2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

I was jolted awake as the vehicle came to a stop after hours of travel. Tilly whined piteously, and I felt awful at how long it had been since she’d had a bathroom break. Hopefully, wherever we were, this was our final stop.

The door opened with a bang, and I could tell it was Giles based on the heavy breathing. He grunted in annoyance as Tilly shot out, her paws clicking and scrambling on the RV floor.

“Hope your mutt doesn’t run away, I’m not chasing her,” he grumbled. “This is your stop, Iris. A hotel was too risky with so many Hunters coming into town. Your mother—I mean, Moriah, has rented a house for you to use for the time we’re here. It’s got two bedrooms so the twins can come and stay if they need a break.”

I nodded uneasily, dread trickling down my spine. I didn’t want to be left alone with my brothers.

With shaky hands, I felt around the RV for the bench that would take me to the steps, hoping I didn’t fall out now. To my surprise, Giles grabbed my wrist, half supporting, half yanking me down until I was on solid ground before rapidly letting me go.

Tilly licked my hand, sticking close to my side as I followed my brothers’ voices up the path, walking slowly and cautiously so I didn’t fall. If Nana were here, she would have linked arms like we did when we walked through the forest paths, but that would never happen again. My throat grew tight at the thought, but I couldn’t cry now. This was not a time to show weakness.

It was so loud here. Giles’s house was surrounded by trees, and when the television wasn’t on, I mostly heard the swaying, rustling sounds of them outside as well as the creaks and whistles of the wind blowing through the attic.

Here, all I could hear was the traffic from the road nearby. I tripped on the threshold, catching myself before I fell on my face, though no one seemed to notice at least. The central air was on, and it made a buzzing sound that seemed to needle into the very back of my brain. Tilly whimpered slightly, pushing her nose into my hand, and I stroked the top of her head, unsettled and unsure.

All I’d ever wanted was to leave the attic. Now, I wondered if perhaps I’d been too ambitious with those goals.

“Clara packed you a bag of clothes and snacks,” Moriah said dismissively as something landed with a thud on the floor. “The yard is fenced—you can let your beast out there. If you’re lucky, we’ll be back for you when it’s time to return to Denver. Boys, come on.”

“Can’t we just stay here?” Justin whined.

“No. We need to greet the rest of the Council and talk about the next steps. I expect my children to put their best foot forward and make a good impression.”

If there was anything she could have said to get them moving, it was that. Not because they wanted to make a good impression, but because it gave them an opportunity to be smug that she claimed them as her children, and not me.

“Of course, Mom,” Justin said sweetly, bumping the sore spot on my arm as he headed out the door.

Moriah left with them, but the door didn’t click shut. I hesitated, wondering if I was alone or not.

“I’ll send a food delivery to the door,” Giles muttered, making me jump. “Don’t make us regret the trust we’re placing in you, Iris. Your grandmother isn’t here to fight your battles anymore. Lock the door behind me.”

With that chilling pronouncement, he was gone.

My limbs shook with each step as I felt my way to the door, banging my hip on something and then my elbow. Eventually, I found the door and fumbled until I felt like the lock had clicked into place.

If only they’d told me a little about the layout, that would have been so helpful. The last time I’d moved was when Moriah had married Giles and we’d moved out of Nana’s house and I’d gone into the attic. I couldn’t even remember that time, and Nana would have helped me get accustomed to the unfamiliar space.

Now, it was just me.

I’d never had a cane before—the one time I’d quietly suggested one having heard about it in a movie, Nana had gotten me Tilly instead. She’d said she’d found Tilly easier to stomach as an aid. That she could pretend she was just a pet, and that there was nothing wrong with me. In the small space that I knew as well as I knew myself, that had been fine.

I really wished I had a cane now.

Fortunately, I stumbled into the bathroom first since Tilly hadn’t been the only one holding on for the long drive. I opted to take the bedroom right next to it, since it would be easier to get to in the middle of the night if I had to. There was one other bedroom on the other side of the small house, behind the kitchen area. The yard was a small square with seemingly no plants—I could run my hand along the wooden fence the entire way around, so at least Tilly would be safe outside.

