Chapter 49 Chapter 49
The screech of Jace’s tires echoed down the street, leaving a heavy, ringing silence in the driveway. I stood there, shivering in the night air, feeling like the ground beneath my feet had turned to sand.
Zayelle was still standing by the front door, her chest heaving. She wasn't looking at me. She was staring at the spot where Jace’s car had been, her expression a messy blur of fear and something else—something that looked dangerously like longing.
"Zayelle?" I called out softly.
She jumped, her eyes snapping to mine. "He’s not what Marvin says he is, Cass. I know what I saw at the old school. Jace didn't push Maya. He was trying to catch her. Marvin is the one who cornered her, but Jace is the one who took the blame so their dad wouldn't send Marvin to a military academy."
I felt a pang of jealousy tighten in my chest. It was sharp and unexpected. "How do you know that? You told me you saw them fighting from your window."
Zayelle looked away, biting her lip. "Because Jace came to my window that night. Before the police arrived. He was shaking, Cass. He told me he had to protect Marvin because if he didn't, their father would finally give up on him. He sacrificed his own reputation so his brother could have one more chance at being 'normal.'"
My heart sank. Jace had been carrying that weight for a year. And the whole time, I had let Marvin’s bullying make me doubt Jace’s kindness. I thought of the way Jace looked at me—the softness in his eyes that he never showed anyone else. He wasn't calculating a move; he was just exhausted from playing the shield.
"But Marvin thinks Jace is the favorite," I whispered. "He thinks Jace has everything. He’s trying to destroy Jace’s life here because he wants to see Jace fail for once. He wants their dad to see that Jace isn't perfect."
"Exactly," Zayelle said, a tear finally escaping. "And Marvin is using us to do it. He’s using your fear and my secrets to drive a wedge between Jace and the only things he cares about."
Monday Night: The Secret Meeting
I couldn't sleep. Every time I closed my eyes, I saw Jace’s face when I told him to leave. It was the look of a person who had finally run out of reasons to keep fighting.
Around 1:00 AM, my phone buzzed.
Jace: I’m at the park. The one near the old reservoir. You don’t have to come. I just... I can’t be in this house with him tonight.
I didn't think. I threw on a hoodie, climbed out my window to avoid waking my mom and Marcus, and rode my bike toward the reservoir.
I found him sitting on a rusted swing set, his head in his hands. He looked smaller than usual, stripped of the "perfect twin" armor he wore at school.
"Jace," I said breathlessly.
He looked up, his eyes bloodshot. "You shouldn't be here, Cass. If Marvin finds out, he'll just double down. He wants to prove that I'm a 'bad influence' on you so Marcus will forbid you from seeing me."
"I don't care what Marvin wants," I said, sitting on the swing next to him. "Zayelle told me. About Maya. About why you took the fall."
Jace let out a bitter, dry laugh. "Of course she did. Zayelle always did have a soft spot for the 'tragic hero' act. But she doesn't get it. I didn't do it because I'm a saint. I did it because my dad told me if I didn't keep Marvin out of trouble, he’d cut both of us off. I’m not a hero, Cass. I’m a high-paid babysitter for a brother who hates my guts."
He reached out, his fingers trembling as they touched the edge of my hood. "And then I met you. And for a second, I thought I could have something that wasn't about the 'Twin War.' Something that was just mine."
"It is yours," I whispered, leaning into his touch. "It’s ours."
But as Jace pulled me into a hug, I saw a flash of movement in the trees behind the reservoir. A pair of eyes reflecting the moonlight.
It was Marvin.
He wasn't attacking. He wasn't screaming. He was just standing there, watching us with a look of profound, hollow betrayal. He didn't look like a bully in that moment; he looked like a boy who had been left out in the cold while his brother got the warmth.
Then, my phone buzzed again. This time, it was a text from Zayelle.
Zayelle: Cass, where are you? I’m going to Jace’s house. I can’t let him be alone with Marvin. I think I’m in love with him, Cass. I can't let him break.
I looked at the screen, then at the boy holding me, then at the brother watching us from the shadows.
The war wasn't over. It had just turned into a square.
Zayelle loved the boy she thought she could save.
I loved the boy who had been saving me.
And Marvin? Marvin just wanted someone—anyone—to look at him the way I was looking at Jace.