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"No!" she yelled. "I was thinking of you! I don't want to be friends with all of you. I can't be just friends, and I told myself that that's all I could have, if anything, if I want to keep you safe."
"It's up to them if they want to be safe or not, Mykie," Caspar murmured.
"Stay out of this," Corbus snapped. "You kept this from all of us, too."
The entire table was quiet as they watched for her reaction. She couldn't say it. Not now. Not when they were all mad at her.
"That's not the point," she murmured. "The point is that your safety matters more than my feelings."
"That's not for you to decide," Renly argued. "It's our choice if we want to be in your life, especially now that we know what we're getting into."
"I know, which is why I agree with you, Renly. Keeping everyone close is the best bet, until the people threatening you and me are dealt with. I can't tell you much and you can't blame Caspar for not sharing things, either. He's sworn not to share anything he learns about me with anyone not a part of the Cantil. He's considered a junior member, of sorts, and he is under my and the Cantil's protection," she explained.
"Why can't we be under protection too?" Corbus said in a clipped tone. "Why does he always get special treatment in everything?"
"The whole situation was a happy accident. There's a lot more planning that must be done normally. I can't tell you any more about it without permission. Caspar...he was allowed as a favor to me, and even he can't know every detail. I can't just suddenly have all of you without some sort of payment to the Cantil. The rules can only be bent so much for me before people start pointing fingers, promotion or not," she explained.
"So, how are you and Chance involved with the Cantil, with your promotion?" Renly asked.
"All you need and can know is that I'm the acting owner and manager of Pearl's as of now," she responded.
"I know you're angry, Corbus," she said, grabbing his hand and squeezing it. "But you have to understand that I care about you. I care about all of you. It would kill me inside if something happened to you, and the Vultures are threatening to do just that."
"The Vultures?" Caspar asked.
"They're the rivals of my group. Nasty little things with no morals. They know about Caspar, and they threatened to hurt him if I didn't give Chance up and the locations of the Cantil soon. I don't want to see you all become some sort of bargaining chip when I don't give them what they asked for," she bit out.
She ate another bite of her food before she spoke again, "I have a meeting on Monday and then I will be discussing our next course of action with Chance. I will see what I can do to get you guys protection from the Vultures. It's the least I can do."
"You never explained how you irritated your shoulder, just how it happened the first time," Renly murmured. She could tell that his expression was off, and he had something to say. Was it a reaction to the idea of finding a way for them to be protected, or something else?
"The same Vulture from Les Beautés cornered me and wanted to pass along a message to me. It wasn't a huge deal, overall."
"It wasn't a huge deal?" Caspar repeated. "You were still hurt."
"He didn't seem like he wanted to hurt me, exactly," Mykie explained and shook her head. "He just wanted to rough me up a little before giving me the message. Besides, I got up again, didn't I? I've been hit much worse than that before."
"By who?" Corbus questioned, his eyebrows knitting together.
"It doesn't matter now," Mykie murmured as she swirled her noodles around with her fork. "He's dead now."
The rest of dinner was silent beyond the scrapping of forks along with the plates and crackling embers from the fire. Once they were done with dinner, Renly and Corbus gathered all the dishes. Mykie went into the bathroom with her bag and changed the gauze on her shoulder. When she came back out, Corbus was the only one downstairs and in the kitchen.
She sat down at the island counter and just watched him for a moment. She was unsure whether he even realized he was being watched.
"Are you staying the night tonight?" he asked over the sound of the running water, answering her unspoken thought. "This was supposed to be a night just for us."
"It still can be, if you aren't too mad at me," she said nonchalantly.
He turned the water off and dried his hands on a hand towel. He threw the towel down on the counter and turned until he was able to lean back on the edge of the sink. "I'm not angry. Not at you, at least. I... I just wish you'd trust me more."
"The more time we're around each other, we'll start trusting each other more," Mykie said in a reassuring tone. "I promise you, though, that I wasn't keeping secrets on purpose. My secrets aren't just mine to tell. I have to protect people that aren't ready or can't share that they're Cantil to the people they love."
She stood up from her chair and rounded the island counter until she stood in front of the boy. She grabbed each of his hands from where he had his arms crossed and held them between their bodies. "I'll try to make sure, in the future, you're one of the first people I come to talk about things with, all right?"
He was silent for a moment as he looked at their entwined fingers before he looked at her again.
"You're not keeping any more secrets?" he asked.
