‘Iamnice.’
‘Not like how you were after you hit me.’
Lachlan shakes his head, speaks low.‘That’s fucked up, Jules.’
‘I’mfucked up.’
‘You’ll outgrow it.’Lachlan takes his pulse.‘Doing better.’
‘Promise me you’ll protect her.’
‘I always do.’
‘The parties… it means people willstayhere for weeks.’
‘I know what it means and I know what my job is.Maybe before you decide tobrat outagain, you could spare a second to think about your little sister.’
It’s grossly unfair and a weight no child should have to carry, but here in this place, the rules are what Alistair Penhalyx decides.
Bodies never leave.
The law does not set foot here.
There are no police.No saviours.
Only one bodyguard.
And the children he’s sworn to protect.
Jules says nothing else and Lachlan gets up to leave.
At the door he says, ‘It’s gonna be OK.’
It marks one of the few times he lies to Jules.
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
The adjustment is swift and brutal.
Alistair Penhalyx seems to realise his presence alone is punishment, and he makes no effort to soften it.He invades the Cove to tell Mimi she’s too old for cuddly toys now.He looks at Mari with cold disdain, and that night Mimi cries herself sick, terrified thatFarfaris going to take Mari away.
‘Kill him for me, Daddy,’ she begs.Lachlan hushes her gently, warns her never to say things like that aloud.She falls asleep crying.
Jules is there through all of it, carrying the weight.
Lachlan wants to lash out.Wants to say,see what you did?
Wants this to hurt enough that Jules never risks it again.
Instead, when Jules whispers that it’s all his fault, Lachlan tells him honestly, ‘No.It’s mine.I should’ve stopped you.’
Jules looks at him, frowning slightly.‘Why didn’t you?’
‘I didn’t want to hurt you.’
The boy’s confusion cuts deeper than it should.
Lachlan doesn’t ask why.
