Page 62 of Burn Bright (Cobalt Empire #1)

His lips downturn, and I know he must be warring about choosing dance over me. But it’s not just dance. It’s his first love. The more I’m with Harriet, the more I’m beginning to understand what that means.

Audrey tosses two cranberries into her water goblet, then stands and taps the glass with her spoon. “Speaking of missing important, critical events,” she proclaims. “I was most grieved to have missed Beckett and Charlie’s birthday party. Tell me my invitation was eaten by a carnivorous plant.”

“Your invitation didn’t exist,” Charlie says pointedly. “You’re two years too early.”

“It was a nightclub,” Beckett adds. “They wouldn’t have let you past the doors.”

“Could you not have paid them?”

“Audrey Virginia,” Mom chastises. “Bribery is not a fucking solution.”

Her cheeks roast. “Sorry, Mother.” She plops down, then eyes me for comfort. I wrap an arm around her shoulders.

Mom sighs into her wine. She must feel a little guilty for being harsh because she meets our dad’s gaze for reassurance.

“Your mother is right,” Dad says calmly. “You have the means to pay your way through these barriers, but at what cost? I don’t mean monetarily. What are your morals worth, ma petite?” He’s asking Audrey.

She gulps. “Well…I’d like to think the benefit is greater than the cost because I’d be celebrating Charlie and Beckett.” She pops back out of her seat. “It’s for family, Mother! You can’t fault me for that.”

“A bribe is still a bribe, gremlin,” Mom retorts. “If you want to be at a nightclub in New York at sixteen , I will be accompanying you.”

Audrey collapses in her chair in defeat.

“I’m far too old for a chaperone, especially when Beckett and Charlie moved to New York when they were only sixteen.

” She’s brought up this point plenty of times before, but the argument has no legs to stand on.

Our parents would let her finish school in NYC if it’s what she desired.

Instead, she’s repeatedly chosen to remain with them in Philly.

She lifts her chin to add, “I’ll simply wait for the next invite. ”

“There won’t be one,” Charlie says bluntly. “None of us want to babysit you.”

Audrey lets out a horrified gasp. “Father.” She swings her head to our dad. “Please remind your infernal offspring that I am not a baby.”

Dad has his fingers to his temples, casually listening to us. Eliot and Tom take advantage of the silent moment to drum the table.

Charlie barely blinks. “Rappelle-toi que tu dors encore avec un ours en peluche.” Remind yourself that you still sleep with a teddy bear.

Audrey’s grip tightens on her goblet. “I might sleep with a teddy bear, but that doesn’t mean I am a child. I am a woman. ”

“Under society’s terms, you are a girl .”

“I have bled. I could be pregnant tomorrow!”

I have a hand frozen to my forehead. Eliot and Tom are near laughter, which is going to make Audrey cry soon. Jane is too busy trying to feed a fidgety Maeve to come to her aid. Mom is sending daggers at all of my brothers, then eyes Dad for a long beat.

Beckett is raking his fingers through his hair like he sees our sister on an emotional downward slope too. I shake my head at him. She will not win this back-and-forth with Charlie.

Beckett is sitting too far away from him, but he bows into the table and calls out his name. To which Charlie tips his head toward his twin brother. They give each other looks I can’t decipher.

To Audrey, I ask, “You aren’t…?” She’s not having sex. She always overshares, obviously, and there’s no chance she wouldn’t have told me.

Our dad has an unreadable expression, but I think he’s unamused. No one wants to picture our sixteen-year-old sister pregnant, but I might be the only one actually cringing.

“And that is fact,” Audrey decrees as if she won this tournament of wits.

Fuck. Charlie is a slingshot on her. “Great, you had a period,” he deadpans. “You want a real fact? Virgins can’t get pregnant.”

She lifts her chin. “I’m not a virgin anymore.”

The sudden silence should be comical, but it’s honestly tense. I’m not even studying the reactions around the table because I’m doing my best to read Audrey’s poker face.

“And I care because?” Charlie questions. “Fuck the whole neighborhood, it doesn’t change your age?—”

“Charlie Keating ,” our mom sneers his name. “Rethink what you say to your sixteen-year-old sister. Right now.”

He expels an aggravated sigh. “Audrey, you don’t want to be a statistic, do you? Teen pregnancy?” He forces a pained smile. “Wait for a man who will…” He waves his fingers. “Fulfill your obnoxious imagination.” Then he looks to our mom. “Happy?”

