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What the heck was he talking about? Who was scared?
“Hades,” he answered. “She just wants you to be normal because you’re her best friend. And she’s traumatized from having to watch you fall like you did and almost die. This disease is her worst nightmare. And not because of what it does to her, but because of what it does to you. She can’t function in this world without you, and it’s already tried to take you away from her once. So today was more like her ignoring everything about you that she can, and force you into doing something normal that she feels you should be doing.”
I sighed. “That doesn’t change the fact that she still did it, and that it really hurt.”
“No,” he agreed readily. “But it does change how you might view her actions, doesn’t it?”
Kind of.
Hades came off as shy and bookish at first—though she was those things—but she was also a complete and utter asshole once you got to know her and she got comfortable around you.
But I wasn’t about to admit that.
She’d been a rebel for the last few years, daring me to come along with her on her ride to hell. But I just wasn’t adventurous like her.
I also wasn’t sure why the heck she’d gone off the deep end, but his words might explain it somewhat.
“She needs a boyfriend to focus all her craziness on,” I muttered darkly.
“Yeah, that would be nice for all of y’all to have boyfriends—hopefully like Coffey and not like that psycho that Crimson dated last year—and I no longer have to figure out a way to protect all of you,” he grumbled.
That ‘psycho’ that Crimson dated last year was kind of a psycho.
Like, really, he was the worst.
The only saving grace we had in her departure from him was that we didn’t stay in one place too long. The guy would have totally been stalking her if he had a way to leave and follow us everywhere.
That was one good thing about having a traveling circus.
“Did you know they’re saying you’re married to Slone?” he asked, changing the topic.
“Uh, yeah.” I paused. “I heard something about that as we were leaving the water park after y’all almost allowed me to drown.”
He snorted. “And why would they think that?”
“Well, to be truthful, I think he was protecting me vocally, trying to explain away my absolute freak out as I went down the waterslide, and people just jumped to conclusions,” I explained. “Then he allowed them to think whatever they wanted because they kept looking at his daughter, and he would rather have the focus more on me I assume than his child.”
“Understandable,” he said. “Okay. Let me know where you wind up going tomorrow. If you don’t, I’ll start to look for you, and that won’t be as fun of a vacation for you.”
I knew he’d look for me, too. Possibly show up.
And I certainly didn’t want that.
“I’ll send you locations as I get to them. Then let you know when I leave.” I paused. “Love you, Keene.”
And I did.
He may be an annoying, overprotective big brother, but he was still my family.
Still one of my best friends.
“Love you, too, sis,” he said before hanging up.
“See you found your room.”
I whirled around to find Slone leaning against the door, staring at me.
I allowed the curtains to drop back into place and turned fully to him.
