Page 28 of Worse Fates

“Jesus, Golden.” Kai’s voice is low, sad. “I should’ve forced you to come live with me sooner, before things got this bad.”

My eyes close. “I really don’t wanna talk about it.”

“You never do.”

I love Kai, and he loves me, which is why sometimes I wanna scream in his face. His love can be suffocating.

Murmurs come through the door, and neither of us pay much attention, too busy loving and hating each other. But then Apollo’s voice, louder than the other, rings out. “We haven’t seen Golden in ages, Mickey, as I’ve told you so many times.”

Kai and I share a look, they both mouth ‘fuck’ before getting into gear, and for the second time that week I shove my ass though a tiny bathroom window.

Chapter Ten - Golden

A thud, followed by a rustle, comes from behind me. I spin, the hair on the back of my neck rising as I tense for the worst.

Instead I find Kai on the ground in a heap.

“Kai!” I whisper-shout, helping the idiot up. “What the hell, why are you following me?”

“Oh, so you can vanish again?” Kai straightens his leather jacket. “C’mon, we need to get outta here.”

Hissing, I grab his arm and tug him down the back alleyways, a maze of brick and dull concrete. The dark sky full of fat, angry clouds.

“Dude, I’m not one of your stupid little brothers you can boss around.”

“Then stop acting like them.” He dips his head round a corner, checking both ways. Once Kai’s sure the coast is clear he nods, and we rush across the road into another indistinguishable backstreet.

“God, no wonder Thomas moved to Japan for uni.” A dusting of rain begins to fall as our feet beat down the pathway.

“It’s hilarious you think I don’t track his phone,” Kai responds sarcastically. “Now stop arguing with me.”

We duck and dive, skirting around towering flats. The very few people we pass have their hoods up, no umbrellas, however. In a country where it rains constantly, you’d think more people would use them.

“Please don’t joke right now,” I snap, scared Mickey could be around every corner.

I grab Kai by the elbow and drag him under the overhang of an abandoned building tucked behind two towering flats. Thepatch of grass is overgrown, and the smell of soil mixes with wet concrete.

“I’m not joking,” Kai argues back. “And we gotta go.”

“No,Ihave to go.Youhave to leave.” I stop him before he can speak. “Kai, you’re the most annoying person I know, but also my best friend. You’ve got two little brothers and parents who actually love you, I am not letting you get dragged into my mess.”

Kai pulls out of my grasp. “Too bad, Golden. I’m not leaving.”

“Dude—”

“Don’t ‘dude’ me!” Kai shouts, his gaze hot. “I thought you were dead, Golden! I thought you’d been killed! I couldn’t go to the police, or ask anyone for help. All I could do was worry, and remember every single time I watched you go back to that crazy bastard.”

My fingers run through my damp curls, chest a riot of conflicting emotions that batter into my ribs like the pounding rain.

“I have no idea what I’m doing, Kai,” I admit, dropping my hands. “I know he’s a fucking lunatic, but like me he grew up in the care system and when I aged out he didn’t even think twice about taking me in. I don’t care if we weren't blood. I loved him.”

Kai opens his mouth but I hold up a hand, glaring.

“Fuck sakes, Kai, not in that way. Why does it always have to be romance with you? We were a family. A real one, no matter what anyone says.”

Kai turns away from me, so frustrated he’s shaking then turns back, teeth clenched. “Why are you so fucking stubborn?”

“Me?” I say, blinking in disbelief.