Page 20 of Heartless

Darkness pushed between us, snatching the rifle from her hands. “Who the fuck’s Liam?”

“He’s a friend of ours,” Vail said in exasperation, trying to grab the gun back and hissing a bit when he held it out of reach. “Darkness, don’t be a dick!”

Her foster brother wheeled on her. “Since when have you had so many friends, Vail?”

She bristled, gripping her hips. “Since your dad packed me off to the cult school, Darkness!” I raised my brows at that and she flapped a hand. “Everyone on the Horn thinks you guys are a cult. No offence.”

Darkness’ eyes narrowed on me. “If you’re not a cult, what are you?”

“Family,” I said quietly, then gestured to the picture frames on the sideboard. “Just like you two.”

Barber gave a chuckle from the doorway, scratching his chin. “Kissing cousins. The best kind of family, hey, D?”

Darkness looked on the verge of shooting the guy and he wisely took off, but I was watching Vail. She’d gone bright red, her eyes skittering around the room. This clearly wasn’t the reunion she’d been hoping for, and I was about to say something to break the tension when Chastity said in a small voice, “I thought she was your sister.”

“I am,” Vail blurted out. “Foster sister. But it wasn’t like that.”

“Well, it was. Once.” Darkness thrust a thumb over his shoulder, towards the porch. “Right out there, if you’ve forgotten.”

Vail was so red, she winced as she pressed her palms to her cheeks. “Cool it, Darkness.”

But he was making a slow circle of the room, his eyes on me. “She belongs here, you know. I might have fucked it up, got her sent away, but this is her home.”

I wasn’t about to argue. I could see Vail fit here, and I had no interest in making her think otherwise. But she was also circling the room, her shoulders small inside the maintenance uniform when she swung back to her brother. “It feels… strange.” When his expression darkened, she gave her head a quick shake and began flicking through some papers on the sideboard. “We just need to find Driftwood. Everything will feel better when we know he’s okay.”

“Will it?” Darkness asked. “You’ve been gone for weeks. You sure you want to be here now?”

Vail gaped at him. “Of course, I want to be here. And I did come back…” She broke off, her hands on her hips. “I was here a week, getting the place winter-proofed. Check the window seals if you don’t believe me.”

Darkness looked skeptical. “Dad didn’t mention it.”

“He was up at the North cabin.”

“And Trey? Did you see him? Cos he knows I’d expect him to tell me if you did.”

Vail looked away, but her jaw was set. “Maybe he had reason to keep it quiet, Darkness.”

“What the hell does that mean?”

She shot me a quick glance, and I knew what was going through her head. The Denner attack, and Trey coming to the school on Den Night, threatening my brothers to lure her out. “Nothing,” she said shortly. “Can we just focus on finding Driftwood?”

Darkness held her gaze for a long moment, then made a rude sound and headed further into the cabin. I watched Vail shake off the argument and give Chastity an apologetic smile. “I’m sorry. I’m being really rude. Do you want to wash up? Maybe grab something to eat or a hot drink? You drove us all this way…”

The other girl tried to rally, but she gnawed on her lip as Darkness disappeared into a back room, a door slamming in the distance. “Oh, sure,” she murmured, playing with her locket necklace. “Um… Maybe the bathroom?”

“Well, ah… Darkness has claimed it right now, but I could get us some coffee.”

One bathroom, I realized, making a circuit of the room before following the girls into the kitchen. It was too small for the three of us, so I backed off to the dining area, admiring the thick slab of pine that served as their table. Home-made, like most of the furniture, it smelled of wood polish and gun oil, with a whiff of laundry powder. It was Vail’s signature scent, ingrained in the wood from countless meals. A half-finished jigsaw of Paris was laid out on the other end, and I went in search of a piece of sky as the girls buzzed around the kitchen. Vail was really flustered now, banging through the mostly empty cupboards, before pulling out a dusty canister of tea. “Sorry,” she muttered, peering inside. “We’re low on groceries, I guess.”

“It’s okay,” Chastity said, leaning against the counter and studying Vail with interest. “You know, I didn’t believe him when he introduced himself at orientation as Darkness. And then he said his dad was called Driftwood, and he had a sister called Vail. I mean, kind of unusual, right? I know better than most that names can be out of left field, but you all seem to suit yours. This cabin is so cool, and you all have this mysterious air...” Vail was rinsing out cups and was clearly listening, but her back was stiff. “Anyway, I’m just glad Darkness finally agreed to show me where he grew up.”

Vail forced a smile, but the prickly tension was back between them and Chastity retreated to the row of picture frames. As soon as the bathroom door banged open, she slipped past Darkness with a quiet murmur in his ear, and disappeared inside. His hair was dripping in his face, like he’d just stuck his head under the faucet, but he was still holding the gun, and I didn’t miss how it drifted in my direction. My hackles rose at the implied threat, but I forced myself to casually drop a puzzle piece into place.

But Vail was holding onto her last nerve, and spun on her foster brother. “For fuck’s sake, Darkness! You need to chill out. Why did you say that to Chastity? And will you please stop waving the gun around like the hillbilly mafia?”

He ignored her, his dark gaze drawn back to mine. “You’re one of them, right? One of the big shots at her school? Probably treat the place like it’s your personal playground.” He jerked a thumb at Vail. “She’s not one of your toys, in case you think otherwise.”

Vail huffed, but pushed past him. “I’m going to get changed. Why don’t you check Driftwood’s room to see if he left another note?” She rolled her eyes as she reached her door. “And maybe try dunking your head again, since I’m pretty sure that’s a lot of hot air coming out of your mouth...”

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