“And you’d have shot him?”Baachanis watching me with a raised brow, “For the new boy?”
“Knocked him out mildly.” I would’ve definitely shot him and she knows it.
“Why haven’t I been introduced to this new recruit?” Father asks suddenly.
My mouth opens and closes. Why was that again? “I was too busy.”
“He’s Dahlia’s boy,”Baachanspeaks up and I can’t help but throw a scathing look in her direction. She continues without a care of course, “The Adler. Survivor of the Nash operation. But a very good child. Slightly confused by the tell of the spirit following him.”
My heart does this strange, panicked stagger in my chest. Wrong moment to remember why I hadn’t introduced him to Father.
“The one who lost his team?” Father’s displeasure is immediate.
I stand, “Father—”
“You’re joking,”Mamalooks positively beside herself with laughter. “You let asurvivorinto your squad.”
“He’s a competent man—”
“Not competent enough to stay out of the water it seems.”
“Competent enough to keep me out of it,” I snap.
She starts, “Reuben, this is ridiculous—”
“I won’t let you tell me how to choose my team.” The room’s already frigid temperature enters subzero levels, and whenMamastands from her chair, I can feel Aster and Baal’s uneasiness from here.
But there’s a surge of fire in my blood that refuses to listen to any more of this, standing strong even as she approaches me. “And I won’t listen to you talk badly about Christian just because you’re afraid of losing your son. How I use my life ismychoice—”
Her palm connects with my cheek sharply.
The sound is loud in the room… but we’ve danced this dance before; when I meet her eyes, my glare hasn’t softened and neither has hers.
Each of us, a cut-and-paste mirror of each other.
But this time, my mother’s usually icy glare is glassy, “You’remy son,Reuben.”
I can count on one hand the number of times I’ve seen my mother cry.
I’ll be honest, it stuns me.
“You could’ve disappeared into the sea and we wouldn’t have been able to see even a glimpse of you ever again.”The words tumble from her lips in Spanish now that she’s lost control. “Who am I supposed to kill if the ocean takes you away?”
She stands tall, refusing to let her tears fall, yet still, I’m watching her energies tremble… and my gaze softens, my stubbornness finally ebbing away from my shoulders as I hold her hands in mine.
“I’m sorry, Mama,” I say gently, “but Christian is…”
The words die in my throat because I don’t know yet what Christian is. I just know that I can’t keep my eyes off him. I hate when he’s hurting. I want him to open up to me. I want to see him smile more often. I want to hear his laugh brighten up the roommore.
“He’s…” I switch to English but even though the words trail off again,Mama’seyes widen slightly, as if piecing together the words I’m unable to say. Her shoulders relax too, the fight finally leaving her body, and she reaches out to cup my cheek—rubbing her thumb across the now tender skin.
In hindsight, she really should enter one of those slapping matches.
If she thinks this is holding back, then someone needs to tell her before she kills me by mistake.
“Your father and I will discuss,” her promise doesn’t sound at all in my favour as she pulls away. “Leave for now. You and your team will be curbing the damage from this since it’s what got us into this mess.NotAster.”
Shit. “Mama—”
