But I could do this all day. And I would.
Until she saw reason and got the hell out of Camelot Court.
Chapter Four
Torn between letting them hash it out to get answers, and demanding them, I took the latter approach.
My voice rose, cracking sharply over the lawn.
“That’s enough!”
They whipped their heads toward me. Landon cursed and spun away from us, dragging his hands through his hair. Max seethed dangerously, seconds from launching at one of them, but he didn’t take his eyes off me. Neither did Kingston.
After catching his breath, Landon turned back to face me from a few steps away.
With distance between them that they refused to remove, they stood on the lawn, raging silently. Faces bloodied and clothes torn, arguing over whether I had a right to know if something affected me. I couldn’t stand another second of it.
I wouldn’t.
“You need to tell me what the hell is going on, and what happenedright now.” My body locked tight with tension as I stood my ground. “I’m no longer okay with this secret. Not when it’s causing allthis, and we need to deal with the bigger problems at hand.”
When they stayed silent, I gestured wildly at them.
Max shook his head and opened his mouth to argue.
“Then, go!” I snapped. “If you don’t want to be involved, then don’t be. But all this? It’s because I didn’t go with my gut, and I’m done with that now.”
His brow drew down with a frown, either confused or thinking about what Morty had shared with him.
I kept going. Kept fighting to get through to him.
“Max, you have every right to be mad right now. Furious, even! I kept a secret from you, and you had to find out fromhim.” I thrust my finger in Morty’s direction, ignoring his cry of innocence, and gave Max the truth. “I’m not going to stand here and defend myself, even if that moment was mine to keep or share, even if it was between me and them, because it’s bigger than that between us, and we both know it.”
My chest heaved with the admission, and the tension in his jaw eased. For a second, I thought he heard me, but I wanted to get through completely.
“I should’ve told you. I realized that before you found out, but it doesn’t matter. You’re hurt, and I’msorry.” I clutched my chest as the words came out, bearing the weight of them. “But Max, please, no more secrets. Be honest with me now, so we can move forward.”
He snapped his gaze to Morty, features twisting with hatred, and I closed my eyes when that pitch-black gaze turned on Landon and Kingston. I heard it before he said it.
A word I hated more than any other inside Camelot Court.
“No.”
Anger pulsed through my veins. Breathing hard, I stared at him. I wanted him to do the right thing. What I hadn’t been able to do. Like he had before when he pushed me to admit the truth about how I felt.
I needed him to be honest with me.
But he wouldn’t budge.
Stepping closer, I pointed at Morty. “If he’s dangerous—If he’s a threat tomysafety, I deserve to know why. So,Ican decide if I want him involved.”
“No.” At Max’s curt denial, I begged him with my eyes to hear me, but his next words assured me he refused to see past his hatred for his brother. “What you need to do is get the fuck away from Camelot Court, andeveryonein it.”
My face fell.
“How can you say that, Max?” My hands shook, and I balled them into fists. Nails digging into my palms, I took another step. “If I leave?—”
“You’ll be safe.”
