“We need to talk,” Cayde says sharply. “And I want us all here for it.”
Jaxon lets out a long-suffering sigh and Cayde gives him a look that could blister paint. “Now,” Cayde growls, and I flinch a little, even though by now I’m far from being as afraid of him as I once was.
At first I think that Cayde is angry at Jaxon and I for going off on our own, and I’m on the verge of chewing him out for it, because if he thinks I’m going to have to ask permission to go somewhere with Jaxon—or anyone—we’re going to fight. At this point I’m well past asking permission for the most basic things—I’m not their pet anymore. We’re equals, or we’re nothing. If I submit to them, it’ll be my own choice.
But then I see Dean’s face, tense and angry, and I know it’s something else altogether.
“Now that we’re all here,” Cayde says curtly. “Do you and Dean want to tell me what you snuck out and did the other night, Athena? Either of you can go first, it doesn’t matter to me. And don’t bother lying, because I already have a decent idea of what happened.”
“It’s none of your business,” Dean snaps. “I don’t answer to you, Cayde. By all rights, I won the fucking game, so if anyone in this house doesn’t answer to you, it’s most certainly me—”
“There is no fucking game anymore,” Cayde snarls. “I think, after everything Athena showed us, we’ve established that. So don’t bother throwing that out. We’re not playing the game anymore.”
“You’re absolutely right, we’re fucking not.” I look at him, already bristling. “Which means I don’t have to answer to you either. We’re in this together, not me as your little sex slave, but as your ally. All four of us—allies. And that means I have just as much agency as any of you, and Dean certainly does, to do whatever we think is best.”
“Sure.” Cayde rolls his eyes. “So when it comes to plotting how to go about taking down the powers that be around here, don’t you think some synchronization might be in order? Maybe a little group planning? Maybe—oh, I don’t know—notfucking burning down a country club on a whim?”
He says the last through his teeth, and I see even Jaxon flinch next to me, turning to look at me with startled eyes.
“Don’t look at me,” I mumble. “It was Dean’s idea.”
“Oh, great.” Dean glares at me. “Throw me under the fucking bus, why don’t you?”
“So that was you?” Jaxon is still staring at us both, me and then Dean and back again. “I wondered what the fuck happened, especially when we passed it tonight—”
“You and everyone else,” Cayde says snappishly.
“You don’t have to look so surprised.” I glare at Jaxon. “Are you so shocked that Dean and I could have burned it down?”
Jaxon laughs. “You, Athena? Hell no. I one hundred percent believe you’d burn it down. But Dean?” He shakes his head. “Man, the pussy really changed you.”
Dean shoots him a look not unlike the one Cayde gave him earlier. “I care about Athena,” he says through gritted teeth. “I wanted to help her get some revenge.”
“Just her?” Jaxon raises an eyebrow. “I think you’ve got a bit of a bone to pick with them these days too, Dean. In fact, I think we all do.” He shrugs, turning back to Cayde. “I honestly don’t see what the problem is. We all hated having to go there. It’s a stuffy place for stuffy fucking rich men like our fathers. So what if they burned it down?”
Cayde stares at him. “Are you fucking serious?”
Jaxon shrugs again. “What do you think?”
“Oh for fuck’s sake.” Cayde throws his hands up. “You’ve all lost your fucking minds. Do you really think they’re going to take that lying down? That they’re not going to want to figure out who burned down theircountry club? Do you think they’re not going to try to involve us in it somehow, or worse, immediately suspect us or at the very least, Athena of having had something to do with it?”
“You agreed we needed to do something,” Dean says sharply. “I was just getting the ball rolling. And Athena needed to blow off some steam.”
“Blowing off steamis what you do at the fucking gym. Or just plain fucking.” Cayde glares at him. “Not burning down one of the preeminent buildings in Blackmoor for funsies.”
“So what?” Dean crosses his arms, turning to face Cayde fully. “You’re in charge of this whole thing now? You want us to run it past you every time we want to make a move? Do something? We need yourpermission?”
Cayde rolls his eyes. “Jesus Christ, Dean, pull your head out of your ass and think. I already said it once. We need to do this as a group effort. We need toplan ahead, and figure out the best way to go about this. Uncoordinated guerrilla attacks like the one you and Athena pulled off are a great way for our fathers to see us coming a dozen miles off. And then we’ll be fucked. And not in the fun way.”
“Fine.” Dean grinds the word out through his teeth. “We’ll do this as agroup. But you’re not in charge, Cayde.”
“I didn’t ask to be.” Cayde turns his glare back to me. “Don’t you have anything to say?”
“I’m not sorry we did it.” I return his stare evenly. “I agree that group planning is a good idea. But I’m not going to apologize.”
“I didn’t expect you to.” Cayde narrows his eyes at me. “Do I even want to know what you and Jaxon went off and did tonight?”
“We didn’t burn anything down,” I say sweetly. “That’s as much as I think I need to say.”