Page 28 of Twisted Fate

I shake my head. “He was asleep when I got here, but I know he hasn’t been feeling well, so I didn’t want to wake him.”

“I’ll get him,” Dad offers. “He should eat something.” He walks toward the living room, and I turn to my mom.

“Did you take him to the hospital?”

Mom presses her lips together, nodding. “He collapsed at school earlier this week.” Her throat bobs when she swallows, and her hands are gripping the counter so tight her knuckles have gone white.

My pulse races and nausea rolls through me. Adam hadn’t told me that. “Mom, is Adam sick again?”

She squeezes her eyes shut, nodding again before she opens them. “An MRI showed Adam’s cancer came back and spread to his brain.”

My mouth goes dry as my chest tightens. “His brain?” I force out, tears stinging my eyes.No.No way. This isn’t...Adam isnotsick again.

She nods. “He has an excellent doctor, and he starts chemotherapy next week.”

I bite back several profanities. She waited to tell me Adam was sick until I showed up at home, and she didn’t have a choice. I want to scream. “What—?” I’m about to ask why thehellno one thought to pick up the phone and call me when Adam’s groggy voice makes my stomach drop.

“Hey, Roar.”

I look past Mom to see him standing in the doorway with Dad behind him. I swallow the lump in my throat. “Hey there, buddy. How are you feeling?”

He frowns, shifting his gaze to Mom, and pushes the mess of curls away from his face. “You told her?”

Mom smiles, but it doesn’t reach her eyes. “We’re going to get through this as a family.”

Adam looks at me again. “Quit looking at me like that, okay? It’s freaking me out.”

I blink a few times. “Sorry.” How am I supposed to act around him? I shouldn’t treat him like he’s sick, that’s what the doctors told us when he was first diagnosed a few years ago, but all I want to do is wrap my arms around him and never let go.

“Why don’t we order a pizza?” Dad suggests, most likely in an attempt to break the sudden tension that’s hanging in the room.

We sit around the dining room table, eating together for the first time since summer break.

Dad breaks the silence. “You had your work placement interview this week, right?”

The slice of pizza I have in my hand stops halfway to my mouth. “Uh, yeah.” With what was thrown at me when I got here, I hadn’t thought about Tristan for a while.It was nice while it lasted.

“How’d it go? Did you get the company you wanted?”

“I didn’t get to choose. My program coordinator matched the students with mentors from local businesses,” I explain.

“Okay, so where did you get placed?” Mom cuts in.

“At a hotel in the downtown core,” I say.

“That’s wonderful,” she praises. “Congratulations, honey.”

I clench my teeth together for a second and smile. “Thank you.”

“When do you start?” Dad asks.

“Monday,” I say. “Nine o’clock sharp.” Using Tristan’s words makes it difficult not to cringe.

After dinner, Adam offers to clean up what little mess we made, so I join in to keep him company. I could’ve used this opportunity to do some digging and find out what Mom and Dad might know about our lineage, but I’m still unsure how to bring it up in a way that won’t have them worry that something’s going on, and now doesn’t seem like the time to be concerned about it. The last thing I need is for them to get suspicious and ask questions I can’t answer.

We finish the dishes and meet Mom and Dad in the living room to watch a movie. I’m struggling to keep my eyes open for the first half, and by the second half, I’m dozing in and out before I fall asleep. After the week I’ve had, it doesn’t surprise me in the slightest.

I open my eyes, blinking until they focus.

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