Resistance (19 page)

She just keeps glaring at me. She pulls her hair
tighter on her skull and yanks the band out of her mouth; pinning
her locks behind her head in a messy bun. “Honestly Flint, my
brother is none of your business.”

“Excuse me?” It falls out of my mouth before I can
stop it, and suddenly I’m mirroring her glare. I’m about to go off
when she continues on, either oblivious to the spike in my temper
or simply not giving two shits about it at all.

“Now, if you will excuse me, I’m going for a run. I
recommend you go find something to do inside.”

She steps past me, purposely slamming her shoulder
against mine as she goes, and I have to fight the urge to tackle
her to the ground. I force myself to laugh rather than scream.
“Your hard head is gonna get someone killed!” I shout after
her.

She doesn’t respond vocally, but her steps get faster
as she disappears from view. I growl and turn away, only to find
Sean leaning against the wall with a smirk firmly planted on his
face. “Trouble in paradise?” he asks.

I scowl. “Don’t you have something to finish in the
basement?”

It’s a weak response and I know it. My head is still
with Fi, screaming unkind words at her retreating back, not
figuring out how to make Sean hate me more. He chuckles a bit and
shakes his head before walking back inside.

Chapter 13—Fi

June 2102

Three days have passed since what I am now calling
“The Great Cage Incident” in my head, and Flint hasn’t ventured out
of his room much since our screaming match. I’m not really sure
whether I should be relieved or annoyed by his absence. I
understand his confusion and unhappiness at waking up in a house
full of noise and deadly metals without any kind of notice. I can’t
imagine how I would feel in his place. He has to cut me a little
slack, though. This is uncharted territory for me. We’re talking
about kidnapping a powerful Winter faery, and while he might think
she’s harmless, we don’t know that for sure. I’m not taking any
chances until I get a feel for her. I’m responsible for the safety
of everyone inside these walls, and I won’t be made to feel guilty
for trying to protect them.

The sun is just barely up as I do my second lap of
the day, and I suddenly hear very loud footfalls coming up fast
behind me. I time my pace to the interloper’s and take a sudden
step to the right while simultaneously reaching for the dagger I
keep sheathed on the inside of my thigh. Whirling around to meet
the unknown danger, I find myself facing my purple-faced cousin
clutching his side and gasping for breath. I let the dagger hang
limply from my hand with relief.

“For heaven’s sake, Sean,” I gasp out. “What are you
doing?” He leans over with his hands braced on his knees and gasps
without speaking for several moments. I slide the dagger back into
its sheath on the inside of my leg and shake my head at his idiocy.
“When will you learn not to just appear behind me while I’m
running?” I ask him for what feels like the thousandth time lately.
“You could have had a gut full of iron for your troubles, you
know,” I preach at him, starting to pick up speed with my rant. He
holds up a hand to try and shut me up I’m sure, but I continue on.
“Is someone in trouble?”

“No — sorry,” he pants. “Wanted to make sure you were
okay.”

“Are you kidding me?” I rage at him. “Why wouldn’t I
be okay? I run through this park every day! What is going on in
your head lately? Hear me — please! I. Am. Fine. I don’t need you
here protecting me from the trees while I run.”

He’s beginning to look angry now, but I find I don’t
care much. This is beyond ridiculous. He finally says, “You aren’t
as safe as you think you are, Fianna.”

I throw my hands up in the air in exasperation. “Sean
— I’m fine! Who do you think is stalking me while I run, waiting
for their opportunity to attack? Please enlighten me, because I
can’t take this anymore. You’ve been like a miserable, paranoid
shadow for months now. Back off!” I shout at him.

“I’m not paranoid!” he yells back at me; his face
turning darker with anger now. “You’re just blind to what is going
on right in front of you!”

“What exactly am I missing, Sean?”

“I don’t trust the faery,” he says sullenly, looking
at the ground. “I don’t think he should come when we go to retrieve
the Winter Fae. It feels like a trap to me.”

“Sean,” I say, trying to remain calm despite the
anger pounding through me. “I trust him. He’s coming, and that’s
final.”

“You’re making a mistake,” he says simply. “Again.”
And as fury rips through me I take off running again, away from him
so I don’t hurl my dagger at his head.

The nerve of him bringing up Hugh now spurs me to run
even faster. I don’t trust myself not to turn around and attack him
if I don’t put some distance between us. I beat myself up more than
enough about trusting Hugh and getting my parents killed. When
exactly Sean had become so angry and biased, I don’t know, but I
don’t like it and I’m tired of dealing with it…more tired than I’ve
ever been of anything ever before. I know my cousin had a hard time
when he was younger; losing his father to the Fae on a supply run
when Sean was only seven. There has always been more hatred in his
home than mine, but I can’t help but feel that he’s using it as an
excuse to make himself feel superior. My parents were murdered by
the Fae as well, but I hold onto what I was taught. My gran always
said there are good and bad parts of everyone; Fae and human alike.
You can’t ignore a trait in one species and vilify the other for
it. What would we be trying to save if that was the case?

I keep running; veering off the path I was taking and
looping around by the oak tree where I first met Flint. The sun is
all the way up and I feel its burn on my bared arms and legs by the
time I notice I’m kicking every stone I can find on the path. I
still feel the fury at Sean boiling just under the surface, and I
know the day will most likely not get much better for me. I turn
around and head towards home so I can try and avoid adding serious
sunburn to my list of complaints.

“Stupid, infuriating, overgrown ass!” I hiss as I
slam the back door behind me and stomp my foot for good measure.
I’m home, I think to myself. I can finally throw a satisfying fit
all by myself. Fuming, I stomp both of my feet on the kitchen floor
again and again; picturing my cousin’s face each time I bring my
feet down. He is the most infuriating oaf on the face of the
planet, and I want nothing more than to punch him. I’m still
muttering to myself when I hear chuckling and jump in response.

