Page 27 of Hide and Seek

“Where would I be if I didn’t have you to humble me,” I say dryly and hand him the knives.

“Stuck outside because your head would be too big to get through the door?”

I shoot him a flat look. “Green, yellow, purple, pink.”

His form is a bit sloppy as he throws since he didn’t have time to get into the proper stance, but all four knives find their mark.

“We need to talk about you playing hero,” he says seriously as he goes to the target to pull the knives free.

“What do you mean?” I ask casually.

I’ve been waiting for this conversation since I told him what happened.

“What are the rules of watching someone?” he asks as he tugs the blades free.

“To observe from a distance.”

“And…” he prompts, giving me a pointed look as he walks toward me.

“And to not reveal myself.”

“And?” He hands me the knives.

“And to stay out of whatever is going on if it doesn’t involve me or put any of us in danger.” I take the knives from him.

“And how many of those have you broken?”

I don’t answer.

“Yellow, blue, pink, red,” he says.

I throw the knives with way more force than is needed, and the last one bounces right off the target and clatters to the floor.

“Uh-huh,” he says knowingly and heads back over to the target. “Tell me again how you’re not at all invested or involved and this is just a job to you?”

“So I was supposed to let those assholes kill him?”

“I didn’t say that.” He pulls the knives free. “I just said that you broke your own rule when you stepped in and stopped them.”

“Maybe I am a little involved,” I admit. “But it’s not a big deal.”

He smirks and crosses the room to scoop up the one that missed. “Sure it isn’t. That’s why you broke all the rules you’ve always gone by, because it’s no biggie and you’re only a little involved.” He holds his hand up so his index finger and his thumb are about a quarter inch apart. “What do you think? Areyou this involved?” He spreads his arms out so they’re as far apart as they can go. “Or is it more like this?”

“What’s your point?” I ask, not bothering to refute anything he just said. He isn’t wrong, but that doesn’t mean I have to give him the satisfaction of telling him that.

“My point is that you either need to take several steps back and reevaluate things, or you need to admit that this job is different and stop pretending it isn’t,” he says as he hands me the knives. “Blue, yellow, pink, green.”

This time all four blades hit their target.

“It’s only different because he’s different,” I tell my brother as I go to retrieve the knives from the target. “But that’ll change once I figure him out and we know for sure if he’s a threat or not. You know me, once I solve a puzzle, I get bored and move on.”

Jace’s expression says he isn’t convinced, but he doesn’t argue with me as I bring the knives back and hand them to him.

“Best out of three?” he asks.

“Are we going for speed or accuracy?”

“Both, obviously.”