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“Cal, what the fuck?” He gently brought me into his arms for a hug.
We weren’t huggers, as a rule. The rest of my family were, to my distaste. Never missed the chance to show somekind of affection. I’d weathered it with moderately good spirits throughout my life, and Rowan was no longer as averted to it as when he first got back from deployment changed and distant.
The only people he truly let his shields down with were his wife and daughter. Now his son, I supposed. I thought I could count on one hand the amount of times we’d embraced as adults.
I initially stiffened at the contact since the hug itself was much too tight, bone squeezing. But when I realized it was bursting with both worry and relief, I relaxed into it.
“I’m okay,” I whispered, patting his back awkwardly.
Rowan let me go then, pushing back to glare at me. “Whatthe fuck,Calliope?” he asked much louder this time.
“Watch your tone,” a deep and menacing voice said.
It took me a second to recognize that it was coming from Elliot, who was currently glowering at my brother, looking like he was ready to fight him. Rowan, who was likely trained in five different ways to kill a guy in as many seconds. Most people were appropriately scared of him and smart enough to not pick a fight with him.
Not Elliot.
“Excuse me?” Rowan snarled.
Elliot didn’t show an ounce of fear at my brother’s trademark sneer. In fact, he stepped forward, gently grabbing a hold of me and pushing me behind him.
I rolled my eyes, even though I found it a teeny bit hot.
“I said watch your tone with your sister who was fucking shot a couple of hours ago.” Elliot’s murmur was lower but no less threatening.
“Yeah, she was shot.” Rowan sized him up. “Something that I should’ve found out from her, not the fuckingsheriff at the grocery store.”
“He shouldn’t be talking about shootings in the grocery store,” I rubbed my forehead.
“He thought I already fucking knew, given you’re my goddamn sister!” he yelled.
I rolled my shoulders, ready to yell back. The thought of sinking into a defensive identity was welcome at that stage, when I felt so unhinged.
“If you can’t watch your tone with her, you’re out of this house,” Elliot told him, unflinching.
Rowan’s glance flicked to him once more. It was slightly menacing but also … amused? Surely not.
“You know, speaking for my sister, let alone thinking it’s your job to protect her, is tantamount to a death sentence in her eyes,” Rowan remarked dryly.
“I know that she doesn’t let anyone protect her, but I’ll do it anyway because if I hadn’t tried, that bullet would’ve hit her heart,” Elliot seethed back.
Rowan’s mouth fell open, all amusement—however small—leaving his expression, his dark brows furrowing as he once again looked at my bandage.
“Fuck,” he grumbled under his breath, running his hand through his hair. “Who did this?”
“Don’t know,” I shrugged. “Cops are looking into it.” I tried my best to make it sound like I was going to let them do their job and not go digging the second I didn’t have a set of male eyes on me.
Rowan’s measured gaze stayed on me. “You don’t know who shot at you in the middle of nowhere.” It wasn’t a question. More of an accusation since he was making it clear he thought I knew exactly who was responsible.
I shrugged again. “Bad luck. Hunters with bad aim and an even worse sense of direction?”
Rowan’s eyes narrowed, and his mouth thinned with irritation and knowing. Our conversation from the day before I met Elliot lingered at the forefront of my mind and likely in his.He was content to let me keep him in the dark—barely—when I wasn’t getting shot at, but I knew I was currently shit out of luck. The walls were closing in around me. The back of my neck started to feel uncomfortably hot.
There was a long silence, Rowan staring me down. “We’re going to be talking about this further,” he promised. “And you’re going to actually say something. This shit ends now.”
I folded my arms, hiding my wince as I forgot about the wound in my bicep. “Well, sure it does, Rowan, because you’ve just said so, and so it will be,” I retorted sarcastically.
Rowan let out a long sigh. He didn’t respond, instead he looked to Elliot. “Look after her. You don’t, I kill you.”