Page 68 of Crave

Theo’s car wasn’t here and we hadn’t been gone that long. Which told me he hadn’t yet surfaced from whatever hole in the wall he’d crawled into. Our family was failing, growing more distant by the second and for once it fell on us to stop it.

“I’ll get her.” Silas killed the engine and climbed out before opening the rear door and pulled her into his arms.

“Silas?” She murmured, opening her eyes.

I climbed out, catching her words.

“What…what just happened?”

“Nothing.” He said, his tone husky and strange. “Nothing for you to worry about.”

I followed them inside with Gabe behind me as Silas carried her along the hallway and turn, pushing her bedroom door wider and entered her bedroom. The bed was unmade, sheets and comforter pushed aside.

A shiver coursed through me as I stopped at the doorway and watched them. I was waiting for whatever this spell was to break, and for Silas to lunge, grab her around the throat and scream in her face. This wasn’t natural. It wasn’t him. He didn’t contain his emotions like this, not when it came to family.

No, when it came to blood my older brother was as dangerous as a goddamn viper, lashing out, striking whoever stood in his way…whether he wanted to or not. It was his nature. Maybe it was in all our natures?

“I don’t know what’s happening to me.” Our sister murmured as Silas straightened his spine, standing above her. “And I can’t seem to stop it.”

He moved suddenly, reaching around to grab her by the back of her neck and stared into her eyes.

Her own widened, looking up at him. She was frightened of him, maybe even terrified and yet the longer they held that connection, the deeper her breaths became. It was almost like…almost like they?—

I flinched.

No.

That’s not happening.

One jerk of my gaze to Silas and I knew that gut reaction was telling me the cold, hard truth. My brother, our brother wanted her.

Heat soon replaced the icy chill of the truth, surging through my body until I felt flushed and fevered. My own body responded, replaying that night Silas forced her to his knees. Our lying, fucking sister. His cruel words resounded in my head.

Gabe cleared his throat behind me, shattering the moment making Silas jerk, then pull his hand away. “I’ll bring you some food.” He muttered, then turned and walked away.

I followed him as he headed for the kitchen, waiting for him to move around the counter, opening the refrigerator door and pulling out butter, cold meat and cheese before placing them on the counter.

“What the fuck are you doing here, Silas?” I asked. “Playing goddamn house, now?”

He never answered, grabbing the loaf of fresh sourdough bread and tossed it to the counter. He didn’t want to hear it, but it needed saying.

“Goddamnbrainwashingand a fuckingtraitor. You fucking saw what I saw and you heard what I heard. She’s a liability just having her here. We need her gone, Silas and we need her gone now.”

His fist clenched around the knife as he sawed it through the bread, carving one end so thin it fell apart.

“Gone where?” Gabe pushed past me. “You can’t do this. She’soursister.”

”No.” I shook my head. “She’s not.”

Silas tried to butter the ruined slice, slamming the knife into the soft center over and over and over again, until it was a mangled mess.

“Enough!”He roared, grabbed the bread and spun, hurling it into the sink before turning back. “She’s not going anywhere!”

“Are you fucking insane?” I barked. “Did you even hear what that guy said back there? She’s been mind-fucked into laying a goddamn trap for all of us. For all we know she could be the one who killed our goddamn parents!”

Gabe unleashed a snarl and lunged, grabbing me by the shirt…and for once I didn’t fight him. Instead I met the pain in his eyes. “Tell me you haven’t once thought the same thing…both of you.”

Gabe’s fists trembled as he shook his head. He could fight his demons all he wanted, but the truth remained the same. We now lived with someone we couldn’t trust.