“I am notably irate.”

“Wonderful.” He swigs his wine, crashing back in his chair.

“Is this a lie?” Jane asks Audrey.

She’s bullshitting, for sure.

“Possibly.” She reaches for more cranberries, and the flame of the candle bends at just the wrong time. Her frilly lace sleeve catches on fire. She shrieks and jumps out of her chair. Everyone follows suit in an attempt to help.

“Audrey!” Mom rushes toward her, but Dad is closer. I’ve already grabbed her water goblet, dousing her wrist instantly. The fire extinguishes, but my pulse is ringing in my ears.

My sister places a hand to her chest, her breathing shortened. Dad curves around to inspect the damage. “Es-tu blessée?” Are you hurt?

She shows him her wrist. “Non, je ne le pense pas.” No, I don’t think so .

Mom stakes a glare at the candlestick like it deserves to be trashed for causing Audrey physical harm, but in the back of my head, I just think, it had to be me.

Maybe she would’ve chosen a different outfit if I wasn’t here. Maybe she would’ve been sitting slightly to the left. Maybe this is happening because I brought pain into the world and it’s trying to bring pain to the ones I love.

Dumb.

Fucking dumb.

I didn’t cause this…but didn’t I? My mouth dries, and I’m in a slight daze when I’m back in my chair. The dining room is rotating, and I only come into focus when Audrey says, “Ben.”

Everyone is seated but Audrey now.

Everyone is staring at me.

I breathe through my nose, trying not to pass out.

“I love that you come to dinners every Wednesday,” she professes. “I know it’s for me.”

I nod. My throat swells. Words lodge too much to break free.

“I was just thinking that if I visited New York, it’d put less pressure on you coming here. Whatever stress this might cause?—”

“It doesn’t cause me stress, Audrey,” I cut her off. “I want to be here.” I want to make sure you don’t feel alone . I understand what it’s like being in this big house with barely any siblings. I can’t imagine what it feels like to have no one.

She rips off the burnt lace of her sleeve. “I heard from a source that you look happy in New York.”

I frown. A source. I only think of Harriet, who I’ve spent most of my time around. “What source?” I end up asking.

“A friend of a friend.” She smiles impishly. “One cannot reveal her sources.” It must be Easton or Xander who told Vada who told her.

“There’s no need for secrecy, sister.” Eliot puffs a plume of smoke.

“Yes, I’d like to see your list of sources,” Tom adds. “So we can properly vet them.”

“Make sure you aren’t conspiring with vermin,” Eliot says.

“Rats bring information and the plague.” Tom tosses his scepter again back to Eliot and another crystal breaks off and lands in the platter of cranberries.

“Enough,” Dad says calmly but directly, then asks Audrey, “Finished?”

“Oui.” At this, Audrey lowers in her chair, ending her opening remarks.

Looks like I’m last up. I down a giant swig of water, then stand.

“As you all know, I tried out for the MVU hockey team. I’ve made it, and I’ve already declined.

Coach Haddock was really understanding, and he said if I change my mind, he’d love to have me next season.

” I raise my glass. “That’s it.” I’m about to sit.

“You don’t want to play?” my dad asks, freezing me in place.

“No.”

“Because?”

“I don’t love hockey anymore.” I sink slowly into my seat, measuring the depth of confusion that passes between my siblings and parents. Now I’m baffled. “Mom, last time I was concussed, you pleaded with me to stay off the ice. You should be thrilled.”

Her lips purse. “I would be if you decided to quit to protect your brain that I love so very much and would easily murder for.”

I let out a befuddled laugh. “So my reasoning isn’t good enough. Why would I play a sport I hate?”

“Why do you hate it, Pippy?” Jane wonders.

I stare at the seitan on my plate. Unable to verbalize my feelings to the depth that I could with Harriet. Why are these sentiments so impossible to release? The thought of them knowing more speeds my pulse. “Can’t I fall out of love with something? Why is that a fucking crime?”

“It’s not,” Beckett says softly, which nearly has me relaxing backward, but I side-eye my dad. His gaze is tunneling.

I rest my elbows on the table, smearing my hands down my face. “Can I be done?” Please.

And then my dad says, “We need to talk about the estate lawyer.”

Oh.

My.

Fuck . My hands are motionless in the air, my face turned toward my dad. My breath is trapped in my constricting lungs. “What about the estate lawyer?”

“Why did you meet with him?”