Page 44 of The Sirin Sisterhood (The Sons of Echidna #2)

Lai

“What the fuck did you do that for?!”Lai slammed the door, extending one hand towards Klein, knowing his brother was about to intervene. He had no right to try to shield Lucy from his anger, dammit!

Lucy pressed her lips together, her temper rising to match his.

“I did it for us!” She yelled back, motioning for Klein to stay where he was.

“Us?” Lai leaned closer, forcing her to step backward towards the bed. “Don’t lie to me. You did it for yourself! You got one throne already, and now you think you can claim another!”

“Throne?”She laughed. “Your family doesn’t even own a chair anymore! You don’t have anything! ”She dared to meet him in his personal space, ready to settle whatever ugliness had been stewing between them.

She wasn’t wrong, but Lai would be damned if he let her have the last word. “We came here to ask for help, not for a hostile takeover! All you needed to do was trust me and follow my lead!”

Lucy inhaled deeply, building up to unleash on him.

“I am done following, done! I will never be following anyone, ever again!” She jabbed her finger into his chest, but Lai didn’t give her the satisfaction of a reaction.

“I’m doing what I can to save our home, even if you scheme and whisper behind my back.

At least I’m doing something! Not like you! ”

“I’m not scheming! I had a plan! She and I had a plan. Klein, don’t. ”Lai hissed as his brother tried to step between them. “She was going to pass the trial, and she was going to help us. We had everything in place.”

Lucy frowned, her eyes darting over his face. “Then why didn’t you tell me?’

He paused, knowing this would be the final nail in the coffin of their friendship.

“Because I couldn’t trust you.”

Couldn’t.

Trust.

You.

The words echoed in the small space, stabbing the woman before him again and again.

He could see how much pain they caused. The slight wobble of her lip, the glimmer in the corners of her eyes.

He saw her fists clench as she rocked from side to side, swaying between another screaming match or silent retreat.

In the end, Lai had the last word, but the victory tasted like bile. He pressed his lips into a thin line, stopping himself from saying any more.

Lucy let a shaking breath slip as she shoved him aside and left the cottage with a slam of the door. Klein looked like he was about to follow, but Lai shook his head.“You know I’m right.”

Klein paused, turning to face his brother, his expression hard to read.

“No. I don’t think you are.”

Lai squared his shoulders, displeasure ugly on his otherwise pretty features. “I couldn’t risk her giving my plan away again . One slip in front of the other two sisters, and...”

“She told father about your plan because she was terrified that you would get caught and killed after you left without her. If you want someone to blame for your failed heist, look no further than a mirror.”Klein pushed Lai towards the bed and forced him to sit down.

Lai swallowed heavily, suddenly nervous. The lecture was just beginning.

“If you weren’t so absorbed in your pretty new friend, you would have noticed her work in the last few days.

She goes to every lesson while they laugh at her so that she can learn more control.

And she is good at it. She needs to be, because she wants to help our family.

She needsyou , but you weren’t there for her.

And over what, exactly? A petty squabble?

She saved your life by telling father, but you’re too proud to admit it.

Almost killed by a fucking peacock ,oh great assassin, you. ”

Lai opened his mouth to protest but snapped it shut again as Klein gave him a look of disgust that withered his insides.

“You think you’re so clever with your schemes and your tricks.

You pretend that everyone is disposable, but it’s all just a shitty, weak little act that you hide behind the second youmight get a little bit hurt.

You got so close to that girl that I hoped you might actually be making a real friend, but you pushed her away the second she stood up to you.

Maybe I’d be a little more sympathetic if it was just her, but you do it all the time!

You can’t tolerate a paper cut, so you lash back with all your might to open an artery in exchange.

You’re weak, and now you’re all alone. Again. ”

The furious tirade was more than Lai had expected. He couldn’t remember the last time he had seen Klein so angry. He was just the help. A broken down, defeated, quiet man who never really spoke up on anything.

Deep down, though, beneath his skin and despite his gentle disguise, Lai knew that Klein was a monster, just like him.

He didn’t need Klein to go on, but Lai knew his brother wasn’t one to leave an injured animal to die slowly. He was going to deliver the final blow, and it was going to hurt.

“Alone, bitter, and desperate.”

“Klein...”

“We all laugh at your quips, and we tolerate your whims. Do you know why? It’s because we pity you.”

“Please...”

“You cling to your youth, denying aging, denying rotting, while you hold fast to your ‘glory days’of fucking and fighting your way to being wanted. You are a wraith, a memory. A ghost.”

Lai threw out a punch; it met with Klein’s firm, unyielding palm.

There was no strength behind the hit anyway, just anguish and pain.

Klein had launched cannonballs at the walls Lai had built up around himself until there was nothing left but rubble, leaving him only the ruins of his crumbling facade.

Vulnerable. Exposed. Klein saw him for who he really was, a coward with a shield of cheap wit, desperate to be loved and terrified of being seen.

Despite all of it, at that moment, Lai didn’t feel sorry for himself. He looked up at Klein with no small amount of effort, puzzled, hearing the words behind the contempt for the first time in his life.

At least you get to mourn. You got to mourn our mother.

You got to run away and self-destruct your way through the grief. I set the table the night she died and every night since.

We all pity you, but who will pity me?

Lai unclenched his fist, lacing his fingers with Klein’s as he leaned into him, overwhelmed by the flood of regret and unwanted memories. Klein didn’t pull away. He was, as always, a rock for everyone to lean on. Unflinching.

“What the fuck was that? ”Lai swallowed thickly, forcing a smile as his chest spasmed, failing to hide his sobs. He could feel the silver friendship bracelet digging into his wrist and wondered if he truly deserved to wear it.

Klein sighed and pulled him into an embrace.

“Medicine. Your own recipe.”