Page 27 of Twisted Fate

“Can’t they come to a new agreement? Both sides are breaking the same rule now anyway, so doesn’t that make it irrelevant?”

“You would think so.” She pulls at a loose thread on her shirt. “I’m not actively involved with the politics. All I know is what I’ve told you.”

I let out a breath. “This war, the rules and responsibility, that’s a lot to put on one person.”

Allison raises a brow at me, her eyes widening slightly.

The tops of my ears burn once again. “I just mean, I couldn’t imagine being in that position, that’s all.”

“Well, the position youarein isn’t exactly ideal, either.” She presses her lips together. You’re sure there’s no way around it?”

My chest feels tight. “Without this placement, I’ll fall behind and won’t be able to look for a job until next semester ends.” My voice increases in pitch. Graduating late isnotan option. It will shred my plan for the future into pieces. I’m in no position to take my time finding work after next semester is over. I need to start paying my parents back as soon as possible. Shortly before Adam got sick, they took out a second mortgage on the house to pay my steep tuition bill. I wasn’t all that involved with the process at the time, but the seriousness of the situation weighs on me now.

When my phone chimes from my desk, I slide off the bed and walk over to grab it. “Adam, what’s going on? Shouldn’t you be at school?”

“Yeah,” he mumbles. “I wasn’t feeling well, so Mom and Dad let me stay home.”

I bite my lower lip. “What’s wrong?”

“I’m not dying,” he says with a laugh. “I have a headache, and my stomach is sick. I’ve been puking all morning.” Adam doesn’t mind making jokes about dying, considering he’s survived cancer and isn’t even thirteen.

“Why didn’t they take you to the hospital?”

“Because it’s nothing. Probably just a bug. You know my immune system sucks. Don’t worry about it, Roar.”

His nickname for me makes my chest swell with warmth. He’s been calling me that since he was old enough to talk. In the beginning, he couldn’t say my whole name but managed to learn part of it, and it stuck. “Get some rest, okay? If you’re not feeling better later, ask Mom and Dad to take you to the hospital, okay? Please?”

“Yeah, okay. Can I ask you something?”

“Of course.” I’ve been biting the inside of my cheek so hard it’s bleeding.

“Can you come home this weekend?”

I finally let out a breath and laugh. “Miss me already?” I tease. I’ve only been away from home for a few weeks.

“No,” he grumbles. “I’m just bored, that’s all. Whatever.”

I muffle a giggle with my hand. I won’t embarrass my twelve-year-old brother over the phone. No, I’ll save that for when I can see his face get all red. “I’ll see what I can do.” I wouldn’t mind taking some time away from the city before Monday. A trip home might be good for me.

I spend the rest of the week locked in my room when I’m not in class, drowning in homework while trying to mentally prepare for Monday morning. When Friday afternoon rolls around, I’m on a train, heading to Mapleville. I want to believe I’m doing this for Adam, but the truth is: I miss home. That, and going home means I’ll get the answers I’ve been terrified to search for since Tristan told me about my ties to the fae.

I get a cab to the house with the intention of dropping my bag off before I meet Adam after school. I walk up the empty driveway and notice the front lawn needs to be cut. The rest of the house looks in order. The dull red brick and giant bay window in the front still make me smile, a lightness in my chest that only blossoms when I’m home.

I unlock the door and let myself in, setting my bag on the bench inside the foyer. I slip my shoes off, my feet padding against the hardwood as I walk into the living room where I’m surprised to find Adam curled up asleep on the couch. He’s home from school again? Frowning at the washed-out color of his face, covered slightly with messy brown curls, I pull a blanket over him. I tiptoe out of the room and into the kitchen.

Our kitchen has gone through many renovations, but the one we have now is my favorite, with faux marble countertops and dark wood cabinets, a stark contrast against the stainless steel appliances. The breakfast bar where I always liked to sit while I was doing homework in high school was added at Dad’s request. He wanted somewhere to eat that wasn’t as formal as the table in the attached dining room.

Adam is still asleep when Mom and Dad get home shortly after six o’clock.

“Aurora? What are you doing home?” Dad asks when he walks into the room. He’s dressed in his normal teaching attire: a suit and tie, and his salt and pepper hair is neatly combed to one side. Our eyes meet, and I’m reminded of how much I wish I had inherited his bright blue ones like Adam had instead of Mom’s hazel ones.

“Nice to see you, too, Dad.”

“You know that’s not what your father meant, honey. We weren’t expecting you, is all,” Mom says with a smile, wrapping her arm around my shoulders. My mom and I share many features. I have her long, wavy blond hair. We’re both a little over five feet and a bit curvy in the hip area. If she were a few years younger, we would look more like sisters than mother and daughter.

I smile back at her. “Adam asked me to come home this weekend, and I wanted to, so here I am.”

She nods, glancing at my dad before she says to me, “Have you talked to him?”

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