Chapter 4

A week out from Regionals, the training grounds scaled the program down to taper sessions.

Most people used the time to rest. I picked up extra shifts in Bryn's equipment room.

Wednesday afternoon, Kael's car pulled up outside.

He got out and leaned against the driver's side. The music was deafening, pulsing through the window hard enough to rattle the glass, sunglasses pushed up into his hair.

"Eira, come here."

I kept fiddling with the guard set in my hands and didn't look up.

"I'm talking to you."

He walked over, frowning, and reached for my arm, then saw the grease and metal shavings on my hands and pulled his fingers back without touching me.

"Go clean up. We're heading to the cabin in the mountains. Senna wants to get off the ground for a few days. You're coming too."

"I'm not going."

"Don't be like this. I drove all the way out here. Senna wants to make peace with you. Stop being difficult."

"There's nothing between her and me to fix."

"Eira."

"I need to train."

He laughed, short and ugly.

"Training. Right. Like you have to. You could show up half-dead to Regionals and still take first."

"Come on. Don't spend the weekend in this dump. Senna's genuinely trying."

"I'm not going."

His patience finally snapped.

"Suit yourself."

He pulled out his wallet, peeled off a stack of hundreds, and threw them at my feet.

The bills scattered across the concrete like a command.

"There. That's your salary for the month. I already paid your boss. Take the money, keep your precious pride intact, and stay away from me."

I didn't move.

"Not enough?"

He pulled out another stack and dropped it on top of the first.

"How about now?"

Bryn Holt. Bear shifter. He stepped out of the back office, looked at the money on the floor, and walked past it.

"Mr. Blackthorn. What's going on here? We don't need any of this."

Kael didn't even look at him. His eyes were locked on me.

"Pick it up."

I still didn't move.

Senna got out of the car wide-eyed and ran over in a pair of blindingly white leather boots.

"Kael, please don't. You're scaring her." She crouched down and started picking the bills up one by one. "Eira, don't be angry with him. He's just protecting me. He didn't mean it."

Her eyes filled as she held the stack out to me with both hands.

"Please. Come with us. I don't want to be the reason you two aren't speaking."

I looked at her, then at Kael.

Not a flicker of remorse. He thought he was being generous, so I was supposed to be grateful.

I walked past both of them, went into the back of the shop, and shut the door.

Through the wall I heard him say:

"See? That's what you get. You try to help her, and this is how she treats you."

The engine started. The music faded down the street.

A minute later, Bryn came in. He set the stack of bills on the workbench in front of me.

"Take it, kid."

"No."

"Eira." He pushed it closer. "Your father, your situation. You need this."

I stared at the cash. It smelled like Kael.

A scent that didn't belong in this town.

I went to the sink in the corner, turned the water as hot as it would go, and started washing my hands.

Over and over.

Until my skin was red and raw.

That night, Garrett came back.

Drunker than usual. He spotted the money through the front window.

He took the cash, then started smashing everything else. He grabbed a chair and put it through the front window.

I called the enforcement office.

When the officers arrived he was still in a rage. It took two of them to bring him down and lock the suppression cuffs onto his wrists.

As they dragged him out, he spat blood and saliva in my face, eyes red.

"You called the law on your own father. I hope you know what kind of person you are. I hope you rot, you little bitch."

I watched them take him away.

So this was what it felt like.

No one standing behind me.