Chapter 7

     Brothers

      

       I was searching for West, for some reason I wanted him to know I was heading out.  We left the cozy confines of our lawn chairs when enough people came our way and ruined the moment.  Raquel had finally managed to snare West, pulling him up off his seat to follow her down the path.  I tried not watch them leave, but my eyes had another idea.  Mave and Logan were helping themselves to what looked like a pair of sisters, they had one on each lap and were talking excitedly, sharing some kind of outrageous story that involved, to my horror, farm animals.  I took this as my cue to head out, I gave a nod of goodbye to both guys trying to ignore the uneasy glance they gave each other as I gathered myself up and headed out.

       I had pushed my through the patio, kitchen, and living room, not finding either West or the shrill voice of his girlfriend anywhere in sight.  I had more fun here than I thought was possible, so with a little more than thirty minutes before I had to leave for my game I headed upstairs to relax for a while.  I had just rounded the corner when I heard voices, they were both male and hard for me to hear, but I had learned long ago that snooping around other people's conversation only led to hurt feelings, so I cleared my throat and continued on.  When I had passed the doorway I noticed it was Dante and West in his room, they were both flushed and looked like whatever conversation they had just partaken in wasn't pleasant.  I stopped in the doorway to talk to West, and Dante made no move to leave.

       "I'm just going to relax up here for a while, I'm leaving here in a half hour for my game."  I let the former invitation hang in the air, and West turned a deep shade of red but continued his silence.  I was assuming he was out for tagging along, and it was most likely better that way.  He was much more of a distraction than I wanted. 

       "Game?" Dante said in a likeness that reminded me so much of his brother I couldn't hide my smile.

       "Poker," I informed him, as his eyes locked on mine.

       "You have school in the morning, what business do you have out late gambling?" he asked, a clear authoritative tone in his voice.  I was of the firm belief, partly because of how I was raised, that I had issues with authority.  I just blurted it out, some part of my brain must have been hoping I could scare him away.

       "JP kicked me out, I need money for an apartment.  On top of that I am suspended for two weeks because I showed off, so no I don't have school tomorrow.  Also, I'm a grown woman so you can speak to your brother like that all you want but you keep that tone away from me.  Clear?"  I didn't realize how thrown I was that he asked about my welfare, it had been so long since anyone looked out for me that I felt threatened.  He opened his mouth to speak and I cut him off, suddenly feeling bad I spoke to a virtual stranger that way.

       "And I'm good at it, but that doesn't excuse me talking to you like that so I apologize.  I've been on my own essentially since I was little."  I looked around, searching for something to do or to look at so that I wasn't just standing there feeling exposed.  The brothers kept looking at me, still not speaking.

       "JP kicked you out, I'm assuming you mean Professor White?" Dante asked finally and I nodded.

       "Why were you living with him, and why aren't you now?" he asked grabbing my elbow and bringing me inside.  I plopped down on the chair near the couch, feeling as tired as I looked.

       "Long story or short?" I asked him.  He smiled and shrugged like it made no difference to him.  I sighed, gathering some air.

       "I'll settle for long because the short version sounds bad.  I got into some trouble in New York, Marion heard about it and got him to lure me here to attend school.  I had nowhere else to go so I crashed with him, until his girlfriend used what I did at school as a reason to get me out.   Now I need tonight to secure me an apartment for the year so I can finish it out and pay for my skin grafts, which since I have no insurance are ridiculously expensive."  Dante had his mouth hanging a bit open but he caught it quickly.

       "That sounds better than the short?" he asked horrified.

       "The short version is that I loved him once, trusted him once, but he's scared of me because he thinks I might be more like my father than he bargained for.  Everything else boils down to that, but I've found leading with my father often leads to people running away from me, and right now I don't think I could stand here and watch your brother do that to me."  I put my head in my hands, feeling like it weighed more than a head ought to.  I felt someone come and sit next to me, pulling me into their side and holding on tight.

       "I said something wrong, didn't I?" I asked who I now realized was Dante, and West was no longer in the room.

       "No, you're just intense and sometimes my brother needs a minute to process.  We grew up in a community that didn't value honesty, and from what he told me you brandish it like a weapon, waving it in our faces and demanding our attention.  Your story is hard to take, especially when put so bluntly but it is not your fault."  I closed my eyes and took a good five minutes, just sitting here in another Mackinnons arms, and gathering myself.  Dante didn't make a move to get up, didn't speak a word, didn't pry for my feelings, he just held me.  I had the absurdly sad notion that this was what a brother would have done for me, had I one.  I felt the traitorous tears slip down my face, wetting the reddish hair that grew on his forearms.

