Chapter 9
I kept a relentless pace, her wrist gripped in my hand. I drug the traitor all the way to the Boneyard before throwing her to the ground, her mess of curly hair flying in her face.
Stupid, beautifully wild hair.
Nash pulled my shoulder. “What in the silva are you doing?”
“Silas, please be rational.” Caroline stopped on the other side of me.
“Enough!” I growled, turning to Eden. “I made a mistake bringing you here. I let myself be blinded by the past, and now you’ve put my entire pack in danger. And it’s my fault.”
My hands trembled at my side.
How could I be so stupid?
She stared up at me with those bear cub eyes, shaking her head. “I didn’t– I would never– I didn’t think–”
“That’s because you humans never think!” I shouted, stepping away before I made any poor decisions.
I could hear my heartbeat loud and clear, thump-thump, thump-thump, thump-thump.
Control. Control. Control.
I sucked in a few breaths, trying to slow my heart.
Slow down.
Breathe.
Come back to yourself.
“Silas,” Nash muttered as he stepped closer, skin pale. “She’s a human. They don’t know anything. She can’t be connected to Nyx. You can’t blame her for this.”
“His image is in the journal, Nash. I saw it.”
And you brought her into your home. Stupid Silas.
Stupid Eden being where she doesn’t belong.
Stupid Caroline for not trusting my leadership.
Stupid Nash trying to take Eden’s side.
“The journal doesn’t mean anything, Si.” Nash grabbed my shoulders, ducking into my vision. “Maybe she was in the wrong place at the wrong time. You know how Nyx is. Maybe someone else–”
With my left arm, I pushed his hands off my shoulders. With the other, I sent a fist into his stomach. The blow caught him off guard. He doubled over.
An inkling of remorse niggled at the back of my mind. I hadn’t intended to harm him. I only wanted him to shut up.
“You don’t have an opinion, brother.” I spit out the word like an insult and stepped back towards Eden, who still sat on the mossy floor. “Get up.”
She stood but kept her distance from me.
Not nearly far enough.
The adrenaline coursing through my veins woke the wild in me. It howled in my head, feet pounding in my chest. Its teeth were bared, ready to defend.
I did this.
I have to fix this.
How do I fix this?
“Silas, stop this.” Nash threw an arm around my neck, pulling me into a headlock. One arm braced my head, and the other wrapped around my throat.
Reaching up, I grabbed his elbow and pulled it forward. Feeling his grasp around my neck falter, I twisted myself backwards and to his right, throwing him into a side headlock.
“It’s been a while since we’ve wrestled, Nash,” I taunted, using minimal strength to hold him in place. He’d lost a lot of weight since I’d seen him last. “I’ve gotten better.”
Pulling my left arm and pinning it behind my back, he pressed his other hand to the side of my face, keeping me at arm’s length.
“I can see you’ve been practicing,” Nash grunted. “Did Caroline finally let you win?”
A growl escaped my lips. I pulled my leg around his and knocked us both to the ground. In the fall, Nash had loosened his grip enough for me to roll out, moving on top of him to keep his shoulders down.
“Stop fighting me!” I growled, pushing my forearm down on his neck.
“I will fight you until you see reason,” Nash hissed back.
He hooked a leg around mine and rolled, landing on top, forcing all of his weight on my chest. These were no longer sarcastic jabs, and the realization shook me.
“Give it up, Si,” he panted. “You can’t protect everyone.”
“I have to try.” I gasped, fighting for a grip on his body. Rotating myself onto my stomach under his chest, I wrestled him over my shoulder, standing with a struggle.
Wrapping his arms around my neck, he leaned his weight all the way forward, rolling us into the trees. We broke apart, and I was on my feet in an instant, ready for the next attack.
“Silas,” he breathed, standing much slower than I expected. “I’m done. I wish that you could see that the human world is not against you.”
He turned his back on me and trudged back to the Boneyard to stand next to Caroline, who had an arm wrapped around Eden’s shoulders.
That girl has turned my whole family against me.
Shaking my head, I moved to follow Nash. “That’s rich coming from you. You’ve hated humans since Mother died. You just can’t accept that I finally won, Nash.” I rolled out my neck, stretching the parts that were already sore.
“No, Silas,” he said, turning to me with more aggression than I expected. “You can win if that’s what you really want.”
I took a few breaths, my brain fumbling for a response.
“Do you want a fractured family? So be it. Do you want a disloyal or terrified pack? So be it.” He threw a hand at Eden. “Do you want to alienate us from humans even more than we are now? So be it.”
Caroline reached a hand up to his shoulder but said nothing. How come she supported him when he’d been absent for so long? When he’d left us?
Shaking his head, Nash continued, “I know Nyx is dangerous. I know you’re scared. I know you’re doing your best, Si.” His eyes met mine, our conversation from the Aisle of Kings flashing in my mind. “But I don’t think blaming Eden for our father’s death is right. She didn’t lead Nyx here.” He roughed his hand over his jaw, shaking his head. “But what do I know? I’m just the Omega.”
He shrugged Caroline’s hand off of his shoulder and started the trek back to the residential court alone.
“I’m going to check on him,” Caroline whispered, glancing from me to Eden. Without waiting for an answer, she jogged back up the path to catch up with our brother, robes rippling behind her.
I refused to look at the human in front of me. Instead, my eyes found the antler sheds mounted on the trees around the clearing, the ghost beetles flickering from their beds in the high grass, the mostly full moon illuminating the forest. When Eden sniffled, the sound pulled my gaze. It startled me, but I remembered the scream that had come from her room while we fought to unlock it.
Whatever she’d witnessed must have been terrifying.
She had seen my father’s death, and Nyx himself. Not even a virlukos of Arcadia would say that was a trot in the woods.
I thought over Nash’s words. He had never been the logical one in an argument. This had to be a first.
“I’m sorry for overreacting,” I murmured.
For a moment, I thought she hadn’t heard me, so I glanced up. Tears slipped down her face, reflecting the pale light of the moon.
“Eden?” I reached for her, but she stumbled two steps back, arms crossed tight over her midsection. A breath escaped her, and she turned her face away.
No wonder she’s scared of me. I’m a complete mess. What have I done?