It must have been late by the time I got my bearings. I tripped over the bag that Moriah had left on the ground, crashing onto the carpet on my knees, but at least I was able to find the small bag of snacks that Carla had packed for me and have some popcorn for dinner before getting ready for bed.

For all my dreams of leaving the attic and getting to explore the world outside those walls, thus far it was proving a little less exciting than the movies had made it seem. So far, it was worse in nearly every way, in fact. But every inch of the attic contained memories of Nana, and I wasn’t sure how I was going to cope when I was forced to confront those again.

The sheets were starchy and uncomfortable compared to the well-worn ones of my bed at home, and trucks seemed to pass by all night long, making the windows rattle each time. Tilly was practically curled up on my neck, as uncomfortable as I was, and even if I’d been at home, I doubted I would have gotten much sleep. I couldn’t turn my brain off.

Would there be a funeral for Nana? I wouldn’t be allowed to go, even if there was. Would Moriah let me live in the attic by myself? Did I even want that? If I wasn’t blind, maybe this would be my opportunity to run away and start a new life like they always did in the movies. But if I wasn’t blind, I wouldn’t need to. I wouldn’t be a faulty Hunter, and my mother wouldn’t have rejected me as her child. There would be no reason for me to want to leave.

Fortunately, I found the TV remote on the second day and was at least able to replicate the comforting background noise of home. Unfortunately, Giles seemed to have forgotten his words about having food delivered, and I rationed the snacks as much as I could, wondering how long I could make them last. Days dragged on that way, and I slept as much as I could, hating the harsh reality of being awake.

Hating myself . For the first time in my life, I was unsupervised. I could leave, and no one would ever find me again. Except, I couldn’t. I’d probably walk directly into traffic and that would be that.

“Open up, Iris,” Justin called through the door, banging on it loudly and making me startle. Tilly grumbled in irritation at the disruption. “We forgot the key.”

I quickly twisted my damp hair off my neck, having just gotten out of the shower, and pulled on a comfy long dress with t-shirt sleeves. If I had time, I’d go back to my room and grab a baggy sweater—an extra layer of protection for my skin in case my brothers got pinchy again—but it took me so long to get around this place still and I didn’t want to risk angering them.

I knocked my shin on the corner of the coffee table on my way to the door, sucking in a quiet breath at the sudden sharp pain. Hopefully, they’d brought food.

“Finally,” Travis grunted, knocking me with his shoulder as he barged his way in. “We’re going to hook up the console in here to play games for a bit. It’s so fucking boring over there, we need a break. Don’t get in the way.”

“Oh. Right.”

“Um, hi,” an unfamiliar voice said, startling me as I closed the door. “I’m Lucas.”

I stood with my hand on the door handle, frozen like a statue, while Tilly trotted over to position herself at my feet. They’d brought someone back here? Why would they have done that? No one knowing about me was the number one rule in our family.

It had never really been put to the test before. It was easy to hide me away at home, where only the attic was off-limits. It hadn’t taken Justin and Travis long to crumble at the very first hurdle, though.

Nana would have been so disappointed in them.

“Hello,” I replied eventually, shrinking back against the door. Tilly grumbled a quiet, unhappy sound, almost sitting on my feet.

“Ignore her,” Travis instructed Lucas. “Come, sit here. What do you want to play? Iris, don’t be weird. Lucas is family. Not your family, obviously.”

Lucas laughed uncomfortably, moving away so I could close the door. The three of them got comfortable on the couch, and I hovered awkwardly, wondering what I should do. Maybe I should just go and hide in the bedroom? That felt weird—and I’d have to walk past them all, and that idea was mortifying.

Eventually, I felt my way over to the small two-person dining table and took one of the seats. I was behind the couch where they were sitting all facing the TV, and maybe if I stayed still and quiet enough, they’d forget I existed. Tilly plonked down on my feet with a sigh, seemingly as unsure of what to make of a stranger in our presence as I was.

The boys decided on a game that sounded horribly violent, and I made myself as small as possible while they played—for hours it felt like, though I had no way of checking unless I asked. What was I meant to do? They’d come into my space, and yet I felt like the one who was intruding. My face burned with humiliation as my stomach grumbled so loudly that they all must have heard it. I suspected that Travis and Justin wouldn’t react well if I got up to get some jerky and reminded them of my presence.