       "Can I do a few things without you freaking out?" I asked him, shrugging out of this embrace and looking him in the face.  He nodded, moving his strong and hard jaw up and down with confidence.  I reached out and touched his arm and send him a thank you, letting the deeper parts of me speak for what I didn't have the words for.  I felt him stiffen next to me, and I was hoping it was in more of surprise than unpleasantness. 

       'Thank you, if you could apologize to West for me.' I told him in his mind as I got up to leave.  I didn't look back, I just continued down the hall leaving him to deal with things as he needed to.

       ***

    

       I heard the car slam to a halt in front of the fountain, and after one good hard kick to my a*s I slunk out of the car face first onto the gravel circle driveway.  Every part of my body hurt, and I could feel the blood caking on the side of my cheek.

       I heard the window roll down, and Frank barked out in a clear voice, "You are not welcome at my tables, I told you the rules.  Since I like you I won't report it to the boss, but if I see your face again that pretty scar is going to be the least of your concerns."  I lifted my hand and gave him the finger, to which he laughed out loud.

       "It's too bad what your father did to you, Remy really lost it when you were born, all his self-control just flew out the window.  You could have been really pretty, you could have been mine."  I didn't respond, mainly because I couldn't and I heard the window roll up at the same time a bag landed next to me.  The car moved deftly around me, finding purchase not too far from where I was laying unmoving, and then sped off into the night.  I rolled over onto my side, trying to protect the fragile ribs and settled in to wait for someone to find me. 

       I woke up to voices above me, I was being carried in by someone and it only took me a moment to understand it was Dante.  "What the hell happened to her?' I heard him ask someone, and I opened my mouth to talk, having to speak over someone else by the time I got my voice to work.

       "I exposed myself, and then I got taught a lesson."  My voice came out on a wheeze and it was followed up by a round of coughing.  "But I won," I said sarcastically.  There was no ensuing laughter, and I took it as a sign of how bad I must have looked.

       "That doesn't make much sense Brienne," he said looking down at me, concern and confusion filling his face.

       "I won," I told him with a proud smile, feeling my lip start bleeding again.  I saw Dante exchange a look with someone else, my head was spinning now and I was trying to hold it together long enough not to puke all over him.

       "I told West he should have gone with her," Mave said and I could hear a grunt like someone hit him.  I couldn't feel West so I was assuming it was Logan.

       "Pull her dress down, if he sees you carrying her in their like that he's going to rip your head off," Logan said, and a second later he adjusted my position in his arms so I was covered more.  The jarring had my ribs screaming but I didn't dare open my mouth. 

       "Raquel has him wrapped up in one of the guest rooms clear on the other side of the house, they're too lost in each other to hear us."  Dante said, with a tone of disgust in his voice.  "Still someone go wake him, if we don't he's going to be a bear to live with tomorrow.  You leave Raquel there, I don't want to hear her voice."  I attempted a laugh and it hurt too much, so I settled for a small smile and a look of thanks directed at Dante.

       "Bath, and a sports drink.  I need to raise my blood pressure before I pass out," I blurted out to him as the motion of him carrying me on the stairs was making the spinning worse.  I heard Mave say he would grab it as we reached the hallway I recalled from earlier.  We entered West's room, and he placed me gently on the shower floor, looking around uncomfortably for a second. 

       "You got scissors?" I asked him.  He gave me a sideways glance like he wasn't sure what I was asking for.  "I can't get this dress off without screaming, you can just cut it off me."  I was full on shivering now, I needed to get warm and get some fluids or the shock was going to kill me.  He kept looking around, like someone was going to come in and help him out.  "I don't have anything you haven't seen, and this dress is killing my side.  Go get the damn scissors," I demanded.  He snapped out of his trance and left the room. 

       Less than a minute later he was bending over me on the ground and cutting the tight black cocktail dress of my broken body, and because the universe had it out for me, all three of the boys decided to make an appearance at the same time.  I held out my hand to Mave, flicked my fingers for him to bring the drink over.  He opened it and then handed it to me, I drank it down in less time than I thought I was capable of.  "M-more," I rasped out to him and he reached behind him to grab another one that Logan was carrying.

       "T-turn the shower on, p-please," I stuttered out in between shakes.  Dante had finished with my dress and he flung it behind him as he stood up to turn it on.  I saw West moved in and his brother blocked his path.  The warm water was hitting me, and I had managed to drag myself under the spray.  All I could think about was how glad I was that I had my good clean bra and underwear on.

       "Mave said you were supposed to go with her, did she ask you to?" Dante said through clenched teeth. 

       "She asked if I wanted to go, not if I would come and protect her.  I had no clue!" he yelled back indignantly.

