My mouth twists into a sneer, angry that he’s ruined this moment. It’s a beautiful day. It should be special. What did he have to gain by going over what happened? It’s none of his business.
“It looks like you were hurt too,” I snarl, pointing at his face. “What happened to you?”
He buries his hands in his pockets and shifts from one foot to the other. “We’re not talking about me.”
I stride up to him and jab my finger into his chest. “See? Not everyone wants to talk!”
“You want to know what happened?” He towers over me. The face of my caring brother transforms into a monster consumed by fury. Something I’ve seen in Daddy when he gets mad. “This!” He points at his eye. “Was done byDaddy’ssecurity when I was coming to help you and these!” He shows me his split and bruised knuckles. “These are from stopping another fucker from hurting you!”
My bottom lip quivers. “You hurt one of Daddy’s guests?”
“Don’t worry, it won’t get back to him that it was me.” August spits on the ground. “Forget I said anything.”
“Follow me,” I say in a clipped tone, marching down the path.
“Clemmie?” August calls as I leave the walled garden. “Where the fuck are you going now?”
I don’t stop walking. I continue into the woods by the side of the mansion, not caring that branches are catching my clothes and scratching my arms. Daddy has installed security cameras around the walled garden. Although they are not aimed at where we stand, he will see us go in and out. For a conversation like this, I need to be sure we are alone.
“Are you sure we’re not gonna get lost?” August asks.
I hum and skip through the dense forest. I know the woods like the back of my hand. We don’t speak for another ten minutes until we reach a stream and my favorite tree.
I stop to face him.
“What did you do to Daddy’s guest, August?” I question.
His gray-eyed stare burns into mine, and he replies, “I killed him.”
My heart jolts, not from disgust but from curiosity.
“May I?” I nod at his hands. He shrugs but doesn’t push me away as I take them in mine and trace my fingers over his cuts. They really are something. My voice is breathier than usual as I ask, “How did it feel?”
“It wasn’t enough, Clem!” August snatches his hands away, making my chest ache. Why does he like hurting me? “Killing him didn’t change anything. You still got hurt last night.Helet those animals do awful things to you. I would kill them all if I could, and I would have tried if the guard didn’t knock me out.”
“Do you want to know a secret, August?” I take his hands again. They are double the size of mine, and he winces as I stroke the splits in his skin. They are marks of his love. Marks that show how much he cares. He threatened to leave me, but he wouldn’t. He could never go now that I know this about him. I step closer, so close our bodies are almost touching, and whisper, “Sometimes I want to hurt people too.”
“But you wouldn’t hurt his guests, would you?” August sneers, tearing his hands out of my grasp. He doesn’t wait for me to answer because he knows he’s right. “After what they did to you last night, don’t you want to punish them? Dad treats you as a prop. You’re just another toy to display for his twisted friends at his show. It’s sick!”
Hot tears spill down my cheeks.
“You’re wrong!” I shout, making birds in a nearby tree fly away.
“You don’t hurt people you love, Clemmie,” August says gently. “What he’s done to you is wrong. He doesn’t love you, not how you think he does.”
“You’re messing with my head, August,” I say. “You want to get between us and tear us apart. This is what Daddy warned me about. He said someone like you would try to take me away from him. I’m special. He says I’m special, okay?”
“Clemmie...” His voice softens as he strokes my cheek. He looks at me the same way you’d look at a puppy about to be put down. “Of course you’re special. You’re perfect, but real love isn’t about hurting the people you love.”
“What do you know about love, August?” I turn vicious. “No one has ever loved you the way Daddy loves me. Maybe if your mom loved you more, you wouldn’t be—”
I don’t get to finish my sentence. August grabs my throat and slams me backward into a tree. I yelp as his face gets close to mine; his hot breath tickles my cheeks.
“Don’t talk about her like that. You don’t know anything, Clemmie. You think you know everything, but you’re nothing but Dad’s dirty secret,” August snarls. “Do you think he’ll want you when you’re older? Do you think any of his guests will want you then? There will be someone new. Someone younger. Someone will take your place. You’re not his real daughter.”
He drops his hold, and I fall to my knees, holding my neck and gasping for air.
I don’t have the strength to get up again. Sobs overcome my body, and I pull my knees to my chest.