3
Piper
Irewrapped the bandage around my hand, jerking it tighter the more I thought about the mess we were in.
The vampire council. What a load of shit. So far, they haven't done anything for our family. They weren't there for the problems we had with the master. Or when the guys were on the run from the hunters. I shouldn't expect them to be worth a shit now. Especially, since they're the ones behind framing Allister and the financial problems.
"You're going to cut off the circulation to your hand if you keep pulling it like that," Rayne commented from the doorway of the training room.
I grunted in response and kept tugging.
Rayne walked across the room and knelt before me, grabbing my hand between his own. "Stop it, Piper. Hurting yourself isn't going to do anyone any good right now."
I huffed and let him rewrap my hands. This time looser. "I know. I'm just so frustrated right now."
"We all are." Rayne bent his head over my hands, his red hair falling over his face. "That's no excuse."
I wrinkled my nose at him.
"Don't look at me like that." Rayne lifted his head with a straight face.
I snorted. "You have a third eye now too?"
One side of Rayne's lips tugged up. "No, I just know you."
"Do you now?" I jerked on my hands, pulling him close to my face. "And what do you know?"
Rayne pressed his forehead to mine so that our breath mingled. "That you're going to worry yourself sick thinking about this. You can't do everything yourself."
"I know." I tried to pull away. Rayne cupped the sides of my face, keeping us nose to nose.
"No, you don't," Rayne insisted. "You take on everything yourself and never leave anything for the rest of us to do. Taking on the hunters by yourself. Getting yourself roped into being their lap dog. Attacking Morpheus. And now, trying to deal with the council on your own."
I growled and shoved away from him. "What else am I supposed to do? I'm trying to protect you." I jerked my arm in the air. "All of you."
"We didn't ask you to protect us." Rayne closed the distance between us. "We're supposed to protect you, not the other way around."
"And shit all that did. Going on the run. Leaving me and Darren to fend for ourselves."
"Don't tell me you're still pissy about that." Rayne scowled. "Why are you being like this? It can't just be the vampire council getting under your skin."
I shook my head and jerked on my ponytail. "It's just so much all the time. I feel like we're always running. Always fighting. Just to exist." I sighed and pressed my back to the mirrored wall before sinking down to the ground, my knees drawn up. "I'm so tired of it."
Rayne stared at me for a long moment before slowly moving across the room. "What are you saying? Do you want to leave?"
I glowered at him. "Can't you just read my mind?"
"I can but I'd rather you tell me." Rayne sank to the ground before me. Not touching me, just sitting before me.
I stared at him, trying to get my mind together and emotions in control. I didn't know why I was so angry. Why I wanted to fight so much.
"It's probably because you're used to being able to beat your problems up." Rayne shook his head and let out a hard breath. "You can't use violence to fix this."
"Why not?" I pouted, beating my fists against my knees. "Just a few minutes with them alone and this could all be over."
Rayne snorted. "As fun as that would be to see, the council isn't like anything you've ever been up against before. They have powers..."
"So," I cocked a brow. "So, do you all? That's nothing new."