“Should we order pizza?” Lucas suggested casually. “I’m starving.”

“Sure,” Justin replied distractedly, before uttering a string of curse words so foul that I was glad Nana wasn’t around to hear them.

“What does everyone want?”

“BBQ chicken for us,” Travis said. “Don’t worry about her.”

“I’m ordering for everyone,” Lucas said firmly. “I’m sorry, I’ve forgotten your name.”

Was he speaking to me? Probably.

“I’m Iris,” I mumbled. He was quiet for a moment, and I wondered if he was considering the irony of my name. It certainly wasn’t lost on me that my irises were one of the worst things about me.

“Iris, what kind of pizza would you like?” Lucas asked kindly.

I’d never eaten pizza before. Carla—Margaret before her—or Nana had always prepared my meals at home, and Nana had been strongly averse to any kind of fast food. But I knew from movies that pepperoni was a popular choice.

“Pepperoni?” I suggested tentatively.

“How do you know what pepperoni is?” Justin scoffed. “She can have a slice of ours—you don’t need to order anything special for her.”

“I like pepperoni too,” Lucas said easily.

There was a brief awkward silence before they resumed playing their game, and I shuffled a little in my seat to get comfortable as my butt started to go numb. Tilly adjusted her position with me, and I wished we were sitting on the sofa so I could haul her onto my lap and cuddle her like a lifeline.

She perked up right before someone knocked on the door, and there was some movement and murmurs of conversation in the background before the room was filled with the smell of cheese.

It smelled really good. My stomach rumbled loudly again, desperate for any kind of food but especially anything that wasn’t jerky and chips.

“I’ll get hers,” Justin said begrudgingly, pulling plates down in the kitchen before slamming one down in front of me.

“Here. Don’t say we don’t ever do anything nice for you.”

“Justin, you weren’t meant to bring anyone here,” I whispered, walking my fingers along the tabletop until I found the edge of the plate.

“Lucas is family. He’d already heard rumors about you anyway,” Justin replied dismissively. “You know how annoying all the bullshit Council politics are, right Lucas? Just pretend you never saw her.”

“Right,” Lucas agreed uncomfortably, though I wasn’t sure my brothers picked up his tone.

“Wear long sleeves next time,” Justin added, flicking the bruise on my arm and making me wince. “You’re so clumsy—we don’t want to see this ugly eyesore.”

I gritted my teeth, refusing to give him any more of a reaction than I already had.

“Lucas is the one who found one of the Hunters who defected to the shadow realm—he recognized her and reported her right away,” Travis said in a relaxed tone that sent a chill down my spine. Nothing good ever came from that tone. “We haven’t been allowed to see her, but I hope we get to soon. I’d love to know what the shadow realm is like for her. Wouldn’t you, Iris?”

“I’ve never really thought about it,” I replied eventually as the silence extended. I didn’t know much about the shadow realm—only what I’ve overheard from downstairs in recent months about them waging some kind of war on us.

The correct assumption based on the family I’d been born into was that the shadow realm had to be bad because Shades lived there, and they were the monsters that all Hunters were trained to kill.

But I’d always struggled with making that assumption stick in my head.

As far as humans went, the Hunters that I’d encountered were pretty monstrous.

“So cool that you identified her and called it in right away, bro,” Travis added. There was a slapping noise, like he’d clapped Lucas on the back.

“It really wasn’t a big deal,” Lucas replied, sounding almost embarrassed, which was strange. Nana was always telling me stories about the heroic Hunters and the evil Shades—surely Lucas would be proud of himself for making such a discovery?

“Fuck yeah, it was a big deal,” Travis admonished. “We’ve got to make an example out of Hunters like that one who defected. Burn those harlots at the fucking stake like they used to back in the days when the Hunters used to have some goddamn integrity. I told Mom that’s what they should do but apparently they want to, like, sweet talk her for a bit first or whatever. Try get some information out of her. She can’t even remember anything.”

I felt suddenly queasy, but I felt tentatively around on the plate in my hand, sinking my fingers into melted cheese. After a little more fumbling, I came to what I thought was the crust, though it was still incredibly difficult to get a hold of the piece of pizza, which seemed to flop around in every direction no matter how I tried to move it.

“May I?” Lucas asked, alarmingly close.

