Page 30 of Fangs
Furious tears filled my eyes. “No, you just want me to be a monster so you don’t have to feelguilty?—”
He grabbed the front of my blanket with both hands and jerked me closer, ignoring my flinch, his eyes glittering. “Why the fuck wouldIfeel guilty? I didn’t do anything!”
“Exactly!” I hissed. “You didn’t do a damn thing.”
“YoumurderedDune. What the fuck was I supposed to do?” he snarled.
“You weresupposedto believe me! You weresupposedto protect me! All the things youpromised?—”
“Protectyou?I should’ve protected Dunefromyou!” he raged.
The pain in my chest was so sharp I almost looked to see if I was bleeding. “How could you think I wouldeverhurt Dune?”
“Because I wasthere,Ember! I watched Dune die lookin’ at you withfearin his eyes and beggin’ you to stop!”
I couldn’t breathe again. I couldseethat fear in Dune’s eyes as he stared at me. He’d never looked at me like that before. He must have known I was trying to heal him, right? He didn’t die thinking I was trying to hurt him…right?
“And then you fuckin’ disappeared. I couldn’t find a trace of youanywhere.I haven’t been home in twelve damn years ’cause the council made it real clear not to bother comin’ back without you.”
“So that’s what it is,” I realized, exhaustion sweeping over me. “I’m just your key to gettin’ back to Carth.”
“No! I want to get answers! I want justice for my brother!” he growled, shaking me slightly.
Mybrother. Notourbrother. I stared at him, feeling almost as hollow and empty as I did when I stood in Madame’s cell. Every ounce of my will to fight seemed to evaporate.
“Fine. Yes, I killed Dune. Yes, I ran away. I’m a lying murderer, so just kill me now and get it over with. Drag my body back and display it for the whole hold to see for all I care.”
He stared at me, his brow furrowed, emotion flashing through his eyes. The room was so quiet.
“Why won’t you go back to Carth?” Wolf asked.
I was done answering questions. I pulled back, and to my surprise, Wolf released the blanket. I huddled back in my corner of the couch, wrapping my arms around my legs and burying my face in my knees. No one moved for a long time, and then the couch shifted as Wolf stood.
“Lee, Scar, Sable,” he ordered in a clipped voice as he strode away.
I heard the door open and shut and then, after a second, open and shut again. Emotion built in my chest, but my eyes stayed painfully dry.
“Hey.”
I startled at the voice so close to me, lifting my head just enough to meet Kai’s gaze. He crouched in front of where I sat on the couch, his brows drawn together slightly. He held up a plate with a sliced apple and a sandwich.
“You should eat something,” he said.
I buried my face in my knees again. Maybe I’d get lucky and starve to death before we reached Carth. I had no idea how many days had passed since they took me from the Vault, but the last thing I’d eaten was the piece of dried meat Lee gave me. I wasn’t sure how long I could go without eating, but the longest Juck ever made me go was three weeks and two days, and I sure felt like I was dying by the end of it.
“C’mon, I made it myself, and everyone says I’m the best cook in this crew.”
Someone snorted in amusement from the other side of the room.
“You disagreeing with me, Tuck?” Kai asked.
“Let’s just say it’s a good thing all you had to do was put some meat between two slices of bread,” Tuck answered.
“Well, it’s better than whatever stew you made yesterday,” Kai shot back.
“I’m not the one claimin’ to be the best cook.’”
Kai grumbled under his breath, but their interaction sounded more playful than angry. It reminded me painfully of Mac’s—ofmycrew. I just wanted to go home.
