“Family?” I snicker humorlessly. “I don’t even know what that word means, Keegan. I never have. All that word has ever done for me is beat me down like I was less than nothing and then throw me away. So, what the fuck am I supposed to do with that?” I ask him.
“Then let us teach you what it really means," Aydin reassures me.
“I was trying to, but all you’ve taught me so far is that none of you are worthy of my time, because none of you really give a fuck about me. You all think you’re so much better than Beth because you don’t beat me like she did, but you’re not. You still treat me like I’m nothing.”
I look at Aydin. “Or worse, convince me that I’m something to you when you know it’s all a lie.” My eyes fall on Lachlan. “And just like Beth, you’re ready to throw me away when it’s convenient for you. Or I should say, whenever you deem metoo much of a fucking threat.”
I feel gutted. The hurt and betrayal are fresh and festering.
“I’m done. I’m leaving. All of you just stay the fuck away from me.”
“Leaving is not an option, Vinna, you are claimed and underage," Lachlan declares, and I can feel his rising anger.
“Just try to fucking stop me. You think you know what I’m capable of? You have no fucking clue.”
“Vinna you can’t just walk away from being a caster," Silva tells me.
“I’m not. I’m walking away from all of you and this fucked up coven you want to pretend could ever be my family."
“You are not leaving!” Lachlan slams his hands on the table and stands up squaring off with me.
Here we go. Magic sparks awake inside of me and I ready myself.
“Lachlan!” Birdie yells, as she stomps into the dining room, Lila and Adelaide close on her heels. “What are you doing? We’ve given you time to work through how difficult all of this is for you, but enough is enough! What are you hoping to accomplish behaving this way with her?”
I expect Lachlan to rage at her like he does with me, but he drops his gaze guiltily.
“What if it were you? What if you disappeared and Vaughn discovered your daughter. Would this be what you’d hope for her?” Adelaide asks lovingly.
“It should be him here, not her!” Lachlan bellows, a tear sliding down his face, and his admission breaks something in me.
“Well, it fucking isn’t. You selfish piece of shit. You think I asked for this, any of this?” I scream at him.
“Neither did I!” he yells back.
“Yeah, but the difference between you and me is that I’ve made the best I possibly could with the shit I’ve been given. All you do is pout, feeling sorry for yourself, and destroy the only connection you have to your brother. You’d rather have him here than me, and now you have neither!”
“Vinna, he’s just hurting-”
“Who isn’t Keegan? How much longer are you going to sit with blinders on and let me get crushed under the weight of his pain? Why am I so easy to sacrifice? You liars want to pretend I can be family. But you sit by over and over again and watch him try tobreak me!”
I leave, my hands shaking from the adrenaline and magic coursing through my body. No one tries to stop me. No one says a word. I pull my spare keys off the ring in the garage and jump into the Jeep. I fidget impatiently waiting for the garage door to open when someone pulls on the handle of my door.
I look over to find Aydin’s pleading face. I stare at him hollowly as he tries to say something, but I’m backing out of the garage and barreling away from the house before I can make sense of his shouts.
I don’t know where I’m going. The fucked up reality is that I don’t have anywhere to go. I drive with no destination as I race in a random direction, speeding to get away as fast as I can. I drive and seethe for who knows how long until everything inside of me feels empty and everything outside of me becomes unfamiliar.
The tingling staticky feeling of a barrier washes over me, and I realize I’ve left the Solace boundary. I start to slow down so that I can turn around when my steering wheel suddenly jerks and the Jeep starts to shudder. I wrestle it over to the side of the road and climb out in search of the cause. My back wheel is mangled. Shredded pieces of tread trail from the Jeep back to the road.
“MOTHERFUCKER!” I shout out to the sky and stupidly kick the offending tire.
I run my hands through my hair and look around like the solution to all my problems is in the trees. I’m pretty sure they’re laughing at me as they bear witness to the horrible luck I’m having.
I’m standing on the side of the road in short cotton shorts and a tank top. I don’t have my phone or wallet. I don’t even have shoes on. I chuckle humorlessly at my stupidity. Well, I’ve never changed a tire. Hopefully it’s not that hard, I muse, pissed off.
I dig around in the back until I find all the tools I think are necessary. I make my way to the tire and sit down in front of it. I’m at the perfect angle to clearly see my front tire slowly but steadily deflating, as I loosen the lug nuts on the back tire.
Fuck!I press my forehead against the mangled rubber. One flat I can try to tackle, but I don’t have two spare tires. I get up, brush my ass off and rehome the tools. I lock up the Jeep, and I start walking.
