Dante was the quietest. He had been since they had gotten into his dark purple all-terrain vehicle and driven back towards the condominiums. He had only whistled along to the music the whole way there, tapping his fingers against the steering wheel to the beat, even sang a few of the lyrics though not very well. His whistling had carried into the apartment where he stood beside the stove, warming up a can of soup.
Really, he was probably just avoiding the disaster of a conversation being carried out in the dining room as Fae huffed up towards the man that she was arguing with.
The woman had made up for Dante’s lack of words ten times over in the span of ten minutes; Suri felt like that was only making the situation worse. She had talked non-stop on the ride back about how school was important and how she wished she had actually finished, but the way she smiled about it the entire time made Suri unsure if she had really meant anything that she had said. Especially since Suri was catching a glimpse of just how serious she could be, puffed up and glowering at the man she was arguing with like a territorial squirrel.
“Why are you always so stubborn?”
Trenton raised a brow. “I beg your pardon?”
That was the most Trenton had said since they had arrived. He didn’t seem particularly fond of having unexpected guests, which made sense when Suri thought about how she hadn’t seen him leave the apartment or have company over for the past several days.
It didn’t help that she felt like she was the last person he had wanted to see. He had rightfully presumed that he was rid of for the next five hours, not expecting her to be brought back to the condominium by two people she didn’t know and dripping blood down her leg. At least, the way he had narrowed his eyes at her when they had arrived totally felt like it was seething in resentment.
“Phoenix is losing his stupid mind right now,” Fae said, slamming her hand down on the wooden dining room table. As if that explained absolutely everything, she continued. “So why didn’t you keep Suri here with you?”
“She isn’t a pet.”
“You agreed to watch her.”
“No. I agreed to treat her wounds after what occurred at the station and mind her until her fever broke. I didn’t volunteer to become the full-time caregiver of a teenager who can’t even manage to attend classes.”
Suri risked a glare in his direction only to be met with the steely glance directed back at her. Crap. She frowned and pulled the plush blanket tighter around her face.
“Phoenix is tormenting her,” Fae said. “Which you would have known if you had stayed. Whatever happened at the train station can no longer be considered an accident.”
“Agreed. So, when will you be taking her with you?”
“Wait.” Suri looked at him in wide-eyed terror, sitting up abruptly and abandoning the safe warmth of her fabric cocoon to try and plead with him. “I-I don’t know them.”
“You don’t know me. And you refuse to return home, and now to classes—”
“I wasn’t sure if my friends had heard about what happened on the news. Do you know how totally mortifying that would have been? That’s why I didn’t go to class, okay. And I’m already failing anyway, so what’s the point. And I really, really don’t want to go home, please.”
“How convenient then that you were never asked what it was that you wanted.”
He didn’t yell. He never yelled. And in the last few days alone she had given him plenty of reason to. But Suri could tell that he was angrier than he had ever been since she came to the condos with him, so much so that he wanted her gone. Now.
“I’m sorry.” Her voice broke and something shifted in his stare, but she couldn’t see what through the tears forming in her eyes. “I am so sorry.”
The room that had just been filled with Dante’s whistling, and Fae’s rebukes went silent as everyone’s eyes fell on Trenton. At the first sign of Suri’s tears, the man ran his hand through his fine hair and closed his eyes with a deep sigh.
Fae huffed, frowning at Trenton. “See what you did?”
“Oh, piss off.”
Trenton turned on his heels to move towards the hallway, and Fae stomped after him. “This conversation is not over, Mr. Grumpy Pants.”
“Mr. Grumpy Pants? Bloody hell, Fae. You’re nearly thirty years old. Isn’t it high time that you start acting more like your age?”
Suri could hear Fae audibly gasp as the two rounded the corner and moved towards Trenton’s room. She also heard the door slam shut, causing their conversation to become incoherently muffled. Her body fell limp and she sunk into the couch.
That was horrible.
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