I dropped my fork and clasped my hands, telling myself to be calm, to keep the peace, to understand that they didn’t know that side of the Warlords and it wasn’t Kurt’s fault to hate them.
But.
And there it was—the But.
I looked up, watching Kurt as he rambled on some more about this and that to Mom. She smiled, though it didn’t reach her eyes, and not for the first time I wondered what the fuck they were doing together. She didn’t look like me when I was with Hunter or Leo. She didn’t have that spark. She was sitting comfortable with him, but that was all that was left, wasn’t it? The comfort. Who knew how many times she had overlooked him stepping out for some fluff on the side? She’d obsessed about it when I was kid, but now it seemed like she had let go.
Mom was not the same.
And Kurt, while loving and protective of me, had also overstepped his boundaries and crossed the line more than once.
Perhaps it was purely impulse.
Or maybe it was time I owned up about my life to him.
Regardless of the reasons, I found myself opening my mouth to say, “Did you burn down Hunter’s house?”
He stopped mid-conversation to look at me. His face fell in shock for a brief moment before he gathered himself. “What was that?”
“Did you burn Hunter’s house down?” I repeated.
He didn’t respond, but his face remained screwed up in shock, and it seemed forced, like he was working hard to maintain it.
“Skye,” Mom said gently, peering cautiously at Kurt, “why on earth would he do that?”
I continued to stare at him as I answered, “Because I think he did it to get rid of him.”
“That’s excessive, sweetie.”
“Very,” Kurt muttered as he sat still, looking deeply into my eyes. “I didn’t need to try and get rid of that rat—he fucked off to that club. He’ll die there, too, because they all die eventually.”
My fingers shook as I angrily retorted, “He won’t die.”
Kurt smirked, looking smug as he replied, “Baby girl, those criminals have an expiration date stamped on their foreheads. Too many fucking enemies to dodge. They always eat a bullet—Hunter will eat a bullet, if not a fucking stabbing if someone is keen enough to enjoy that kill.”
Blood drained from my face as I sat there, shocked and disgusted by his words.
Mom gasped. “Kurt, that is not an acceptable thing to say—”
“I’m talking truth,” he cut in, looking at her briefly. “I’m stating fact. There is a dark world we aren’t privy to, Maddie. And that savage boy has always been running amuck, causing trouble, trying to drag our girl down with him—”
“He’s never dragged me down,” I hissed, sitting back in my chair as my body urged me to flee before I wound up screaming. “You don’t know him, Kurt, you never have—”
“I know him enough to see what he is, Skye, and the best thing you ever did was choose Leo.”
“I did not choose Leo!” I shouted, body burning up now as I gave him a filthy look. “I love them both, Kurt.”
“Not this shit again—”
“And they love me, too—”
“Maddie, would you tell her to stop living in this make-belief world where three is a number that fucking works—”
“And I’m not at Leo’s right now, either!”
Now he stilled, watching me with a dark look. “Where are you?”
“I’m at their clubhouse,” I said through quaking lips, “with Hunter.”