Page 97 of Quiet
Aw, thanks buddy.
Isa advanced again and put a hand on Briar’s arm. The one holding the poker he’d just won away from the stranger. Briar’s body stilled.
Isa stroked his arm. “You don’t have to do this. I don’t need it. I only need you.” He slid his hand to the poker and began to ease it out of Briar’s hand.
The front door chose that moment to slam to the floor. The damage it took from Briar’s dramatic entrance had been too much for it to continue clinging to the lone hinge still attaching it to the door frame. The sound snapped Briar out of thedestroy anything that dares to threaten Isaplace he’d been caught up in. He let Isa take the poker.
The fury raging through Briar was still there, but it was no longer in charge. “He hurt you.” It was a terrible sound, like it had been ripped out of Briar’s soul. Guttural and heartbreaking.
“He won’t do it anymore. You stopped him.” Isa smiled up at him and stroked his face, smoothing out the lines of anger he saw there. “Come on. Let’s go home.”
Briar turned back to Thomas, whose anger hadn’t abated one bit in the face of his near demise. Briar jammed his foot hard into the man’s solar plexus before allowing Isa to pull him away. He continued to keep his body firmly between Isa and Thomas.
Isa’s mother and sister rushed forward to join the gasping, coughing man. Rebecca crouched down by his side and glared daggers at Isa. “Are you happy now? Your sick boyfriend nearly killed him.”
Isa didn’t bother to reply. He’d never get through to her. Anything he said about self-defense or rightful anger would go right over her head.
She continued aiming her hateful words at Briar. “Get out of my house before I call the police. But leave my useless brother behind.”
The stranger chose that moment to pipe in. “The police are already on the way, I’m afraid. You won’t be able to cover up abusing this boy anymore.”
“Abuse? How dare you come into my house and tell me how to deal with my son?” Thomas struggled to his feet with the help of his wife. “If that monster your brought with you hadn’t shown up, my boy here might have finally learned his lesson.”
Isa patted said monster in question. Briar didn’t seem to have a problem being called that. All Isa was picking up from him now was smug satisfaction.
“Your lessons are highly illegal and punishable by law,” the stranger continued.
Briar’s smugness dialed up to an eleven. His brother Cedar was the best.
“He’s your brother?” Isa asked.
Briar nodded and pulled Isa into his side. He wasn’t planning on letting him go anytime soon, and Isa was more than okay with that. He’d been afraid Briar would be too angry at Isa to forgive him. That was decidedly not the case.
“I have the law on my side.”
“No, actually, you don’t. The doctor who diagnosed Isa is a fake. He didn’t have the authority to diagnose him. In fact, he’s up on multiple counts of malpractice right now.”
“Briar, no offense, but your brother is officially sexier than you are,” Will drawled behind them.
“Will! What about Alice?”
“If Alice were here, she would definitely agree. You don’t need to worry about me lusting over your man anymore. You can keep your prickly bush. I’m climbing the tree.” Will eyed Cedar appraisingly across the room.
“And you really think your new soulmate would be okay with that?”
“Haven’t you heard? It’s always a good idea to climb big trees in pairs.”
Cedar coughed and looked away from the eye-fucking he was receiving from Isa’s best friend.
“Sick! All of you are sick! Every last one of you will burn in hell for this!” Rebecca shouted, wild-eyed.
Isa turned to his mother. She remained silent as always, but her mouth was curled in disgust. His father looked like he would kill Isa the second he had the chance.
None of them were going to change. Nothing he said would ever sway them.
“You can wave your fancy lawyer in front of us all you want, Isa. Your sick friends won’t be able to keep us from you forever.”
“Enough!” Isa’s friends had come all this way to save him. He wasn’t about to let his family bash them right in front of him. Without warning, an energy pulse born from the fairy magic inside him rolled out of him in a wave. All three members of his family recoiled visibly. “None of you have the right to talk to any of us like this. You don’t know what it feels like, being hated for being born.” Isa paused. “You should really know what it feels like.”
