Wouldneverbe enough.
Without a word, Zane and I turned and ran back.
Even by the time we hit the gym, the storm inside me hadn’t settled.
I threw myself into training, into the sharp, punishing rhythm of fists against the heavy bag. Hit after hit, breath even, stance precise, but my thoughts—
My thoughts wouldn’t stop spiraling.
“Ko!” When our little brother entered the gym, Zane tapped out, sprawling onto the mats and throwing a towel over his face. “Excellent timing. We need an intervention over here.”
Rolling out his shoulders, Ko eyed me.
“Talk to me.”
I didn’t.
“Casimir.”
I slammed my fist into the bag one last time, sending it flying off of the hook.
“She didn’t cry when I popped her ankle back in place,” I muttered.
Silence.
I ripped off my gloves, hurling them on the bench. My hands curled into fists. My voice came hard and taut, something inside me unraveling.
“She didn’t cry when her eyesbeggedus to keep her. She didn’t cry when we doubted she was a witch. She sat there and explained, calm as anything, how she believes her stepmother killed her papa, how Arabesque destroyed his things while he was still warm in the ambulance outside, and she. Didn’t. Fucking. Cry.”
Zane sat up, his expression unreadable, and my head dropped forward so they couldn’t see what was in my eyes.
“But she cried over that moon-damn goat.”
I swallowed hard, breath rough. The words scraped raw in my throat.
“I know finding him doesn’t fix anything. I know it doesn’t change what she’s been through, or erase what she’s lost, or undo what those bitches did to her.” My fingers twitched at my sides. “But it’s the only thing we can give her.”
“You mean the only thing you feel you can control,” Zane said aloud what he didn’t really need to.
We were all quiet for a long moment before Koa simply said, “Then we’ll find the goat.”
I stayed rigid. Too tight. Still woundtoo damn tight.
But slowly, the tension eased, just enough that I could breathe again.
“You left Brummy to guard our girl?” Zane asked Ko.
“Yeah. Made her a deal that if she rested her ankle for an hour, I’d carry her down to the dining room for dinner.”
“She needs a change of scenery,” Zane agreed. “Rapunzel can’t stay locked in her fortress all the time. Bet she’d love to see the lake.”
“And the fox den in the orchard. Did you see how her eyes lit up when I mentioned that?”
“Greg’s planning to give us a tour of the property tomorrow,” Zane reminded us. “Said he has a golf cart and everything.”
“Sweet. We’ll take her with us.”
They turned to me, looking for approval or at least agreement, and I sighed soundlessly. Even as something inside me vomited at the idea of how vulnerable she’d be out in the open, I knew they were right.
