Chapter 22 - Jules
Reid's horrified yell carries out of the barn, followed by a burst of chickens losing their tiny fucking minds. Penny barks over the top of all of it, convinced she has discovered the greatest place on earth.
"PENNY. PENNY, WHISPER!"
I close my eyes for a second and fight a smile.
My best friend probably needs rescuing before all the farm animals and one overly enthusiastic golden retriever drive him insane, but Gage is already heading into the barn with Anders, so I’ll let them handle that.
Torrin follows behind them, laughing, while Luna stays in the yard with her hands over her mouth.
I can see the conflict on her face that’s half amusement and half concern for him.
We have a lot to get done before we leave this farm, and standing here enjoying Reid's descent into animal-induced madness isn't on the list. I turn toward the pile of supplies beside the trailer and reach for a plastic tote.
"Julian."
I stop with both hands on it and look over my shoulder. Briar stands a few yards away with her arms folded across her chest and her chin lifted in that familiar Stillwell pose that makes my teeth clench on instinct.
"What?"
"I need to speak with you." Her eyes move toward the others before coming back to me. "Privately."
"Not now, Briar. We have about five hundred things to do before..."
The brush-off is halfway out before I catch myself. Fuck, I'm doing it again.
Wasn't I going to try to be a better brother? Maybe not a good one yet, because that feels ambitious considering our lifetime total of meaningful conversations can be counted on two hands, but yeah, I can do better than what I’ve been so far. I straighten up and really look at her.
Her arms are crossed so tightly her knuckles have gone white.
There's a sneer tugging at her mouth, but the attitude doesn't reach her eyes.
Those keep shifting around the farm, over the barn, the animals and the strangers moving between vehicles.
Then they jump up to that massive broken moon hanging over all of us and it hits me. She is scared out of her mind.
She's fifteen years old and not long ago her biggest crisis was getting expelled from an expensive boarding school.
Then our parents sent her home because she embarrassed them, the moon broke, and civilization started falling apart.
After that the house staff abandoned her, and the brother she barely knows showed up to inform her that magic is real and her new home is going to be an abandoned coal mine.
If I were standing in her ridiculously expensive shoes, I'd be losing my shit too.
I release the tote and jerk my chin toward the far side of the equipment shed. "Come on."
She follows me around the corner until the shed blocks most of the activity in the yard. I lean back against the metal siding and cross my arms, waiting. Briar glares down at the dirt on her previously pristine sneakers before lifting her eyes to mine.
"Are we seriously doing this?"
"That question covers a lot of ground today, Briar. Are we doing what exactly?"
"Going with these people to live underground.
Taking cows with us. The…magic?" Her hand flaps toward the yard.
"Whatever all of this is. You can make water float in the air, Kara can freeze things, Reid hears chicken thoughts, and the old woman basically kidnapped me before interrogating me about Mother's affairs. "
Despite her panicked questions, a grin forms. "Did she get anything good?"
"Julian!"
"Right. Serious brother moment. Sorry."
She glares at me with everything she has but it fades fast. For a moment, she just looks young and scared, and her voice comes out shaky.
"I don't know what's happening."
The outrage and the superiority have dropped away, and what's underneath both of them is fear.
I push away from the wall and take a breath before I respond. Patience has never ranked high on my list of virtues, but I'm trying to grow as a person during the apocalypse.
"I know."
"You all keep talking like this is normal. Mines and volcanoes and ash clouds and powers and people starving." She swallows and looks away from me. "I don't know any of them. I barely know you."
That one has guilt stabbing hard low in my gut.
"Yeah." I rub my thumb across my bottom lip as I stare at her profile. "You barely know me, and I barely know you. That's not entirely our fault, but some of it is mine. I was old enough to try harder after I got out from under our parents, and I didn't."
Her eyes come back to mine, suspicion replacing some of the fear.
"I'm not apologizing for dragging you out of that house, though. You would die there, Briar. Maybe not today or tomorrow, but eventually. That part is a fact."
"I know."
The quiet admission surprises me, but I don't show it. "Good. That saves us twenty minutes."
Her mouth tightens. "I still don't understand why we have to go with all of them."
