Page 40 of Glass
“Poppy, wait.” Felix tries to reach for me as I jerk open the car door before we’ve even parked, but I dodge his grasp.
Gabe looks pained as I pop out of the passenger’s seat, beelining for him. “Don’t say anything yet,” I warn him as I get close. I don’t want him to ruin this mini-reunion yet. I open my arms, and he catches me when I all but throw myself at him.
I can hear Felix park and get out behind us. My intuition tells me he isn’t as thrilled about my reunion with my brother as I am—but all my earlier suspicions dissipate as Gabe clings to me like he’s scared I might vanish if he loosens his grip.
“Okay, put me down,” I tell Gabe once he’s squeezed all the life out of me and potentially left my ribs a little bruised. The second I’m on my feet, I ball up my fist and hit him in the gut as hard as possible. Admittedly, it only pulls the smallestoomphout of him.
“What was that for?” Gabe scowls.
“For scaring me!” I point my finger at his face. “We were just attacked this afternoon and then saw you following us. We thought you were dangerous.”
Gabe shakes his head, and his expression sours, making him look eerily like our father when he got angry when we were younger. “You need to be scared, do you have any idea what kind of danger you’re messing with? Poachers, Poppy. It hasn’t even been a year since we all put ourselves in harm’s way to help Paxton and the Jarreaus, and now you’re putting yourself right back into danger!”
I take an instinctive step back as Felix closes the distance to stand pressed at my back. “Yeah, I do know about the poachers. The question is… Why do you?”
Gabe grimaces, his dark lips curling and giving so much away. “Maybe we should talk inside.”
“You’re not coming inside with us,” Felix growls, wrapping an arm protectively around my waist. Gabe’s eyes follow the movement. He might have known about the poachers somehow, but it’s clear he doesn’t know everything. His gaze moves over me until it lands on the base of my neck. I know my mark is at least partially visible around the neck of my t-shirt.
Gabe blinks slowly, as if he can reopen his eyes to a different reality. No such luck there, buddy.
“The two of you are mates?” he asks incredulously when it’s clear no amount of blinking can will away the truth. He looks pained by the words, which makes no sense because there’s nothing wrong with Felix as a mate. If the circumstances were different, if he wasn’t rogue and living outside the lines of society, he would be the perfect partner. The urge to protect him warms my insides to a dangerous heat.
“Watch what you say next,” I tell him, lowering my voice to an unfriendly, hard tone.
Gabe puts his hands up in surrender, even as he shakes his head to himself. “Unbelievable,” he mutters. He turns and paces several steps away before pacing back. Felix tenses against me until Gabe stops at the same distance away but doesn’t attempt to come closer.
“This is one hell of a mess.” Gabe rubs the back of his neck uncomfortably. The motion causes the sleeve of his brown t-shirt to slide up, and I take in a strange sight on the back of his bicep.
I step out of Felix’s grasp. “What is that?”
“What?” Gabe lowers his arm, but it’s too late for that now. I grab his arm and tug harder, leaving him no choice but to raise his arm again or look like an asshole. I can hear his teeth gnashing together as I yank the sleeve away to check out the mottled skin.
“Why…” I can’t even get the question out.
Felix senses my distress and lurches to my side again, both of us standing uncomfortably close to Gabe as he turns his head in an attempt to break eye contact with me.
I stare unflinchingly at the poorly healed scar. A Bittersweet flower, just like the one my mother always used, only this one looks as if it’s been carved into Gabe’s skin upside down. “Why do you have this?” I cry out, the words tearing painfully out of my throat. Tears gather at the corners of my eyes, though they refuse to fall.
I don’t know whether to be upset or angry. I’m feeling a hell of a lot of both as I take in the horrible sight. The scarring has made the image sloppy but still wholly recognizable. There’s no pretending it's anything other than our mother’s insignia.
How dare he look at the mark of my mate bond on my neck as if it’s unfathomable whenthisis the mark he wears?
“I can explain,” Gabe says flatly.
Felix grunts, clearly unimpressed, and finally I cave and turn into his arms. I’ve been trying to get away from Felix to go back to my family, but for what? At least Felix has been honest with me, which seems to be more than I can apparently say for the people who share my blood.
And if Gabe has been hiding a secret like this—that scar doesn’t look recent—then there’s no telling what else I don’t know about my siblings. Maybe we were right to stay apart all those years ago. Maybe Peter and Paxton are the only ones in my family I really know.
“We need to go,” I say, my voice hollow. I tilt my chin to look up at Felix, meeting his eyes as he stares down at me. “I have family that actually needs me. I don’t have time for whateverthisis.” I can’t even say my brother’s name in this moment.
I feel something I haven’t felt in a long time.
Betrayed.