Page 5 of Kai
“He’s gone,” she uttered softly.
Somewhere down the hall, the door to my father’s study slammed shut. The four of us flinched as one.
“Cece?” Thena squeezed my hand. “Please?”
Plopping down on my chair, I shook off her hold and glared at my cold, soggy dinner.
“A classic ending to an Astor family meal.” Affie stuffed her mouth with a forkful of salad, and chomping down, kept talking with her mouth full. “He raves, draws blood, and then runs away. It’s what he always does.” Her sparkling eyes fell on me. “He’s a loud, miserable coward with archaic views of women. Of us! You did good, Cece. Sorry that our paternal asshole shot you down.”
“He hasn’t shot me down.” I clenched my hands in my lap. “I’ll write more grants. I’ll use my share of Mom’s inheritance to fund my research. But here’s the question that always boggles my mind: Why would Mom marry a piece of shitlike him?”
“She must’ve had her reasons.” Thena defended our mother’s choices as she always did. “And remember, everyone says his personality changed after she died. Since she’s gone, it’s a mystery we may never solve.”
“Father’s a dick.” The fury gleaming in Affie’s eyes could’ve burned entire cities, but she smirked, and displaying the greens stuck in her teeth, pointed her knife at each of us. “Don’t any of you ever forget it.”
“I don’t feel very well.” Missy’s eyes rolled to the back of her head. She went boneless before she slumped to one side of the chair.
“Oh, my dear girl.” Thena leaped to her feet and rushed to her side.
“Cue in the goner.” Affie huffed, and yet she abandoned her dinner and came around the table, as did I.
“Onepeaceful dinner,” Thena muttered as Affie and I helped her ease Missy out of her chair. “Is that too much to ask for? Justonedinner where no one rages.”
“Or faints,” I added. “Missy’s been fainting since she was a kid, but lately, it’s gotten worse.”
Affie cut me a stark glare. “I wonder why.”
“Hey!” I shot back as the three of us worked to lower Missy to the floor. “You’re not innocent in this. You dared me. You wanted him all pissy and shit.”
“He’s always pissy and shit,” Affie retorted.
“Please don’t fight,” Thena begged as we laid Missy on the Persian rug. “Let’s keep the peace among ourselves and take care of each other. It’s just us now. You both know that.”
Thena’s sorrow ached in my chest. Properly chastised, Affie and I worked with her to make Missy comfortable. It wasn’t hard. She was just a slip of a girl and light as a feather, a wisp of bones and white skin topped by a straight red mane. My heartshrank, and my protective instincts flared. She seemed so wan, so small and helpless, lying on the rug as Thena took her pulse and monitored her breathing.
I rushed to the nearest couch, grabbed a cushion and a throw, and returned to the dining room. Thena took the pillow from me, fitted it under Missy’s feet, then took Missy’s pale hand in hers. Affie forewent her legendary attitude to sit beside Missy and hold her other hand.
As for the staff, they knew better than to show up during an Astor shitshow. They had all disappeared. Even Cook and Sandy—who had stepped up to take care of us when Mom died—retreated, dodging our furious father and giving us privacy to deal with the damage.
Grief marred Thena’s beautiful face. “Missy’s fingers are so cold.”
My shoulders slumped with guilt. “Do you want me to call the doctor?”
“There’s no point.” Thena shook her head, and her perfect blonde curls fluttered around her face. “We know what to do, and the doctors have told us that this is Missy’s way of coping with stress.”
“Conking out.” Affie rolled her eyes, but her voice carried a gentle warmth for a change. “I wish I could do that, or maybe escape through a portal into another dimension that doesn’t include Father.”
“You and your imagination.” I scoffed as I covered Missy with the throw. “Youwouldwant to disappear. Hide under the sheets with some horny hunk. You read too much romantasy. Disappearing is not scientifically possible.”
Affie’s head tilted in a bird-like manner reminiscent of a sparrow, a gesture that concealed the fact that she was more like a hawk. Or a fierce pterodactyl.
“Cece?” Her gray eyes sparkled as she queried me withher eyebrows. “Are you sure?”
Her question sparked something new inside of me, a longing for freedom that hadn’t been at the front of my mind before. Did we really have to live like this?
“Our best hope is that Missy’s fainting spells will go away,” Thena reminded us.
“Maybe, if she moves far from here, she won’t faint so much.” I knelt at Missy’s feet. I hated myself for being the trigger of her fainting episode. Missy had always been delicate. I should’ve refrained from having an all-out fight with Father in front of her.
