Damage Me

Chapter 33

Aaron is sitting in one corner of the room. Kent in the other. I'm sitting closer to Aaron, but still a distance away.

We've all asked to be alone.

I'm staring at James. He's sleeping, and has been for hours. He has no idea he has a second brother and a sister.

There are only two things running through my head. One is the obvious.

I almost killed my brother. I almost shot him. I wanted to kill him. How?

And if this is how upset—shocked, I should say—Aaron has gotten about this, Juliette keeping it from him, what will he do about me? What will he think when I tell him about Nico? And the rest of it....I don't even want to think about.

At one point, Eva walks over, sitting down silently beside me.

"I didn't know," she says after a while.

"I know."

She takes my hand, but my eyes don't move from James.

"Four brothers," I say quietly. "I have four brothers, and my father didn't think to mention it."

She squeezes my hand.
"He's not an honest man," is her response.

I nod my head, but it feels like it weighs a hundred pounds.

Silence.

"I suppose I should've known," I say to her.
"He can touch Juliette. He lives in the same sector. And something about his eyes have always been oddly familiar to me. I realize now that they are shaped just like our fathers."

She doesn't say anything.

"Dammit," I whisper, half laughing, but it doesn't have any humor in it.
"I was really prepared to hate him for the rest of my life."

I don't need to explain to her why I don't anymore.

"Come on," She says to me. "Let's go to bed. It's getting late."

Juliette and Aaron stand up after we do.

We look at each other. Really look at each other.

We both nod. Look at Kent.

"Excuse me," I say to Eva.

I take a deep breath, then walk over to him, along with Aaron.

I pause briefly as I walk by James. This boy—my little brother, believes his father died. That he was a good man.

I wish that was true for him. And it breaks my heart that it's not.

Kent is up on his feet, defensive, uncertain.

But as we approach, he relaxes.

"I probably should've told you," Kent says.

"I get why you didn't," I say, quietly.

"I'm sorry," Aaron says suddenly. Kent reels, looked stunned.