Page 39 of The Sirin Sisterhood (The Sons of Echidna #2)
Lucy
“You done huffing?”Lai bit into the apple Lucy had worked on last night and winced, discreetly spitting the pieces out of the window.
“Iwasn’thuffing.”She crossed her arms, the reminder of yesterday reigniting the tiny spark of fury inside her.
“You were muttering darkly to yourself all night, even when you were falling asleep. Ididn’teven get a kiss goodnight, or wishes of sweet dreams.”Lai sighed, holding his hand over his chest.“Klein and I were tiptoeing all evening, and youdidn’teven notice.
Youweren’temotionally monitoring at all. ”
Lucy blinked at him, thinking back to last night.
She had been so deep in her thoughts that shecouldn’teven remember having dinner.
Maybe Lai was right; she was letting her frustration consume her.
It was embarrassing, that was all. She needed to learn control, andshe’dbeen forced to realize that shedidn’teven have the basics covered.
Maybe her magic was just too different. She could control life and death, while the witches negotiated with fruit. She was a god!
A cruel god.
Lucy frowned. Thiswasn’ther. Those thoughtsweren’thers. Those thoughts were dark and mean, and shedidn’tlike that version of herself.
“Wow. I love being ignored.”Lai shook his head in disbelief.
“I’mnot ignoring you!”Lucy huffed, noticing him draw back. Had she raised her voice?
“Ijust have a lot on my mind, okay?”She tried, but itdidn’tsound very apologetic.
“You know what?You’reright. You are the only one with a lot on your plate.”Lai smiled, but she recognized the iciness in it. Cold and cruel.“I’dusually offer to share, but you seem to want to gorge on it by yourself. Bon appétit .”
She reached for him as he left the cottage, but hedidn’tsee the gesture. Lucy felt shame twist her insides, but her anger overpowered it, burning away the sour feeling and leaving behind the scorched taste of resentment.
Let him go. Hedoesn’tunderstand. No one does.
“Lucy.”
She turned around to be met with a look that almost broke her; she had seen Klein sad, upset, and tired before, but she had never seen him disappointed, and it flooded her body with a cold rush of shame.
Her eyes swelled up with tears, her lip quivering with the uncontrollable sobs. She thought his strong arms around her would help, but they only unleashed another wave as he held her.
“Oh, Lucy,”he whispered, gently stroking her shaking shoulders as she struggled to stop the ugly crying, trying to discreetly wipe away tears and snot with her sleeve.
Klein reached into his pocket and offered her a pristine handkerchief, which she used to cover her red and puffy face.
“I’m sorry,” she managed between gasping sobs.
“Iknow that,”he answered, scooping her onto his lap as he sat with her at the table.
“Laidoesn’t.He’snever looked at me like that before.
Even when he was angry, he still... I should apologize.
”She tucked her face under his chin. He smelled like herbs and tobacco, sweet and warm.
The warmth swiftly chased away the hurt that had numbed her core.
Lucy was a little worried about sitting on his lap, but he showed no sign of discomfort, and she already knew he was freakishly strong.
What was he?
She glanced up, studying his features, narrow and noble.
His high cheekbones and straight nose with a small bump on the bridge suited the eye-patch that criss-crossed his face.
The men in the family transformed when they came of age, and he was an adult; would it be rude to ask what it was that he could become?
“What is it?”He met her eyes, his hand brushing away a stay hair stuck to her damp face.
Lucy shook her head. Shedidn’tdeserve answers right now, and shecouldn’treally imagine Klein as a monster. She sighed as her chest finally stopped spasming, relaxing, and enjoying the embrace. It felt good to cry, to get it all out.
“It’sokay to cry, you know.It’sokay to stumble and fall as long as you get back up.That’swhat you need to do right now, get back up. Even gods fall.”Klein’swords startled her with their insight, and she smiled sheepishly.
“I’msorry you had to see that. I think I just lost it for a second.”She sat back up.“I’mstruggling with what I am and whatI’mbecoming. A few months ago, I was just a normal-ish girl. Now, I feel likeI’mway over my head.”
Klein smiled a kind smile that madeLucy’sheart ache with a tingle of happiness.
“We’reall in over our heads right now.It’snot just your burden, Lucy; we would never put it all on your shoulders. We are a family, and despite how it must seem some days, we share the load.”
“Says the guy that does everything,”she teased affectionately.
“Iclean, and I cook. That is not everything. I hope youaren’tdiminishing me to just thefamily’shousekeeper.”
“No!”Lucy blushed, thankful that her face was still red from crying.“You’reway more than that!”
“I am? To whom?”
She saw his eye narrow. It was a trick question, and she walked right into the trap.
“To me,”Lucy mumbled, suddenly aware of his body heat melding with hers.
Did he say something back? Lucycouldn’thear him. Shecouldn’tthink. Her mind went blank as his lips found her temple, flooding her with another intense emotion shecouldn’tquite pinpoint.
Relief? Elation? Excitement? All of them at once, and none of them at all.
All she could do was send a silent prayer to Time to let this moment last.
It did not.
It ended just as suddenly as it began, and with an apology at that.
“I’msorry.”It wasKlein’sturn to utter the words. Lucydidn’tlet him go on, pressing one finger to his lips.
“Don’t.Don’tyou dare.”She smiled, holding onto the feeling of warmth even as the man looked away.
“You’reright, you know. I need to get back up. I need to accept thatI’mstill completely new to all this. I need to accept help.”She glanced towards the door, the sound of the silver bell announcing another lesson carrying across the village.
It was hard to admit shedidn’tknow everything. It was hard to have to start from the very beginning. It was hard to swallow her pride and beg for help.
But when the choice was that, or to give in and become a cruel god, knowing how Klein would look at her if she fell anddidn’tget back up?
It wasn’t hard at all.