The Revenge by Tijan

“I wouldn’t say I’m okay with it, and I’m not sure about Matt, because he likes to get arrested a lot, but…” His tone gentled. “I know that you need to help and this is your way of doing it.”

The lightness was in full effect. I felt like I was floating on air. “Really?”

“Really.” He closed his eyes, his face shuddering. “I cannot control you, nor do I want to, but I am terrified for your safety.”

“I won’t take any risks that are stupid. I promise.”

A stark look came over him as he stared at me. “Good.”

I stared back. “Good,” I whispered. “Do you need to process having a twin?”

He shook his head. “No, because I don’t know if he’s going to be good or harmful. For now, he just exists and that’s all. He’s a possible threat.”

“That sounds ominous.”

“I don’t even know his name.” He let out another soft sigh. “I need you. I need to hold you. I need to reassure myself that you’re okay. But I think for right now I need to do something normal with you.”

I perked up at that. “Normal?” Normal was my new thing of fantasies.

He grinned. “I could rent an entire movie theater for us. Any recent movie you’d like to see?”

A movie? The floor just moved under me. I haven’t even thought about a movie since last May. “I’m sure there’s a new superhero one out.”

“Done.” His grin shouldn’t be as sensual as it was, but it was, and it was sending tiny little thrills down my spine. “Popcorn?”

Those thrills turned into tickles. “Yes, please.”

“Chocolate candies?”

“Now you’re making me want to jump you on the way to the movies.”

“Oh no, no, no.” He was being slightly flirty now, a little twinkle in his eyes. “We’ll be as normal as we can be, and that means making out in the theater. I reserve time for that.”

The tickling, thrills, and the whole floating sensation was overtaking me and I moved to him. “I’m really happy you came back even though you’re in the middle of destroying your grandfather.”

He smiled, his eyes so tender. “I’m just glad you love me. Promise me you’ll be safe.”

“I promise.”

I was standing close enough to him so he tipped my head back, his lips lowering and giving me a soft kiss, before he said, “Now, change. I have a movie theater to go and buy out.”





TWENTY-FOUR

Bailey


I wasn’t supposed to like her.

I had seen her before. She’d been a person lurking in the background. Then she was lurking in the background when I was at the house, and, full disclosure, she was there, and she was quiet, but she wasn’t really lurking lurking. I wouldn’t have noticed if it was someone else, but the point is that she looked almost exactly like her sister, and it was her sister that I hated.

Loathed.

Despised.

I’ve digressed.

Payton. I wasn’t supposed to like her …

But I did! Or, well, I didn’t want to stab her. She seemed nice.

She came over and gave me a hug when she got to the house, but that was after a long look at Kash. And Kash being Kash, he watched her right back, until he finally spoke. “Hello, Payton.”

She swallowed. “Hello, Kash. I didn’t know you’d be here.”

“Just for the night. I’m leaving soon.”

She gave a small dip of her head before she turned to me for that hug. It was a gentle hug, too. She was soft-spoken, her head folding down a lot and her eyes looking away. She wrung her hands like it was a nervous habit.

Marie walked into the room and she sucked in her breath, actually taking a step back. The wall was there, so she hit the wall, but I got her drift.

And then—then!—Seraphina looked over at her, frowned, and took her hand. Seraphina was reassuring Payton, and the wall crumbled. Game over. I knew that I’d been wrong to not like this person. If Seraphina, one of the kindest people I knew, was trying to shield Payton, or at least comfort her, we were in the wrong.

Cyclone headed over next, wrapping his arms around her legs.

He pressed in, his head craned back so he could see her, and the brightest smile was there. Payton looked down, her entire face softened. She raised a hand up, a finger tucking a strand of Cyclone’s hair back, and then she smoothed her hand through the rest of his hair.

He was loving it. He was living for it.

We needed to trust these two gentle creatures.

They were choosing her, and they were telling us something.

Humble pie, I believe I might need to eat you.

While she had the same wheat-gold blond hair, blue teardrop eyes, and high cheekbones as her sister, Payton looked more demure. Quinn’s face was strong, her bones were more angular. They were defined better. Payton’s face was softer, a little rounder, and her cheeks were more plush. She had slightly thinner lips.

Quinn seemed as if she demanded attention, but Payton got it with a second glance, then a third, a fourth, and soon … who was Quinn again?

Those were the more noticeable differences between the two, now that I was paying attention and not just insta hating. And during family dinner that night—with Peter in attendance, Marie with a pressed mouth, Theresa who kept quiet but also kept watching her mom as if expecting her to explode any second, Payton sitting at the end and laughing quietly with Cyclone and Seraphina, both of whom were so happy that they were glowing—yeah, I was starting to pay attention.