said he felt for my cause.”
Jabari spat on the ground. “Where did you find him?”
“At some random motel. I was looking for a place to hide with Carey.” His eyes told me he didn’t believe me. I stepped closer, opening my arms. “Smell the truth on me, Jabari! Smell it! I’m not fucking lying to you! I have no goddamn reason to lie to you!” With a shaking breath, I went back to what else he’d said. “She taught you and Zuri for the family? To pass down?” I tried not to laugh. Neither of them ever taught me. I had no idea they even knew how to do them, not until Jabari did one. I thought it was a small trick he had, like my fae gift. “You never taught me.”
“You left too young,” he hissed. “You walked away from the family.”
“Hasan knew where to find me. It’s not like any of you really cared at the time,” I said bitterly. “It’s not like you gave a damn what I did or where I went. You thought I was throwing a fucking tantrum and told me so.”
“You were.”
“He was the love of my life. And see, that’s the problem. You don’t even fucking try with me. You don’t care about anything to do with me.” I sniffed, trying to hold back the pain. My neck hurt, but my muscles were tense as I tried to keep from crying from frustration and rejection. “Hasan spent four years telling me about how he was my family and how you and the rest of them were my fucking family now. I ate it up. I tried, and every time I saw any of you, you were cold to me, wary like I had done something wrong. And right when I fucking needed any of you to have a heart, you all told me to get the fuck over it.” I pointed at him, stepping closer and stabbing his chest with the finger.
“Then you fucking called me and gave this big fucking talk about how you all were going to try to be in my life again. You were going to try and keep me in the loop. You also called me a fuck up. But I’m fucking here, aren’t I? Being a contributing member of this godforsaken family.” I sneered the best I could. “All I got from you was how stupid of an idea it was for the family to send me.”
He didn’t say anything, stepping back from my finger, his gaze on it like I had just stabbed him. When he looked up, I could see the confusion and anger in his eyes and the lines of his face.
“Now, you don’t get to be an asshole to me anymore. Oh cool, you know runes of power. Everyone else in the family knows runes of power. Fun. You know what? Fuck it. I don’t need them. I’ll keep doing everything fucking my way.”
“Stop behaving like a child,” he said quietly as I went to turn away from him.
“A child?” I hissed, spinning back on him. “You think this is me acting like a child? You think the last seven years have been one giant tantrum of a child who can’t take care of herself?” I snarled louder, rage building in my chest. “I run a fucking business. I keep my house clean. I pay my taxes. I do it all on my own with help from only the few people any respectable business owner would get help from, like a goddamn accountant and a lawyer. When called to Duty, I didn’t go crying to anyone for help or to take the charge from me or to protect me. I did what I had to do. I asked for advice because I’d obviously never done it before, but I didn’t ask Father to come and save me. I didn’t ask him to come to the Tribunal and threaten to expose us just to save me. I took responsibility for what I did like a fucking adult should, and I was willing to die on that hill alone. You don’t get to call me a child for telling you the truth. You’re a heartless prick, Jabari. You wouldn’t know love, affection, or kindness if it slapped you in the face.”
“I’m not entertaining this,” he declared, trying to walk past me now. “I’m going—”
“When did you teach our siblings how to protect themselves with runes of power?” I asked as he passed by.
“When they