Page 7 of Mace

I can’t argue with that logic. “Which means I know a lot more than you do. That makes me a goat, right?”

I get a slight lift of his lips that could be a smile, and it makes everything worthwhile. I love the little dork, but I’m going to hide that game when I get home.

The key scraping in the lock has my head snapping up as the front door pushes open. Ivy steps inside, and I scan her from head to toe. Her dark blonde hair is curled beautifully and her makeup is a little heavy, but she’s not bleeding, nor has she lost a limb. My shoulders unknot, the tension oozing out of me replaced with frustration and anger.

As much as I want to talk to her about this, I don’t have time. I have to haul it.

“Do they not have clocks wherever you were?” I ask as I move like a whirlwind to grab my trainers.

Her blue eyes lock onto mine, and I see the defiance in them. It’s been growing within her for a while now, but she’s never been so openly hostile. “I didn’t realise the time, but I don’t see why I have to be here anyway. Toby isn’t my responsibility.”

Give me strength…

“Sorry for being a burden,” Toby mutters, and I hear the hurt in his words.

Toby’s right—Ivyisa bitch.

I turn to our brother. “You are not a burden, and Ivy knows that,right?” I snap back at her, trying to keep calm in the face of the anger bubbling inside me.

My sister loosens her jaw, and I glare at her so hard, she eventually averts her gaze. No matter how much Iwant to give her space to have this teen crisis, I’m not allowing her to make Toby feel bad while she’s doing it.

“Of course not. I’m just hormonal,” she says. “Sorry.”

I stand, shuffling my feet into my trainers to settle them more comfortably, counting backwards from ten in my mind.

I’m a beacon of tranquillity…

“But…” Ivy glances back to me, and I hold my breath, wondering what shit is about to spew out of her mouth. “He’s twelve, Maylie. He’s hardly a child, and I don’t see why I need to be here to look after him.”

I don’t want to fight with my sister before I leave. I’m a big believer in never parting on an argument because you don’t know what might happen. I don’t want my last words to her to be angry, but she is testing my patience right now.

I give her a smile that is anything but warm, and it makes her flinch. It’s not like me to be openly disapproving or as equally hostile as she is.

Clearly, I’ve coddled her too much over the years.

“You have to be here with him because I say so. I don’t want him to burn down the building trying to make toast.”

“I’m sitting right here, and I can cook,” he complains.

He can’t, and we all know it. “If that’s the case, Toby, then why am I making you dinner every night?” I stand, grabbing my rucksack. “Speaking of which, there’s pasta in the fridge for you both. You just need to warm it up.”

I lean down, despite my tight timeframe, and kiss the top of my brother’s head. He pulls away, whining about how it’s ‘gross’, but I don’t care. I relish these small moments.

“Don’t stay up late.” I walk to the door, grabbing my jacket off one of the hooks along the wall.

Ivy steps over to me when I gesture to her. The sullen set of her mouth both irritates and upsets me. We don’t have the luxury of being selfish, not with the life we have. Is it unfair? Hell yeah. It fucking sucks that we’ve all had to sacrifice things over the years, her included, but the alternative is Toby is taken from us.

I grab her arm in a firm grasp, pulling her to the other side of the room, and in a low voice demand, “Where were you?”

Toby said she was with Link, but I want her to tell me. I don’t like the secrets building between us.

“I was out, and I’m almost eighteen. I don’t have to answer to you.”

Wow. Okay, that attitude isn’t new, but it’s never been as bad as this before. I don’t like it because it forces me to be someone I’m not. I don’t enjoy conflict.

“Really? You want to play the adult card while throwing a tantrum?”

“You chose this life, Maylie. I didn’t. I want to be able to spend evenings with my friends or my boyfriend. Instead, all my time is spent taking care of Toby, who doesn’t need me to babysit him. I was watching him at a year older than he is now.”

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