I glance around the edge of the shed and see Luna helping Elenor unload another bin while Torrin and Mars work near the trailer. Kara stands at the barn entrance saying something to Reid that has him flipping her off while Gage shakes his head at both of them.
All of them are my family so I try and explain it to her.
"These people have been there for me more than our parents ever were."
Briar's expression closes down instantly, but I keep going.
"Reid has been my best friend almost my entire life, you know that - and Kara is part of that package. Gage, Torrin, Luna, Elenor, even Mars, they're family. Real family. The kind we were never taught anything about growing up."
"We have a family."
"No, we have a last name."
My sister flinches and I hate doing that to her, but lying would be worse.
"We were raised to think money made people important.
The right school, the right clothes, the right address, the right fucking fork at dinner.
Mother could tell you within thirty seconds what someone's net worth was, who their grandparents were, and whether being seen with them would improve her social standing.
But Briar, she couldn't tell you what her own kids were afraid of or what they needed. "
Briar looks down with a frown.
"That isn't family. These people?" I point around the corner.
"They'll crawl through hell for each other.
I know because half of them literally just did.
They don't give a shit what somebody's bank balance is, what brand is stitched inside their jacket, or whether their name gets them a reservation at a restaurant.
They care about who shows up when everything goes bad. "
Her lips press together.
"And everything has gone very fucking bad."
"Oh, r-ee-al-y? I hadn't noticed," she bites back sarcastically.
I almost smile, but the defensive snap brings me back to the point.
"I know this is a huge adjustment. I know you're scared even though you're doing a fairly good impression of Mother every time you don't know what else to do."
"I am nothing like her."
"Then prove it."
Her eyes narrow.
"The world isn't the same anymore, Briar.
Nobody at that mine is going to care that you went to school in Switzerland.
Prada isn't getting you extra food. Father's name isn't getting you a better room.
If you treat people like they're beneath you because they didn't grow up with what we did, sooner or later they're going to stop giving a shit about you. "
Her head jerks back. "I don't treat everyone like they're beneath me."
I just look at her.
"Oh, fuck off."
"Strong counterargument."
She spins away from me and takes two furious steps before turning back. "Fine. Kara is a bitch, and that crazy old woman is completely unhinged. Are those the wonderful people I'm supposed to admire?"
Whatever patience I had left is nearly gone.
"Don't be a child."
"I'm fifteen!"
"Exactly, not five. This isn't school, and you’re not the Queen B here. You never will be, so drop that shit now."
Her expression turns furious, but I hold up a finger before she can launch whatever insult she has loaded and ready to fire.
"And before you decide Kara is your opponent, ask yourself one question. Do you honestly think you can go head-to-head with her and win?"
Briar's mouth opens.
"No. The answer is no. You cannot. I've known that woman most of my life, and I'm telling you as someone who actually loves her, Kara is not an opponent you take on expecting to come out victorious.
Hurt her or someone she cares about, and she will destroy you for the entertainment value and sleep like a baby afterward. "
Briar rolls her eyes and a small pout forms on her lips at the truth in that.
"As for the crazy old lady, you want clout? Fine. Elenor Cowen is a New York Times bestselling author. That woman built an entire career out of her brain while our mother built hers around being photographed beside important people and spending money she never earned herself."
That gets her attention.
"Gigi is?"
"Do not let her hear you call her that yet. She'll assume you've accepted the adoption."
Briar looks toward the yard again.
"She's also one of the smartest people I know. She's vulgar, inappropriate, nosy, occasionally terrifying, and the only kind of crazy anyone should aspire to be. Most importantly, she loves with her whole damn being. When she decides you belong to her, there is nothing she won't do for you."
Her eyes track toward where Elenor stands beside Luna.
"That is the kind of person worth impressing, Briar. Not because she's famous, because if the entire world was burning and you were trapped inside it, she'd walk straight through the flames to drag you out."
For once, my sister has nothing ready to throw back at me. I take the silence as a win hoping maybe some of this is getting through to her.
Then her eyes roll again. Well, fuck me for trying. The irritation I've been holding onto snaps tight.