Page 19 of Mace

“Thank you. Is Ivy in her bedroom?” The look on his face instantly has all my senses on alert. “What?”

“I’m not a grass.”

That’s not a good start. “What does that mean?”

He dips his head, his hair falling over his forehead and into his eyes. He needs it cut, but it’s just another thing on the list of items there’s no money for.

“Toby,” I snap. It’s not often I lose my temper, so he looks a little concerned when I do.

“She left about five minutes after you.”

What the hell?

“You’ve been alone this entire time?” My voice raises an octave. The normal infinite amount of patience I have for my sister disappears behind a cloud of almost dying tonight and my mounting money troubles. I stand abruptly, pulling my phone out my pocket and dialling her number. “I’m going to kill her,” I grind out between clenched teeth.

“I was okay,” he protests.

“I walked right into the living room without you even noticing me. You’d be abducted in a heartbeat.” The phonerings and rings and rings, and my blood pressure rises with every trill it makes in my ear.

I end the call, trying not to explode in front of Toby. This isn’t his fault. “Homework, shower, and then bed.”

“And what about Ivy?”

“You let me worry about that. Move it,” I add when he doesn’t show any signs of getting up.

He grumbles as he stands, and I ruffle his hair as he passes me, earning the usual irritable response.

“May?” He hesitates, as if he’s not sure if he’s going to keep talking.

“What?” I prompt when he keeps silent.What is going on?

His jaw twitches a little, his eyes bouncing around before they land on me. “Nothing. Night.”

“Yeah, night, kiddo.”

He steps around me, leaving the room, and my stomach is heavy. What was he going to say?

I dial Ivy again. She doesn’t pick up, not that I expect her to. She’s very good at ignoring my calls considering her phone is usually glued to her hand.

This Link guy is becoming a problem. I don’t want to come down heavy on my sister, as that’s never been my way of parenting her or Toby, but I’m genuinely terrified for her. She left our brother alone, even after I explained to her the reasons why he can’t be. Usually, she and I are a team, but she’s no longer playing the game.

I sink onto the sofa, jiggling my leg as I wait for the phone to make a sound, but nothing comes through. By now, my anger is turning into red-hot fury, and this feeling is becoming a constant when it comes to her. I’m trying desperately to be patient, to remember she’s young anddealing with both first love and trying to take a step into adulthood, but I’m finding it hard to remain tolerant.

She left Toby alone.

I’m on my third cup of coffee and it’s approaching midnight when I hear the key in the lock.

I come to my feet, rushing out to the front door as she steps through it with what can only be described as a grown man. This guy is older than I am, with long hair on the top that’s shaved at the sides and piercing blue eyes. His jaw is completely shaved clean, and he has a scar running under his chin towards his Adam’s apple, as if someone tried to cut his throat.

Every inch of my body repels as he steps into my flat as if he owns the space.

This can’t be Link.

But I know deep down it is. My seventeen-year-old sister is dating someone who looks almost thirty.

Now, I understand why she’s been so cagey about letting me meet him. I would never have allowed this to continue if I’d known.

I can see the moment she realises I’m here. Her eyes bounce between me and him, and I can see the fear in her eyes, but it’s not me she’s scared of. It’s him and his reaction. And that pisses me off. Why is she scared of upsetting him and not me?

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