Page 4 of Acedia

“Obviously, Iris will have to stay in a separate hotel. I don’t want her in the house alone, Moriah. What if she burns the place down? It’s been in my family for generations. You’ve just gone and pissed Carla off—”

“Don’t blamemefor Carla’s attitude—”

“We don’t have time for this. If we’re driving, then we need to get on the road now if you don’t want to be too far behind all the other Councilors who are flying in.”

“Why don’t we just fly?” Justin asked in a whiny voice, entering the attic.

“Your mother doesn’t like flying,” Giles snapped. “Make a decision, Mor. Iris will be fine in a hotel room alone during the day. The boys can drop off food in the evenings. We’ll figure out a long-term plan for what to do with her when we get back.”

I bit my lip, wondering if saying anything in support of Giles’s idea would ruin it. Would I really get to leave the attic? Even if it was just for a little while and I was only going to be trapped inside another room, it would still be somewhere different from here. At any given moment, I wanted to explore the world outside the attic, but now more than ever. The memories of Nana were everywhere in these rooms, and I needed a reprieve from them before they overwhelmed me.

Maybe I could prove to Moriah and Giles that I was able to look after myself just fine in the hotel room, and they’d realize they didn’t need to worry about me so much.

Maybe if I wasreallygood, they’d let me live by myself somewhere. I knew from their conversations that they owned lots of properties around Denver. They could put me in one on my own and I’d be as quiet as a mouse and never let anyone know that I was related to them. And they wouldn’t have to worry about me making any noise in the attic when they had guests over and giving my presence away. It would be to everyone’s benefit.

Giles and Moriah moved away, and I couldn’t make out the quiet words he was giving her but I could tell from the tone that they were ones of comfort. Giles was such a soothing presence for Moriah. Nana had always been proud that her daughter had found such a wonderful, perfect husband.

The second time around.

“No one wants you there,” Travis hissed, startling me. He was so very good at sneaking up on me.

“I won’t get in the way,” I whispered, trying to make myself smaller.

I bit my lip to stay silent as he gripped the skin of my arm between his thumb and forefinger, pinching until tears sprang to the corners of my eyes.Boys will be boys,I reminded myself, breathing through the pain. That’s what Nana would always say.She’d shoo them away at the same time, though. She was the only one who noticed how rough they could be.

My last line of defense was gone.

“Please stop,” I whispered, not wanting to enrage Moriah anymore by crying out.

“No,” Travis replied, tightening his grip while I clapped a hand over my mouth to stop myself from screaming. “No one is going to save you now, Iris.”

“We can have all the fun we like,” Justin added, popping up on my other side until the twins were boxing me in. They were seven years younger than me, and it felt like just yesterday that they’d been smaller than me. They certainly weren’t now. “Look how upset Mom and Dad are because of you. You always get in the way.”

“It doesn’t seem fair that we have to stay in the RV at some random Councilor’s house with Mom and Dad while Iris gets to stay in a hotel by herself,” Travis pointed out, finally releasing me. I sucked in a breath as the blood rushed painfully back in.

“Yeah, that’s bullshit. Mom! Why can’t we stay in a hotel?”

“We’ll sort it out on the drive,” Moriah snapped. “And Samuel Winston is not somerandom Councilor. If you were more respectful, perhaps the two of you would be in more impressive positionswithinthe Hunters by now. Do you know how humiliating it is that my own sons have such mediocre records?”

That definitely silenced the twins. I wasn’t quite sure what made them mediocre—that didn’t usually come up as a topic of conversation through the vents. Perhaps Giles and Moriah didn’t like to reflect on it too often.

“You and your mutt will have to travel in the RV, Iris,” Moriah added. “There’s no room in the truck for you. Let’s go.”

“Don’t fuck up,” Travis taunted in my ear, his voice too low for anyone to hear. “You’re not supposed to exist, remember? If you make a mistake, they’llkillyou.”

“No, they won’t,” I whispered tentatively.

“If they don’t, we might,” Justin laughed quietly. My brothers were always saying things like that—Nana had told me they were just rambunctious. They just had overactive imaginations and a silly sense of humor.

I hope you’re right, Nana. I wish you were here to reassure me.

But she was gone, and I was alone except for Tilly. It was terrifying, but I was alsoleaving. Venturing out of the attic, if only for a little while, and experiencing some of the world around me.

Nana, I’m going to make you so proud.

Chapter 2

Iwas jolted awake as the vehicle came to a stop after hours of travel. Tilly whined piteously, and I felt awful at how long it had been since she’d had a bathroom break. Hopefully, wherever we were, this was our final stop.

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