Page 99 of Quiet
Briar hadn’t expected him to bounce back immediately. It would have been more surprising if Isa went back to the way he was before he was kidnapped without a second thought. The first few days afterward, Isa had spent in bed allowing Briar to act like a great, big love helicopter, never straying far from his side, only leaving to bring things that might make Isa happy or to get more bandages. And since Briar seemed to make Isa the happiest, that’s what he got.
After a week of not leaving their room or talking to anyone but Briar, Briar finally began to get worried. Isa was a friendly, outgoing person. From the moment Briar met him, he always seemed to be surrounded by friends and activities. A week of doing nothing but hiding in their bed was concerning.
That’s where the party idea came in. Briar brought his concerns to Will via Alex and much texting. They came up with a plan to get Isa out of his room. To Briar’s surprise, it hadn’t even taken a party to bring Isa back to life. All he’d needed to get Isa’s attention was five minutes of watching Will chase Cedar. Once Alice was in the mix, it had become something akin to a hobby.
So, Briar convinced his brother to move to Massachusetts for the summer—reasoning it would be easier to deal with the legal ramifications of Isa’s family issues if he didn’t have to bounce back and forth from coast to coast the whole time. It had taken less effort than Briar had expected. Either Cedar missed his family, or perhaps he wasn’t as immune to Alice and Will as he seemed.
It had taken exactly five minutes for Isa and Will to convince Alice to move into Briar’s house, rather than go back to the eastern half of the state for the summer—apparently, she had her own family issues to avoid. Briar was more than fine with it. Alice was helping bring life back to Isa’s eyes. And if filling his house with found family was what it took to make Isa happy, that’s what Briar would do.
He was well aware he was throwing his brother under the bus for the sake of Isa’s mental health, but Briar thought it might be good for the man. And to be perfectly honest, it was amusing as fuck to watch his normally well-spoken brother become red-faced and tongue-tied under the attention of Team Trouble—Isa’s name for the new duo.
It was a bit disloyal—especially considering how much help Cedar had been in rescuing Isa. And how much he’d been a part of the surprise they were about to give Isa now.
“Young is relative,” Briar answered finally.
* * *
ISA
“What about that guy? He seems shady as fuck,” Alice asked, perched on Will’s lap like she owned it.
“He’s not shady! He’s worried about his grandma. She sounded funny when he talked to her on the phone this morning.” Isa said. He really shouldn’t have allowed Alice and Will to convince him to skim the thoughts of the people at their party. He only agreed to go for surface thoughts—nothing deeply personal. Isa was a good boy. Briar had told him so last night.
His new ability had its limitations, but exploring it was a nice distraction from other less savory things.
“Well, now I feel like a shitty person.”
“There, there, pet. We all make mistakes,” Will said as he sipped a violently green cocktail with three umbrellas tucked around the rim.
“I’ll bring him some tea later to apologize,” Alice said, somehow forgetting the guy had no idea she’d ever said anything mean about him in the first place. But then she was two violently green drinks ahead of Will, so she could be forgiven. “Now do those two. I am dying to know anything I can about their dynamic. They are easily as mysterious as you and Briar.”
Isa followed where Alice was pointing to see a tall, Asian man crowding into the space of a short, waif-like freshman who looked incredibly familiar.
Isa’s ears heated when he recognized the guy he’d maybe kinda had a teeny crush on the previous fall. “I can’t read Eli’s mind!”
“Why? Afraid you’ll find something dirty there? Check it out, I’m pretty sure Haruka has his hand on his ass right now. I mean, just look at how red Eli’s face is!”
“On the other hand, it is a good idea to fully test this whole mind-reading thing.” That was a good reason. Right?
Isa focused his attention on Eli. It was more challenging than reading Sad Grandma Guy. It was almost like something was blocking him. He pushed a little harder, pulling on the fairy magic in the back of his mind. He was slowly coming to an agreement with it. Isa would allow it to exercise itself, and it agreed not to drag him into an endless slumber.
Isa finally broke through the barrier surrounding Eli. It was like being spun around and around inside an echo chamber while two sets of voices assaulted his senses. The resonance drove him right back out again and left his ears ringing.
Maybe he’d have more luck reading Haruka? He shifted his attention to the tall, somewhat intimidating man at Eli’s side, hoping for better results. He immediately regretted it.
“Oh shit, is he looking at us?” Alice ducked her face behind her drink.
“No, he is definitely only looking at Isa.” Will said in a fake whisper, clearly enjoying the unexpected drama.
Not only had Isa bounced right off Haruka’s mind, but he’d gotten a massive headache for his trouble. And possibly a future contract on his life. A large, reassuring hand came down on his shoulder.
“What’s that guy’s problem?” Briar asked, scowling over at Haruka, who immediately shifted his attention from Isa and glared right back.
“I was doing something I don’t think I was supposed to.”
“You think he noticed what you were doing?” Alice asked. “If anyone could, it would be Haruka. Stop staring, Briar. I don’t want to be murdered in my sleep tonight.”
Isa couldn’t tell if she was joking or not.
