Chapter 71 Punish him
BRYNNE
The entire room exhales a collective breath as Kade stirs awake. Lilith smiles, patting his cheek. My heart squeezes, and I drop onto the bed to pat his forearm.
He blinks sleepily, stretching his arms with a yawn. There’s a faint bruise on his jaw, probably from where he hit the floor. Ignoring the rest of us, he turns to Lilith with a pout. But before he can throw himself at her, she cups his face, her fingers stroking his jaw.
“What happened to you?”
Kade darts me a look and mumbles a low, “Nothing.”
Lilith clears her throat, and my brother’s face flushes. He pushes off the bed to sit at the edge, picking at the thread around the knee of his jeans.
“One day,” she says, her finger so close to his nose, “you’ll get yourself killed in someone’s memories.”
Her words force a strangled sound out of my lips. I didn’t say a word, not even to Tristan or Sienna, who have camped in my room since I informed them about Kade blacking out. Tristan is ignoring me, and Sienna had been the one to call Lilith when the doctor couldn’t get Kade to wake up. If Father hears about this, we’ll have to listen to a long, tiring lecture.
Tristan pushes away from the wall with a scoff.
“I bet it was Brynne who asked him to do it,” he says when he’s in front of Lilith. Sienna makes a small sound of agreement, and Lilith’s brow lifts.
“Kade?” Lilith calls. “Is that true?”
His gaze lowers, and he confesses, “Yeah.”
Her head whips toward me, but she doesn’t say a word, not yet, anyway. Placing a hand on Kade’s knee, she turns to Tristan. A fist-sized bruise covers his jaw and cheek from where I hit him yesterday.
“What happened to your face?” she asks.
“Brynne punched me,” Tristan supplies.
This time, a sound shoots out of my lips. Tristan has always been one to keep everything to himself, but he has become unusually chatty since Soma fainted.
They’re definitely fucking.
“Brynne again?”
“He told them to kidnap her,” Sienna parrots from my table.
“Oh, for fuck’s sake,” I growl. Is this what we’re doing now? On my feet, I back away from the bed, like the distance will bring clarity. “I told you to delay her maid for a few hours.”
“Without her permission, that’s kidnapping,” Tristan points out.
Lilith’s gaze alternates between the three of us. My mouth opens, but there’s nothing I can say to counter him.
They didn’t have issues when I brought it up then, but a few minutes in Lilith’s presence, and they are already selling me out. My gaze finds Kade, and he flashes me a contrite smile before looking away.
Their betrayal cuts too deep. I shake my head and murmur, “I can’t believe we’re siblings.”
“Leelee,” Kade whines. He moves closer until he has his arms around Lilith’s waist, and his head on her shoulder. “Don’t punish me. Punish him.”
“Kade.” She smacks the back of his head, and the idiot grins like she caressed him. “I’ve told you to stop calling me that.”
When he purses his lips, she ruffles his hair. I don’t bother pushing down the annoyance that rushes to the surface.
“This is why he misbehaves,” I mutter. “He knows you’ll support him.”
“My sweet Kade will never disobey my instructions without a little coercing from his siblings,” Lilith mutters. Kade sticks out his tongue at me, and my eyes narrow in warning. Lilith won’t be here to protect him forever. She stands slowly, and the air shifts. Though she said siblings, her gaze focuses on me alone. “It’s time for us to talk about Soma.”
My heart races, but I keep a straight face. Kade slowly gets off the bed, and Sienna skips forward to aid him. Her arm winds around his waist to steady him, and he flashes her a smile. I’m not sure what she told Lilith, but I’m certain she didn’t miss a chance to talk about the fire.
Sienna and Kade leave first. Tristan glares at me, the bruise on his cheek making him look more menacing. After a polite nod to Lilith, he walks out. As soon as they are gone, Lilith bridges the gap. I expect her to reprimand or threaten me, but she slides her hand into mine.
“It must have been hard,” she whispers.
“What?”
Lilith says nothing, only tugging me toward the door. On opening it, she leads me to Soma’s suite. I hesitate, but she doesn’t give me the option of staying away. I haven’t been here since Kade fainted, and those memories hit at once when we enter her room.
Soma is unconscious on the bed, and Jade is missing. Lilith sits and pats the bed. Whatever she’s planning won’t work. But I force myself to sit beside her. She flicks a strand of hair away from Soma’s face and smiles.
“The full moon has passed. We’ll have to wait another month before we perform the mating ritual,” she says. The weight I didn’t realize had lodged in my chest deflates. “Sienna told me about the fire. What happened?”