“You can’t help yourself, can you?” Russ called after Cass. “You can’t stand your family or what they’ve built, so you’re all about destroying them—first Athena and now Sofia. Where does it stop, Cassandra? When everyone’s dead?”
Sofia’s faint but horrified “Russ, stop!” was chased by Rhea’s sharp rebuke of “Enough, both of you!”
Cass turned to see her parents closing in, her mother’s glare aimed solely at her. Because of course Mother would blame me for Russ being a dick.
Rhea brushed past Cass and wrapped her arm around Sofia’s shoulders in a picture of maternal concern, drawing her away from the door. “Sofia, sweetheart, why don’t you stay here tonight?”
Sofia was shaking her head and pulling away from Rhea, her gaze going to Cass. “No, I need some space.” Her gaze flickered to Russ and back to Rhea, who finally let her go. “From everyone.”
Rhea and Russ exchanged glances, and Cass didn’t miss the way Russ’s jaw tightened.
“How about I stay here and give you the condo for tonight?” he asked.
How about putting Sofia on a plane with a one-way ticket? Not that she’d get away with it, but the thought was tempting.
Sofia gave a jerky nod and wrapped her arms around her middle. “Thank you.”
And the fact that she felt the need to thank the jerk for being able to stay in her own place just pissed Cass off even more. For a moment, Cass’s vision wavered, and she swore cracks were snaking along the far wall of the living room, but she blinked, and the wall returned to normal. Her gut churned.
But her mother wasn’t giving up. She tried for a cajoling tone. “I know things have been stressful for you both, but perhaps tomorrow, everything will look different. Then you two can sit down and talk, figure things out.”
Or maybe, if luck is on my side, I can talk Sofia into changing the locks so my sister can get more than a night away from Russ.
“Maybe,” Sofia said softly as she moved closer to Cass.
That small concession had her parents exchanging a relieved look. The late-afternoon sun stretched through the wall of glass behind them, throwing a glint of silver over them. A whisper of knowing flashed through Cass, a warning of betrayal.
She guided Sofia behind her as she confronted her parents. “What are you two up to?”
Rhea and Elias both stared at her, her father with a frown, her mother with an arched brow, but true to form, neither one answered. Disgusted, Cass shook her head.
“You know what? Forget I asked. I don’t want to know.” Which was a lie, but getting Sofia out of there was more important than figuring out her parents’ scheme.
“What does that mean?” Elias demanded as Cass started to turn away.
She met her father’s disapproving gaze. “It means whatever you all are up to, keep Sofia out of it.” She turned to her mother. “She deserves to choose her own life, not be guilted into whatever role you choose for her.”
Frustration tightened Rhea’s face. “Why do you persist in thinking the worst of us?”
Before she could think twice, Cass revealed the heartbreaking truth, “Because that’s the lesson you taught me.”
Her father flinched, and her mother’s back shot straight.
“Always so willing to blame others, aren’t you, Cassandra? Even when it’s your choices that ruin everything,” Rhea said, doubling down on the snide. Her mother’s temper had sunk its claws deep.
Memories of endless arguments after Thena’s death rolled back in, threatening to drown Cass in old habits. Instead of letting them suck her down, she anchored herself in the life she’d created over the years, the hard-earned knowledge of her past mistakes, and the acceptance of her chosen family and stood strong.
“You do realize I’m no longer a guilt-ridden teenager, right? I know exactly whose choices led to what, and why. Today, my choice is to keep my baby sister safe.”
“Like you did for Thena?” Rhea’s bitter question ripped through the room like a bomb. As she blew across the unspoken, shaky line that barely held the mother and daughter together, her face paled, and her eyes widened. “Cassandra, I… I didn’t…”
Bleeding internally from a thousand emotional cuts and feeling as if a puff of air would send her flying into a million pieces, Cass struggled not to follow the hazy path spiraling out before her. The siren song of magic was difficult to resist, but staring into her mother’s face, she managed.
“What more do you need to lose before you actually listen to something other than your pride and greed?” Cass’s voice echoed ominously in the tense quiet. She caught Russ’s dark look and returned it with one of her own. “Or maybe it’s not just your pride and greed.”
Rhea swayed, and Elias moved in, holding her close. His face was drawn, and for the first time, Cass thought the two looked their age, but it was a distant observation that didn’t pierce the thickening layer of ice wrapping around her.
She motioned to her parents and Russ. “I don’t know what’s up between you three, but I don’t need to be an Oracle to know you’re about to repeat history. The thing is, I’m not about to let Sofia pay the price.”
