Page 61 of Poison Aches

“I don’t have time for that and I sure as hell don’t have time for your nonsense. Call your sister.”

“It’s easier said than done, asshole!” George growls. “Do you think King would let me have free reign just like that?”

“And whose fault is that?” I mutter, staring into the doe brown eyes on the screen.

This girl...

The look she gave me just a few years ago when I told her I won’t ever love her is still engraved on each bone in my body.

I remember the shiver that passed through her body when I touched her, the way she would look at me, the way I reacted to her touch…

George blows a breath, bringing me back to the present. “When last did you see her and the boys?”

“Three weeks ago.”

“When next will you see her?”

“You already know.”

“So, you are going to Ivy’s farewell party?”

“Weren’t you invited?”

The line falls silent.

“I was.”

“But you won’t go.”

“I… It's not like that. It’s just?—”

“You’re busy shaking hands with the devil, damning all else just for your own sake.”

At that, George falls silent again. Yeah, that’s the danger of me… I know more than I should, but I’m not done.

“Even with an invite I’m sure was painfully sent, you still manage to disappoint your sister and your friends.”

“Don’t throw that in my face! You know it’s complicated.”

“I suggest you come up with new excuses. This one’s getting rancid enough to kill a skunk.”

“It’s not an excuse, you heartless monster!”

“Then please, by all means, enlighten me on the validity of the rhetoric you’ve been spilling for the past few years since yourosefrom the dead,” I say sarcastically.

“Listen, asshole, I didn’t call to get advice from a heartless monster like you either.”

I pause.

See, the whole thing about the twins, George and Astraea, is… let’s just say it’s morecomplicatedthan what meets the eye.

The rope is rotten.

Bloody.

Full of unresolved issues, death, and conspiracies.

The truths behind the secrets… it’s all a recipe for calamity so on that regard, I do understand why George still hasn’t fessed up to why he did what he did.

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