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“Where the fuck did you go? You were gone all damn day. And not afuckingword before you take off? Seriously?”

Surprise flickers through me.

“I didn’t think you’d care. You were happy enough for me to walk away.”

Probably even eager to get rid of me.

“There’s no way to reach you! How would we even know if you needed help when you don’t have a cell phone?” he asks darkly. “You just want to sneak around and use mine.”

“I told you why I don’t have a phone?—”

“No, actually, you didn’t. None of this makes sense, Gilli,” Aiden interrupts. “We’re just trying to understand why you’re around, and why you took off like you did.”

“Where wereyou?” I toss back at Aiden.

Is this how teenagers feel?

Soren lets out a bark of laughter. “Immature. Trying to take the attention off of you by focusing it on him. We’re not playing these games. You can’t act like you’re worried about your safety and then disappear half the damn day.”

“Without telling someone,” Aiden adds, to remind us both of the point.

Once again Aiden is caught bobbing between us. His eyebrows pull together in a worried expression.

I tense, bracing for the verbal assault, but I don’t move away or back down. It’s stupid, really. And itisimmature, even though a part of me feels guilty. They’re right.

The cabin’s four walls are a sanctuary for all of us and it’s the least I can do to let one of them know if I’m taking off. Even a simple note would’ve sufficed.

“We had no way of knowing where you were. The locals might be friendly, but people are people,” Aiden reminds me.

I shake my head. “What does that mean?”

He taps his fingers on the counter behind him, his arms bent at the elbows, showing off muscle. “It means you’re a single woman and it’s nighttime. Being out there alone is asking for trouble.”

I know.

I know, better than they’re aware of, the danger of being a single woman alone. Even in the safety of my own apartment, I hadn’t been able to keep myself protected.

Those are the things I should say, what a rational adult would say to end the argument before it began. I appreciate their concern. That’s what it is.They’re worried about me.

Instead, I act like the immature fool Soren tells me I am. “Look,” I begin with a sigh. “You're not my keepers. You’re not my brother.”

His eyes narrow. “Excuse me?”

“I understand the risks. I live in the city. I know what to do and I’ve got pepper spray on my keychain,” I tell them slowly.

“Then stopactingstupid,” Soren fires back. “Maybe I’m not your blood kin, but I know what happens to people when they refuse to pull their heads out of their own asses. Likeyou.”

“Okay, I’ve had a long day. I’m dead on my feet.” I lower my voice in direct contrast to his bluster. “If you want to scream at me some more, then we’ll pick this up again tomorrow.”

“Absolutely not.” His arms band around my torso before I’m out of the room and Soren hauls me off my feet.

“What are you doing?” I screech when my feet lift off the ground.

“Sorry, but I’m sick and tired of you storming off rather than having a conversation.”

My gut plummets, my heart leapfrogging into my throat. “Stop touching me like you’re going to physically toss me in my room and lock the door.”

He drops me abruptly and I land hard enough to lose my balance.