Page 180 of The Echo of Forever
G reached over, hand settling on my arm. Her touch was light, but I understood she sensed my lingering agitation.
“Family loyalty is a complicated thing,” she said, her voice steady. “Always has been.”
“Not to me.”
She snorted, a sound so unexpectedly normal it almost made me smile.
“That’s because you’re young and see everything in black and white.”
“Is there another way to see betrayal?”
G looked out at the compound, at the houses where our family slept. At the guards posted at strategic points, a precaution I’d ordered after last night’s events.
“I’ve watched more than enough family die for betraying the Cannon name,” she finally said. “Back in my day, we didn’t have the luxury of public spectacle or moral outrage. We just did what needed doing.” Her eyes met mine. “Your grandfather killed his own brother for less than what Velma did.”
The revelation shouldn’t have surprised me, but it did. G rarely spoke about the darker parts of our family’s past, preferring to let those stories die with the people who lived them.
“I didn’t know that,” I said quietly.
“You weren’t meant to.” Her hand patted my arm once before withdrawing. “Every generation thinks they’re inventing something new when they’re just living out old patterns with new faces.”
I leaned back in my chair, letting her words sink in. There was comfort in knowing that what I’d done wasn’t unprecedented, that the weight I carried had been carried by others before me.
My father left a bad taste in my mouth and changed my brain chemistry.
“I’m still sorry,” I said, meaning it. “Not for what I did, but for bringing this to your doorstep. For waking the whole compound. For making you confront the fact that your daughter was…” I couldn’t finish.
“A traitor?” G supplied with a snort. “She made her choices long before you pulled that trigger, Demetrius. Don’t take on burdens that aren’t yours to carry.”
We fell silent again, watching as the sun continued its climb.
“What happens now?” G asked eventually.
I rubbed my palm across my jaw, mind drifting to Forever.
“We keep moving forward and protect what’s ours.”
G nodded, as if she’d expected nothing less.
“Go home to your wife, Meechie,” she said suddenly, her eyes closed. “She needs you more than I do right now.”
I stood, ready to do just that.
“You sure you’re okay?”
One eye cracked open, regarding me with familiar irritation. “I’ve survived worse than a betrayal and a midnight execution. Stop coddling me.”
That pulled a genuine laugh from me. “Yes, ma’am.”
I leaned down to kiss her forehead, and she squeezed my hand briefly before letting go.
As I walked back toward my house, I felt the eyes of the compound on me. They all knew what had happened, even if they didn’t know why. I would explain later, but for now, all that mattered was getting back to Forever.
She was exactly where I expected her to be when I returned, lying in our bed with the covers pulled up to her chin. Her eyes tracked me as I entered.
“You can come cuddle me after you shower,” she said softly, through a yawn.
I did as I was told and stood under the hot stream for far longer than intended after scrubbing the bunker stench from mybody. The hot water hit my shoulders, and I closed my eyes, letting it rinse away the night until exhaustion began to seep in.