       "Well, I’m sure Raquel had a big part in you deciding to stay here.  Did she threaten you again?"  Dante and West were practically nose to nose and I had a feeling that whatever this was, it had little to do with me.

       "She is none of your concern, but no I didn't mention it to her.  Beyond that why would I go and watch her play poker?  I don't even know her," he spat out.  I was trying not to take it personally but I felt it still.

       "I've watched you all night with her brother, I know you two are more than strangers."  It was an accusation that I didn't want to hear his response to, but my magic was so low I couldn't even block out my own ears.

       "She is a Moreau, Dante.  How much can we really know her?"  It wasn't an outright denial, but it also wasn't any kind of acknowledgement of the connection we shared.  Even if I chose to believe what he said, and I wasn't sure I did, he was right.  He seemed to be the only one that really saw me, to outright challenge his brother over who I was.  It was a smart thing to do, my family had a reputation in this community for a reason, and how were they supposed to know any different?  Would I be no better than them to judge them the same?  I saw goodness in them, and I could tough it out until the rest of it caught up.

         I let my head sag, the warm water beating on the top of my head and trickle through my hair to my legs.  It wasn't making the headache any better so I turned, placing my back to them and allowing the flow of water to hit my back.  I was so dazed I forgot about what my back looked like now, the remnants of a brutal summer that was now carved into my skin.  I heard Mave make a half coughing half gasping sound and the room fell silent.  I had to talk loud enough for them to hear me over the shower spray, but the acoustics were nice enough I could be heard.

       "This is part of what a Moreau brings you, West is right to be skeptical.  Can I get another drink?"  Mave leaned around the Mackinnon brothers and handed me the bottle, trying to give me a reassuring smile.

       "Where's that handy trick when you need it huh?" he asked referring to my earlier method of refilling our cups.

       "They drained me, it's the only way to take the magic away enough to get a jump on me."  I shrugged, wondering why he would even ask, it had to be obvious.

       "Drained?  You don't mean..."  I felt someone enter the shower and sweep my hair aside.  I heard Dante hiss and then jump back, like the vampire that bit me would reappear and go for him too.

       "You run with vamps?" he asked, crossing his arms over his chest.

       "I play with them from time to time, Frank was a close friend of my father's."  The silence in the room was telling, I could hear little noises everywhere, like the inanimate objects around us were listening.  I closed my eyes letting them digest the information.  Frank Scarnello was the second to the local Vampire head, his brother Daniel Scarnello, and while he wasn't threatening to the governance they treated one another with mild distrust.  Mostly they stayed out of each other's way and turned the other cheek, but at least in this community it was considered scandalous to be associated with them.

       "They are no longer allies?"  I didn't take long for Dante to sort through what I said and get over it.  The other three looked a bit green around the gills, but no one was kicking me out yet.

       "Daniel wanted me to marry Frank, my father agreed but when it came down to it Remy wouldn't give me up.  That was when he really started to lose it.  The next three years were tough, for me."  I didn't finish what I had been remembering in my head, both because I didn't want to go there and I was too tired to get it out.

       "Three years, how old were you?" West said pushing his way to the front so he was standing in front of the shower door his face was almost as red as his hair.

       "Thirteen," I said and felt a dirty and disgusting shiver run down my spine.

       "No, that's...it's..." West said something else I couldn't make out before he punched the wall behind him, sending his fist right though the plaster wall.  I could hear Dante saying something to him, hushed and angry whispers that sent gooseflesh to erupt on my arms.

       "They were going to give me a few years to adjust there, and when I turned eighteen the ceremony would take place.  Frank wanted me to make a life at their compound, learn the ropes, and make connections."  I slumped my head again, looking down at my hands that were resting in my lap.  Hands that were capable of so much, both the terrible and the extraordinary and the same weapons that made me valuable to the wrong people.  I felt my eyelids start to droop, I was seconds away from falling asleep.  The shivering had subsided now to only a slight shake and I reached out an arm to turn off the water knob but a hand reached it before I did. 

       "It's just us," West said as he held out a towel for me.  I made a move to stand and the world spun in a fantastical fashion before me.  I braced my hands on the side of the shower wall, and noticed my bra was sitting on the floor.  A nice cut line was visible on the side, Dante must have got it when he cut the dress off.  To his credit, West threw the towel over my shoulders quickly and scooped me up, holding me tight against his chest.  "I shouldn't have said that to you, I was upset with myself and other things, it wasn't about you."  We were still standing in the bathroom, he was quickly getting soaked and we were both creating a puddle on the floor.  I nodded, closed my eyes, and was swept away into the nothing.