Narrowing her red-rimmed, blue eyes on my face like she can laser it off with enough determination, she cracks hers open and downs it before I change my mind.
“Talk to me, Joselyn. I get it; I promise I do, and the others are trying, at the very least. All of their families are either dead, or don’t want them back now that they’ve been changed, but you have a brother that would happily take you in so you don’t have to be here. Hell, Frank has practically moved in just so he can spend time with you.”
The muscle beside her eye ticks, but she doesn’t say anything.
I release a long breath through my nose, grasping for the last vestiges of my patience. I swear, the nicer we treat her, the more pissed off she gets, though, so I decide ‘fuck it’ and go for blunt.
“I get it; it’d be exhausting having to pretend all of the time if you lived with him.” She raises an eyebrow, but doesn’t interrupt me. “He’s already suffered enough all of these years and is so happy to have you back, and you’re afraid to break his heart all over again when he finally realizes that you aren’t the same little girl he remembers. That version of yourself is dead and you don’t know where to go from here because you’re trying to pretend that everything can go back to normal now, but the fact of the matter is that it can’t. You’re not that person and that isn’t your life anymore; for either of you.”
Strumming my fingers on the edge of my desk to dispel some of the restless anxiety my words are giving me, I push down the memories, but she tracks the motion all the same. “Nothing’s easy anymore. It sucks, it hurts, but you’re not the only one going through that pain. The others might be resentful because they think you’re wasting a gift they desperately wish they could have, but that’s because they’re hurting too. We all are, Joselyn, in our own ways, but making our peace with the fact we can’t go back? That everything’s ten times harder now?Thatevery single person in this building can relate to. Stealing shit won’t solve any of that. You have your own money, and you’re not exactly missing out on anything in this place, so what gives?”
With a long, drawn out sigh, she reaches down into her bag and pulls out the necklace, tossing it my way. “I just wanted to see if I could pull it off without getting caught, I wasn’t actually going to keep it.”
––––––––
Setting it aside andhopping up to sit the rest of the way, I gesture for her to elaborate. There’s plenty of eye rolling and huffing, but she cracks, proving my hunch was right and shewantsto talk, we just need to move her back to one-on-one therapy and revisit the group idea when there are people staying with us that are closer to her age.
“It’s not like it’s going to last, so I need to have a back up plan,” she spits, and once she starts, she can’t seem to stop. “What’s the point of going through all of this bullshit when anyone can rip it away from us when they feel like it? We bend over backwards to get a job where people can treat us however they want and we just have to take it? Watch the blatant favoritism, get paid less for more work, and listen to people talk shit or throw things at us. And we bite our tongues and take it to makethemfeel safe. You four are teaching us to be victims and be fucking grateful that we aren’t killed like it’s a privilege.”
Her chest is heaving at this point, tears gathering in her eyes that she angrily swipes at. Jumping to my feet, I offer her a hand, patiently waiting for her to reluctantly take it. I lead her over to the other side of the room before letting go to push open the balcony doors, crossing my arms to lean on the cement banister. Tentatively she follows, like she’s convinced this is my breaking point and I’m going to push her over the side and be done with her for all of the trouble she causes us.
“When you look, what do you see?”
She angrily gestures at the scene. “Our gilded cage?” When I don’t buy into her anger, she sighs, resting her elbows on the railing to look down at the section of open field between the cliffside estate and the forest. “Mr. Hendrix and Mr. Crawford working with Jason, Emma, and Nate.”
“And what are they working on?” I prompt.
An annoyed grunt. “Fighting.”
“Self-defense, but yeah, how to fight. You know as well as I do that those three can’t land a solid punch to save their souls.” She chuckles, giving me a flutter of hope. “We don’t want anyone to be victims ever again, Joselyn. Gods know we’ve all been through enough hell. And yeah, people are still assholes, and will be for decades. Do you remember what it was like five years ago? When it was a death sentence for a shifter to set foot in some of the bigger cities?”
She’s silent, but gives me a terse nod. I smile down at Beck and Kasen when they catch me looking, and it only widens when they start actively trying to show off.
“Change is hard, but that doesn’t mean it’s not worth fighting for. Things aren’t perfect by any means, but we’re doing the best we can with what we have. Just four years ago, we would have been killed on sight, and now we’re reuniting people with their families, getting them jobs and houses. There’s still plenty of prejudice against mages and shifters; it’s not only our fight. It’s gotten better for them over the years, and we can get to that point with vampires too.”
Glancing from the corner of my eye, I see her watching the scene play out beneath us with angry, wistful longing. “One person can’t change the world, but they can start a ripple effect. And together, we can make big enough waves that people can’t ignore us anymore. It’s hard, and it’s not fair of me to ask so much of you, but I wouldn’t have brought you here if I didn’t think I could help you. I can’t fix everything, but I can try to make your life a little easier for you to bear, and mine’s happier because of it.” I carefully brush away the tear on her cheek with my knuckle. “Change doesn’t come from screaming at an unfair world, it comes from this; somebody caring enough to try.”
A choked sound tears from her throat before she’s throwing her arms around me, using my shirt to muffle her sobs. Smoothing a hand over her hair and back, we stay like that until there’s a gentle knock at the door to my study that has her hastily pulling away. Using her sleeve to dry her face, she frantically composes herself before Malcolm peeks his head in.
“Just thought I’d check to see what you ladies want for dinner? Creed offered to cook, so I highly recommend voting for... toast,” he finishes with a grimace and a shudder.
Joselyn chuckles. “He moves out this weekend, right?”
Malcolm nods. “The guy finally caught a break and found someone willing to rent to him, and we’re going on six months at this job without any incidents. I can’t blame him for being anxious to get out of this place; at thirty-two, you want some privacy.”
She smiles. “We can suffer through a couple more times of letting him surprise us then, don’t you think?”
Malcolm sighs dramatically as he crosses the room, pulling me back against him and wrapping his arms loosely around me. “I suppose that’s the noble thing to do. And here I thought you’d be on my side, traitor.” Softening his expression, he takes in her puffy eyes as he rests his chin on the top of my head. “Everything okay?”
Joselyn and I exchange a heavy look before she straightens up, a look of determination overtaking her anger. “No, but it will be. Some day.”
***
