Page 42 of Malachi
“Fine. If you’re sure, then be my guest.” I turned on my heel, walking back towards the family I still trusted and began my speech. “I called you all here tonight because we need to discuss a serious problem. Our plan has been found out, brothers.”
I waited, letting my admission settle over them, watching their faces move from confusion to shock to surprise. And then, one by one, each of them looked at each other before turning their gazes to Levi. I didn’t look behind me to see their faces. Ruth, I’m sure, was still being the timid little mouse she had become. Levi was sure to be the stoic face of calm he had become in the past weeks.
“For all of your information — not including you, Leviticus — our eldest brother has sold us out to Father.” And just like that, the bomb was dropped.
“What the actual fuck?!” Ollie exclaimed, pushing off from the wall he had been leaning against.
“Is that true, Levi?” Zeke asked, his face a mixture of shock and calculation.
“Don’t waste your time trying to figure out why, Zeke. Trust me, I’ve been trying to figure it out for days now and in the end, the truth remains. Leviticus, for whatever reason, has decided that the life of a Zion Elder trumps the plan. Moreover, trumps his own brothers.” This time I turned to look at my brother, ready to see the look of fury on his face as I outed him to our family as the traitor he was.
Instead, I saw guilt.
“What’s the problem,Leviticus? Feeling a little remorse for your choices as of late?” I mocked him. I didn’t care. Let him feel bad. Heshouldfeel bad.
“Let me explain —” he began, but that was all my brothers needed to release every emotion they were feeling.
“You piece of shit!” Gideon beat the rest of us to it, quickly stalking up to our brother and punching him square in the nose. I couldn’t help it. I straight up cackled.
“Gideon!” Ruth exclaimed, turning to her husband as blood poured from his hopefully broken nose.
“Oh, there’s more where that came from,” Ollie joined in, hand already raised in a fist, ready for his go at him.
“Wait! Just wait!” Ruth cried, but it was too little, too late. Ollie grabbed Levi by the front of his shirt and gave him one hell of a right hook square across his jaw.
“I say he deserves it and a hell of a lot more,” Gideon seethed, ready for his next hit. I turned to look at Zeke, who sat there, puzzling over the situation, completely unmoving. He had slumped into the seat next to Talia, her hand wrapped around his in a show of comfort and support.
Just as Gideon was about to take another swing, Zeke rose from his chair angrily, a snarl erupting from his lips as he rushed over to Levi, pushing both Gideon and Ollie out of the way and grabbing Levi by the shirt with both hands.
“Do you understand what you’ve done!?” he snarled, nearly screaming in Levi’s face, nose to bloody nose.
“Zeke—” Levi muttered, spitting out blood against Zeke’s face, but it didn’t faze him a bit. I wanted in on the action more than I could possibly express, but I sat back, letting my brothers get out the rage I had held onto for the past several days completely alone.
“Don’t you dare fucking speak,” Zeke seethed, literally hissing the words so forcefully that he spat in Levi’s face. Fucker. “You didn’t just put us at risk. You put our wives at risk. You put my fuckingchildat risk.” He whispered that last statement with such blind hatred and anger that it made me shiver. Zeke was a scary motherfucker when he wanted to be, but he was goddamn right. If Eden was pregnant — No. I couldn’t even entertain that idea. Just the slip of the thought had me enraged past any point I had ever been in my entire life.
“He didn’t out you!” Ruth screamed.
“Oh, come off it, Ruth!” Delilah shouted, standing from her seat, hands fisted at her sides. Oh goody. A cat fight. The night was getting better and better.
“I’m serious! Stop it!” Ruth screamed as Zeke lifted his fist, pulling it back to land the blow of all blows straight across Levi’s likely already broken nose. “HE LIED!”
Her words hit me like a punch to the gut, and immediately I pushed it away.
“No, he didn’t,” I spat.
“Yes. He did,” she doubled down, a look of pure and fierce seriousness etched on her face.
“I heard him,” I pushed right back, finally walking over to join my brothers. My hand clenched into a fist, wanting nothing more than to get my own blow in.
“What did you hear exactly, Kai?” Zeke asked tersely, still holding on to Levi’s shirt with a death grip, arm cocked.
“I heard Father thank him for telling him about our plan,” I explained, my eyes locked on Levi, though his eyes were on Zeke. He wasn’t even preparing for the punch. He just sat there, ready to take it. Good. He deserved every blow and more, ten times over.
“That’s not what —” Levi started, but Zeke shook him so hard I’m sure his teeth rattled.
“Don’t even try to deny it. I heard it with my own ears. Father said thank you for telling him about our plan to leave Zion. You told him everything!” I roared, pushing Zeke out of the way and grabbing him myself. It felt good to have my own hands on him. I wanted to hurt him. Not just hurt him, but harm him. The same way he had harmed each one of us by putting us at risk.
“Let me explain,” he muttered.
