“She’s practically mated to her brother, for shit’s sake!” I practically shout.
“Look, Isaac, I’m not sure why you're so upset. It’s not like she’s mated to you. I don’t know Zed. He doesn’t live under this roof, never has. I don’t have a connection with him like I do with you. I tried, and he didn’t want that. Sure, he’s my son, but I’m not his father. I understand why your step-mother is so upset, and I’m sure Abby is a nice girl, but she’s not us.”
I tilt my head at that, waiting for him to go on.
“She isn’t a Pure Blood. She’s a half-breed. And no matter how much your mother would like her to be with someone from a nice family like the lovely, young Heathers, no man is going to want her. It’s nice she was able to find someone who can live with her defect.”
Defect?Is that what he calls anyone who isn’t how God wants them to be? Would he call me that if he really knew what I did behind closed doors?
“Anyway, she’s welcome to live here, to go to the school, and she’s been responsible about spending money. As long as she’s not kicking up a stink and causing drama, I’m going to stay out of this.”
I nod. No matter what my step-mom wants, my dad won't see her as his daughter. So why does he have to call her my sister? Sure, I call her little sister, but just to fuck with her. I don’t see Abby as my sister, not in the way a brother should.
I’d hope not, seeing as how you touch yourself to the thought of fucking her like you did the Dark Night girl the first time you laid eyes on her. You don’t think of your sister like that.
“I’ll go find her,” I tell him, not wanting to talk about this anymore.
“Thanks, bud. Just make sure she’s okay, so your mother doesn't worry.” He turns around, taking off into the house.
I could tell him I already know she’s fine, that she’s in the maze. She can’t get lost because she can just fly out. But, still, I head towards the maze, straight to where I saw her last.
She’s still there, sitting on the edge, and when she hears my footsteps against the rocks, her gaze snaps up to mine.
“Hey,” I say, this probably being the first time I’ve talked to her without my words being laced with hate.
“Hi,” she says. “What are you doing here?”
“Your mother is worried about you.”
She huffs out a laugh, looking down at the water. “She hasn’t been worried about me for my whole life, why start now?”
She does have a point. I don’t know the story on why Veronica left and didn’t take Abby with her, but I have a good idea. It’s the same reason why Zed is living in Dark Night with his family and not here.
“Well, I just wanted to let you know,” I say, turning to leave, not even sure why I bothered to come all the way out here.
“Why are you marrying her?” she asks, her voice quiet. I pause and turn.
“Because it’s just how it has to be,” I state, not really having a good answer to that.
“But why? How can you marry her knowing you don’t love her? Knowing you’ll have to wake up to her every morning andnotlook over at the person who owns your heart. You don’t have to find your mate to be happy and in love, but that doesn’t mean you have to settle.”
“There’s a lot you don’t know. A lot you don’t understand,” I tell her, and she nods.
“I know. This isn’t the life I grew up in. I don’t have a father that holds me on a high pedestal.”
“No, you have a father who fucking kills people for the fun of it,” I sneer, and her eyes flash with surprise before narrowing them on me.
“There’s a lotyoudon’t know. A lotyoudon’t understand,” she repeats my words. And I guess she’s right. We come from two very different worlds. Only thing is, she’s in the middle of mine.
“I’ll be fine.” I tell her,or am I telling myself?
She gives me a pitying look. “I hope so,” she says, surprising me. Getting up from the fountain, she heads towards me. “Isaac,” she says, stopping next to me. “If you're lucky enough to fall in love, or even better, meet your mate, don’t give it up. Not for the life you expect to have. It’s not worth it. All the money in the world, all the praise from the people around you... isn’t worth that feeling in your heart, that peacefulness when you bond with the people the fates have picked for you. It will be a lonely life. And that’s a long time, because ours is forever.”
With that, she takes off out of the maze.
I stand there, mulling over her words inside my head.Fuck.Why does she send my mind into a tizzy? Why does she make me think and feel things I’m trying to ignore?
She will never understand how much I wish I could do what she’s doing. But it’s just not something I’m able to do.