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SIDNEY

Taking a deep breath, I start to play with Silla’s hair. It’s already starting to dry, and it helps me focus.

“We all grew up with my aunt in a really small town in Forbach. Ayden, Andrya, and I are as close to cousins as possible, without sharing any relation,” I explain with a small smirk.

“We were… a handful.” Andrya winces. “Your aunt was a damn saint, especially once we became teenagers.”

“When we hit our late teens, Aunt Tia pretty much told us all to get jobs, keep our noses clean, and we could continue living with her,” I continue. “It was very generous of her, even if our idea of a job was to start a drug ring.”

Snorting, Silla shakes her head from where she’s cuddled up to me. “Of course it was,” she chuckles lightly.

“Our town was by the sea, and while small, it was also a great place for people to come unwind. An influx of tourists came in with their kids, so we decided to throw a party on the cliffs overlooking the sea. It’s gorgeous there, we built up a huge bonfire, and got really high,” I confess with a wince. It seems so dumb and pointless as I think about it now.

“We were the bosses, so we rarely used the product we were selling,” Andrya murmurs, her eyes unfocused. It’s clear she’s reliving the night our lives changed forever.

“The sales that night were enough for us to be able to move if we wanted to, to start a new life. We twisted our knowledge of plants to make drugs, but there were more legitimate jobs in the city if we wanted it. Aunt Tia was getting older, and I didn’t want to continue to stress her out,” I tell her, my hand moving to rub the back of her neck. “So we had a massive orgy, drank, did drugs, and celebrated.”

“Except something went wrong,” Andrya picks up, meeting my eyes. “I had a delicious threesome with two guys who were visiting from out of town, while Ayden and Sidney shared a girl with pretty ice blue eyes. Before you get all jealous, Silla, she woke up in the middle of the night to pee, but the fire was down to an ember or two by that point. We all slept outside because it was so nice out.”

“Her name was Myla,” I say in a hushed voice, rubbing my face as I wait for Silla’s reaction. “She didn’t know how close to the cliffs we were, and was probably still a little high. Her scream as she fell over the edge woke us all up.”

“Oh… Gods,” Silla whispers. “That poor girl. That’s not your fault though. She walked away from everyone, but…”

“We provided the party favors,” I tell her, shaking my head. “The death was ruled an accident, and no one told the authorities who they got the drugs from. We thought we were in the clear, but the Queen’s guard knocked on our door a week later with a warrant for our arrests.”

“Myla’s father was the Captain of the Queen’s guard, by some twist of fate. He had a cousin who lived in our town, and had sent his precious daughter there for her summer vacation,” Andrya says sadly. “The Queen cut us a deal to run her program or rot in prison. Neither option comes with a reprieve. We’ll have to stay here at the Queen’s behest forever.”

“My step-sister is an awful person,” Silla mutters. “She’s also an opportunist, so I’m not surprised she jumped at the chance to have you all as instructors here.”

“So… what do you think…” I drawl. She doesn’t seem bothered by this, outside of it being a sad coincidence. While it was, the three of us still blame ourselves to this day.

“I think you were young and made some mistakes,” she says with a shrug. “I don’t see it as anything that’ll make me regret loving you too.”

Andrya gasps, and I know it’s because if Silla loves me, then there’s a possibility she loves the twins too. Or could grow to.

“You hurt me when you ignored me, though,” Silla says firmly. “And today has me confused and fucked up. There’s so many ways that Lana reminds me of you two and Ayden, yet...”

“We’re not evil,” Andrya responds, curling up next to us now that the hard conversation is past. “The three of us have a strange moral compass, impulse control issues, and get excited over the oddest things, but there’s some good in us.”

Silla has a soft look in her eyes as she looks at ‘Drya, and I know she’s thinking about the week she was sick. Silla in pain isn’t something I enjoy.

“And that’s what I realized today,” Silla says. “I love you not only for the good parts, but also for the ones that made sure Zachary had a really bad day when he pushed me in the hallway.”

An evil grin pulls at Andrya’s lips, and I realize that she hasn’t enacted her punishment on Zachary. I hope she poisons him and he gets the shits.

“We have class in three hours. What do you want to do?” I ask her. I would give her the world if it was within my power.

“Will you play with my hair until I fall asleep? I feel like if I don’t get a nap, I’ll be wrecked for tonight,” Silla says just as she yawns widely.

Chuckling because she’s adorable, I nod.

“Absolutely. Gods, a nap actually sounds wonderful. Andrya, can you make sure to put the arnica cream on her neck, please? If I close my eyes, I’ll forget,” I tell her. This week has been really fucking stressful.

Nodding, Andrya quickly applies it, her hazel eyes darkening, her button nose flaring in anger at the bruises. Shaking my head discreetly, I ask her to wait with my eyes. Nodding, she lays back, waiting for direction.

My fingers gently rub Silla’s scalp, loving how she relaxes in my arms. She’s still sprawled over my lap, and I couldn’t care less that I’ll have odd muscles falling asleep from lack of circulation. Having her with me, gives me this odd sense of calm, even though we have a snake in the facility, and a queen who couldn’t care less if we all die of starvation.

Smirking as I think about how every meal served to Lana has been paltry and awful, I turn to Andrya as Silla’s breaths even out.