Whirling around, I look up and find Flint standing by
the coffee pot watching my display of temper and shaking his head.
“I certainly hope you’re not talking about me.”

I scowl at him. “For once, no. You may be an
infuriating ass, but I’ve never considered you stupid. Looks like
sparking my temper isn’t an exclusive ability of yours, after
all.”

I really don’t want to deal with any more difficult
people right now, and I find myself wondering if I’ll make it
through the rest of this impossible day without coffee. Sean has
exhausted my patience for the month at this point. Flint isn’t
showing signs of moving from in front of the machine, and I know if
I go over there he’ll take that as me engaging. Do I need to be
awake for the argument I know is about to take place between my
brother and I when I inform him he’ll be staying next door while
I’m away? I ponder this for a moment and then the need for caffeine
wins out over my sanity when I see Flint grab a mug from the
cupboard and fill it for me. Maybe he isn’t always a pain in the
ass.

“Well, shoot,” he says teasingly. “And here I felt so
special. You take sugar, right?”

“Yes, thank you,” I say, and he hands me the steaming
mug after doctoring it for me. I feel a tiny bit better just
knowing I have coffee in my possession. “You are officially not an
ass right now,” I say.

“I do believe that’s the nicest thing you’ve ever
said to me.” He looks confused by my banter but not unhappy about
it, and I grin up at him; telling myself the blush on my face is
from my time in the sun and not the fluttering in my chest.

It feels good to revel in lighter topics for once.
"I’m not that mean to you," I say in an overly sweet voice.

“I never said you were,” he says; leaning back on the
counter and nursing his own coffee.

“Maybe it was implied,” I mumble at him, and because
it’s been bothering me, I lean into the counter a few feet away
from him and say, “I think I need to apologize to you, Flint.”

Flint shakes his head and sighs. He looks like he’d
rather be talking about anything else. “Dare I ask for what?”

I look up at him and try to convey my sincerity when
I blurt out, "I should have warned you about the cage." I take a
deep breath and rush on. "I meant to tell you, and then I didn't
see you, and, um, everyone was telling me we should do it sooner
rather than later. I'm just sorry you didn't find out from me
beforehand."

He blinks at me; opening his mouth to reply and
closing it without speaking, and I feel even worse. “It’s alright,
Fi,” he manages after a minute. “I understand.” He pauses. “While
we’re apologizing, though, I... I’m sorry I yelled at you about
Eirnin.”

"That’s okay.” As I say it I realize I mean it. “He
trusts you, you know. I'm glad he has you around to stick up for
him. I know you have a point. I just — I can't let anything happen
to him, Flint." I take a shaky breath. "I'd rather he was alive and
hated me, than gone because I didn't look out for him."

He frowns and I get the impression he understands how
I feel better than he’d like to admit. “I had a little sister.
Believe me, I know you want to protect him with all you have. But
you do have to let him in on some things, or he’s gonna do
something stupid and not even realize it.”

"Have I mentioned that I kind of hate it when you're
right?” I do my best to smile at him. “I'm working on it."

“Get used to it, love.” He winks at me and then
sobers.

Looking at his unusually solemn face, curiosity gets
the better of me and I decide to pry just a little. "You
had
a little sister? Did, I mean....never mind. I'm sorry; it’s none of
my business."

“It’s okay.” He looks into his coffee for a second;
looking lost for words for once. “She, um...my dad and I got in a
fight…and her and I were stupid, and we snuck out and I was
careless and she…” He trails off and turns away from me to refill
his coffee mug. “Short of things is she got hurt and I couldn’t
save her.”

My heart aches for him. I can’t imagine what I would
do if anything were to happen to my brother, but I know Flint well
enough by now to know he doesn’t want me to fuss over his grief. I
wouldn’t want that either. He wants things to be normal.

So I try to go back to our previous conversation and
joke with him to lighten the mood. I know all too well how much it
sucks when someone feels sorry for you. "Cocky, aren't you?"

“I guess you could say that.” He smiles and I see the
gratitude in his eyes. “So who’s the stupid, overgrown ass you were
so pissed off about?”

I scowl, remembering my earlier encounter with my
cousin. "I can't believe you haven't guessed, honestly. It's Sean.
He's being...unreasonable."

“Oh, love, I definitely guessed. I just didn’t want
to assume and make an ass of myself.” He chuckles. “What’s his
problem now?”

I find myself glowering just thinking about the
obstinate jerk. "He seems to have acquired the desperate need to
always know where I am and who I'm with. He’s making me
insane."

Flint laughs and I glance up at him as he says, “He’s
been doing that since I got here.” He has a very unconvincing look
of worry and injury on his face, and I fight a grin for a moment.
“You don’t think he doesn’t trust me, do you?”

That, of course is exactly what it boils down to, and
it’s just so utterly ridiculous that I find myself getting angry
all over again at his behavior. "He’s a prejudiced ass and he's
really making me angry. Not only is he disparaging your integrity,
but he also seems to think it’s okay to throw my past mistakes in
my face to justify his position. So it's not really you he has the
problem with. It's my decision-making abilities, or lack thereof, I
suppose." The desire to smash my foot into Sean’s face is back once
again. He’s just so arrogant in his belief that he’s so much better
than all faeries or humans, even. I never noticed it before and it
troubles me now. My foot is tapping as I think about all the ways
he’s changed over the past year.

“Hey.” I feel Flint’s hand on my arm and I start in
surprise. “Screw what he thinks. He has no room to talk about
decision-making with the plans he’s made.” He lets his touch fall
away and I suppress a sigh. “Besides, I think you’ve got great
abilities in that field.”