Page 21 of Blood that Burns
Typical Law.
No time at all goes by and the doors are being flung open to reveal me, standing here awkward and unsure.
“Ready?” he asks, practically bouncing on his feet.
I shrug, earning an eye roll. He comes to my side, grabbing me under the elbow and escorting me into a library that I can’t even begin to process. My eyes sweep around the massive room full of dark cherry shelves crammed to the brim with books. In the far corner is a leather settee, and a smile spreads across my face the moment I see her snuggled atop of it.
“Maggie?” she croaks.
My hands lift out to my sides, fingers wiggling in that awkward cheerleader move. “It’s me.”
I hardly register what happens next as my feet absently carry me to sit next to Marina, pulling her into my chest. All the worry seeps away and nothing else matters but this moment. One I wasn’t sure I’d get anytime soon.
The scent of lavender surrounds me, and I pull her in tighter, allowing every emotion to bubble to the surface. All the years of lies and grief compile until it all spills over and we’re both lost in our own torturous memories.
We sit cradled in each other’s arms for what feels like hours, each releasing all the tears of joy and sorrow we’ve carried with us.
One day I’ll ask her what plagues her the most, but for me, it’s that day I jumped. The horror that filled her eyes. The explanation I didn’t have time to offer her. The absolute devastation when I whispered those last three words...I love you. I hoped that, if nothing else, she’d carry that truth with her and allow it to be a balm as she wrestled with the grief I caused.
“How? I heard you speaking to me, Maggie. I truly believed you were dead.”
My nose scrunches and I shake my head. “That wasn’t me. I—”
“What?” she practically shouts, cutting me off. “If not you... who?”
I raise my hand to halt the impending onslaught of questions. I know that someone was communicating with her and she thought it was me, but I don’t have answers for her on that front. “I know you have questions. And I promise I’ll tell you everything. But you have to rest right now. You look exhausted.”
The deep bags under her eyes have me questioning when the last time was that she slept. She looks terrible.
Not only does she look worn, but I need time. I’ve been holed away for the last few weeks with little conversation, and this is overwhelming. More so than I could’ve imagined. Today has been too much. I just want to enjoy this moment with her.
If Marina’s flailing arms and shaking head are any indication, she’s going to force the tough conversations. There will be no easing into it.
Typical Marina.
“You aren’t any less aggravating.” I smile because some things never change and, in this moment, it’s a truth I appreciate. I didn’t know how different my sister would be after all this time. We’ve been through things that would inevitably change the fabric of who we once were, but I hoped that a bit of the sister I love would still remain. And it does.
She’s spouting some tirade, but the only portion I catch is, “No more secrets, Maggie.”
No reprieve, then. She’s going to jump right to the elephant in the room and push like she always does. I figured this would be the case, but it still manages to annoy me. I’m tired of being forced to do and say things I don’t want to. I promised myself a long time ago that I wasn’t going to be strong-armed by Marina or anyone else.
“You want me to talk?” I bite out, a little too harshly. “I was trying to protect you.”
She pulls a face like that is the most ridiculous thing she’s ever heard.
“You didn’t want to share your new boyfriend.” She spits the words like a petulant child and my head jerks back.
Of all the idiotic things to say, leave it to Marina to choose the most laughable of all. And with Law standing here. My eyes cut to him, and the look of disgust I see makes her words that much more ridiculous. Embarrassment settles over me.
“That’s not fair. It wasn’t like that.”
I only wish it was about a boy. My secrets were so much bigger. So much worse. A boyfriend would’ve been a welcome distraction. Instead, I kept from her that real monsters were coming for us. The red-eyed stranger at the end of our bed wasn’t the true issue we needed to worry about. He was there to protect us from danger.
“You went crazy. We were almost institutionalized.” The words are hurled at me, bringing me back to times I’ve tried desperately to forget.
Times before Law swooped in and saved me from myself. The days when Marina was the one protecting us, trying to keep me out of the hospital.
What I never said was that her resistance to telling the truth was what had me spiraling. I felt alone and unvalidated.