Page 23 of A Lesson in Obedience

“Fuck you,” I grumbled.

“You want to protect your brother then do what we ask. Or do you want to protect her and leave your brother open to persuasion?”

Grayson had the excuse of not knowing Riley was involved. I would know the entire time and I would have to live with that and know that River would never understand or forgive me.

PRESENT

I noticed the way River dropped his hands and stepped away from Grayson as if it pained him to do it. Grayson looked at me, letting out a loud sigh and turning towards the window. My brother stalked past me, not saying a word. He moved to the entry table by the front door, grabbing my car keys.

I tugged on his wrist, causing him to drop them. He huffed, facing me head on.

“What do you want to talk about?” His words came out annoyed.

“Are you seriously letting him off the hook that easily?” I asked, nodding towards the room Grayson was in.

River pinched his eyebrows together. “What? No! Give me afucking break. I’m still pissed, but I also still have feelings for him, okay? It’s complicated. Riley needs to be face to face with him and decide how she wants to proceed before I do anything.”

I nodded, looking off to the side. “Smart move.”

He gave me a fake smile. Sarcasm laced every single word that came out of his mouth. “Thanks. Your validation means so much.”

“Is that where you’re going? To go get Riley?”

River crossed his arms over his chest, his tattoos on full display. “Yeah. I would rather she be comfortable in your car than on my motorcycle.”

“I really should argue with you about just deciding to take my car without asking, but I’m inclined to agree that it would be better than your bike.”

Before he could reach for them again, I was faster and snatched them up. He gave me a frustrated expression. “You are way more involved in this than you should be. What happened between all of us was an experience, sure, but it’s not like it hasn’t happened between us—” he motioned between the two of us. “—before.”

“What are you getting at?” I pressed, keeping my keys firmly within my grip.

“You found her at the station using your powers. You are ready to fight Grayson without another thought because he caused her pain, which I understand completely—and your first instinct was to run to her at the meeting when it all went down. You are so fucking transparent; you might as well be a fucking window.”

I licked my lips, breathing through my nose. “River, none of that fucking matters at the moment.”

He placed his hand on his chest. “I’m not upset by it. But if you want to be in this, then be in it. She doesn’t need whatever pros and cons list you’re drawing up in your head. I don’t need to read your mind to know how you feel, big brother.”

My eyes turned to slits. “You couldn’t right now if you tried.”

River cocked his head to the side. “Excuse me?”

I grabbed his arm, pulling him into the kitchen. I threw my keyson the counter, gripping the edge. “I am able to block you out when I want to because I’ve worked years learning about mental magic and improving my skills. I told you forever ago that you needed to do the same, especially with people just like you. You make yourself vulnerable to anyone with ill-intentions.”

“What the fuck are you talking about?” River leaned his hip against the counter.

“I’m talking about our father. Why didn’t you tell me that he could so easily get into your head, manipulate your thoughts and moves?”

I watched my brother’s face flush as if he’d just been caught doing something he wasn’t supposed to. He opened his mouth, but nothing came out.

I shook my head. “Actually that doesn’t matter because before I came here, I went home. I saw dad and Chancellor Fowler.” I explained everything to River and the more I said, the more nervous he looked. I didn’t know if it was the potential of Riley being in harm's way or if he was freaked out by the thought of our dad meddling around in his head again.

“Dad really is a piece of shit. I don’t understand; he had to know you would come and tell me all this.” River rubbed the back of his head, eyeing the keys on the table.

“That doesn’t matter. Learning to block out others takes time and focus. You are too worried about Riley and still very much in love with your deceiving little shadow wielder to master it any time soon.” He opened his mouth to argue but I held my hand up. “Don’t even try to tell me I’m wrong. The main thing right now is getting her to school; we have to act like we are playing into his hand.”

River snagged my keys and gave me a small nod, then a skeptical look graced his features. “You haven’t considered going through with it right?”

I raised one of my eyebrows.