“Sure,” I squeaked, flinching instinctively.

After a long pause, he gently gripped my hand, helping me bend the pizza so it cooperated between my fingers.

“Easier?”

“Yes, thank you,” I replied awkwardly.

Justin groaned—a distinctive sound he’d made since he was a toddler that had always made him easy to distinguish from Travis. “Don’t be annoying, Iris.”

“Okay. Sorry.”

Only once the sounds of their game started up again did I bring the pizza up to my mouth to cautiously nibble on the end of it.

And, oh . It was glorious. Like a combination of Nana’s grilled cheese and Carla’s spaghetti, but somehow better. And those were my two favorite meals.

“Do you like it, Iris?” Lucas called from the other side of the room.

“Yes, thank you.” I nodded enthusiastically, wanting him to know that I was appreciative.

Tilly rested her head on my lap, sniffing loudly, but I shifted the plate away, not knowing if it would make her sick or not. Better to be safe than sorry.

“Oh, I have some beers in the back of the truck,” Justin said, walking past me on his way out of the front door. “Pause it. I’ll go grab them.”

How had he even gotten hold of that? The twins were only nineteen.

“I’m sure Iris wants her room back—” Lucas began. What time was it anyway? It felt like it was getting late, but it seemed as though they had a lot of game left to play.

“Nah, she’s probably grateful for the company. She just sits here alone all day,” Travis said bluntly.

“Right,” Lucas replied slowly. “Iris, do you want me to let your dog outside?”

Why was he being so kind to me? I didn’t know what to make of it.

“I can do it—” I began, moving to stand.

“I didn’t think you couldn’t, I was just wondering if you’d like me to. I’m over here by the sliding door anyway.”

“Oh okay. Then, yes, please. Tilly, outside.”

She immediately trotted away as the door slid opened, which meant she’d probably been waiting to go out since she didn’t move very promptly otherwise. I finished my food, huddling in a little closer on myself as the cool breeze blew in from outside.

“Shit, Mom’s calling. I better take this,” Travis said, his footsteps heading toward the yard.

Lucas cleared his throat, and I realized that I was alone in a room with a man I’d never met.

“So, you’re their sister. Right?” he asked quietly.

“Did they tell you that?”

“No.”

“Oh.” How could he know then?

“You guys look like triplets,” Lucas added. “You’re like the girl version of them.”

“Oh. I didn’t know that.” Nana had occasionally mentioned how strong her genes were, but she’d never explicitly stated that the three of us looked alike. I wondered if it was because she knew it would make me sad.

That appeared to be how I was feeling, though I didn’t entirely understand why. Sure, they were my brothers. But they’d hated me since the moment they were old enough to understand what hatred was. They’d been explicitly taught that skill by their parents.

“When Giles married your mother, there were some rumors in the family about how she’d had a baby from her first marriage, you know. I remember them. But I guess when no kid materialized, everyone sort of forgot about that. It’s crazy that she’s managed to keep you a secret—Moriah is pretty infamous after winning the bid for the treaty negotiations and the Shade-Hunter marriage and then, you know, botching the whole thing.”

“I don’t really know anything about that. I’m sure Moriah has a lot of pressure on her,” I offered weakly.

“You don’t call her Mom?”

“She prefers that I don’t. It’s best for everyone. I’m sure you’ve noticed that I’m blind. What use is a Hunter who can’t hunt?” I asked, repeating back the words Moriah and Giles had said to me so many times over the years. That even Nana had said a time or two, though she always seemed to feel bad about it right after.

“Don’t say that,” Lucas murmured uneasily, falling silent as my brothers came back into the room and Tilly noisily lapped at the water in her bowl.

Justin returned with beer, and the already painful evening got markedly worse as the drinks flowed. Fortunately, they were all content to leave me alone and I had the taste of pizza to savor, so it wasn’t entirely bad.

But the fear … this brand new fear that the past few hours had brought me was crippling. Someone knew that I existed, and who my mother was. That information was out there in the world now, and my entire life felt as though it was at the mercy of this strange man.

It was terrifying. And yet, in an odd way, thrilling. If nothing else, my life would never be entirely the same again, even if I ended up locked in the attic alone for the rest of my days.

Someone knew I existed.