our big, fancy casino. We were just sneaky street rats, and street rats were fast.
We had to be, or we’d get into big trouble.
Like, hand-choppy trouble.
I’d got to borrow Jule's pants today, and running in them was easy-peasy. Even if they were a bit long and I’d had to roll them up.
I almost dropped a pastry but held on tight as I slid around the corner and through the big red doors to our secret hideout. I mean, it was really just an empty theatre, but we’d made it ours.
Jule whooped as he jumped down the aisles like a monkey, making me laugh again. We raced onto the stage and behind the curtain, flopping down.
We were giggling so hard we couldn’t breathe. When fancy events were happening in the banquet halls, there was always the best food.
That meant street rats: Go!
“We made it!” I said. “No hand-choppy today.”
“You only got three snacks?” Jule looked at my pastries and shook his head with a smile. “You’re hopeless. You’re gonna starve.”
“Hey.” I stuck out my tongue. “You got bigger arms. And you’re faster, so no fair.”
“Well,” he sighed. “I guess I’ll share. But only because I need you as my emergency snack in case I get hungry later.”
I laughed as I poked him in the stomach and then shrieked as he started tickling me back.
Finally, he let me go, and I bit into one of my snacks. “This is so yummy,” I said with my mouth full. Crumbs went everywhere. Oops.
Jule wagged his finger at me. “My, my, how impolite, little lady.”
“I’m not a lady, I’m a street rat!” I pointed at my pants while I wriggled my legs.
Being a street rat was the best.
It meant I didn't have to sit up straight or use fancy napkins or wear an itchy dress. I could be as loud and silly as I wanted. I’d even made Jule come roll in the garden dirt with me so we’d look like real street rats.
After we ate, we raced to the lobby downstairs.
Street rats were also really good at climbing, and Jule said there was a secret passage behind the fighting pits we could climb up. We were looking for a new hideout, and he said it was perfect.
But when we got to the lobby, Jule stopped so fast I bumped into him.
“Hey!” I said, but then I saw why he stopped.
Our father was standing by the front desk.
Oh no.
“But he’s supposed to be away for another day,” I whispered, tugging Jule’s sleeve. “He’s gonna be so mad.”
“Quick,” Jule said, pushing me back. “He hasn’t seen us yet—”
But it was too late.
Father saw us.
“Julius? Laurel?” he said, his face going angry like a storm cloud. He marched toward us.
I felt my lip wobble, and my eyes got all wet.
I was wearing boy pants.
My hair was messy.
My face was dirty.
He was gonna be super, super mad.
“Come,” Father snapped, pointing toward the elevator.
I cried quietly as it went up, up, up to the scary floor—wherehis office was.
We followed him down the corridor. Jule leaned close and whispered, “Let me talk, okay?”
I knew what to do. He’d taught me the S’s to help with Father. Be still, be silent, be small.
I nodded quickly. Jule almost never got in trouble. Father said he was going to be an alpha one day. Jule might be able to make Father not yell too much.
Or use the switch.
Father leaned against his desk. “Close the door.”
I did it really slowly, but it still went scrraape and click, horrible noises that made my hands tingle.
My nose was runny, but I didn't sniff.
He hated sniffing.
The switch was already in his hand.
“What is the meaning of this?” Father said, pointing at me.
“I did it,” Jule said quickly. His face looked all serious, and then he gave a mean smile just like Father’s.
“Thought it’d be funny to see what she looked like when she wasn’t all prissied up.
She was a real baby about it, too. She got dirt on my face, so I pulled her hair and she started crying, of course. ”
Father raised his eyebrows, not speaking for a moment. Then he laughed, making me jump.
“There’s my boy,” Father said with pride in his voice, patting Jule’s shoulder. “Thought you’d never learn. The world belongs to the ones strong enough to seize it. But we have to be smart about it, too, Julius.”
He turned to look at me again, making me shudder. “Her job is to look presentable, so don’t take that from her.”
Heat crawled up my neck as my eyes stung. Jule’s jaw clenched as he looked at me, and for a second, I was even more scared. He hated this, too, right? Or did he really agree with Father?
“Hands out,” Father ordered.
“Please don’t,” I begged, hiding them behind my back.
“Hands out,” he snapped.
I slowly held them out, watching them shake.
Crack.
Jule winced as the switch hit me. It burned like fire, but I didn’t pull away. Not yet. Not until he said I could.
“What was that for?” he asked, voice sharp.
“F-for putting dirt on Julius,” I whispered, throat tight. It was always stupid, unfair things. Jule could put dirt on me, but I couldn’t put dirt on him.
“Know your place,” my father said. “A girl who loses her temper is worthless. Control, Laurel, in all things.”
I nodded quickly and pulled my hands to my chest. They still hurt like fire.
“Now, go get cleaned up. You’ll both be coming with me to the Well tonight. Dismissed.”
Jule found me in the bathroom, trying to wash up, but my hands were too sore.
He helped, telling me he was a doctor and I was his patient.
We played this game a lot.
He wrapped my hand in bandages and fetched me an ice pack—my favourite that was shaped like a monkey.
He cleaned me up. He was real gentle when he brushed my hair, and he gave me a pretty braid.
“I’m sorry,” he said. “I wasn’t thinking when I said that about you getting dirt on me. I just wanted him to believe me.”
“It’s okay,” I told him. “He would have been even madder if you didn’t.”
He hugged me tight, and I sniffed again. It was safe to sniff when he was here.
“You looked just like him for a second,” I said. “I had a scary dream you grew up and turned into an alpha like Father. And you didn’t love me anymore, and I was all alone.”
“Shhh,” Jule said, pulling me close again. “I’ll never be an alpha. And I’ll never be like Father. And I’ll never leave you alone. Never ever forever, okay?”
I nodded, even if I still felt a bit scared.
Because how did he know for sure?