Crux Year

Chapter Seven - Royal

My dad is here.

Unbelievable.

Why?

I steal one last look at Shay. Lashes wet, lips pouted out, blue eyes like lakes you want to drown in. He makes me crazy. When I'm around him, I want things I have no business wanting. It makes me feel like the council won.

I can't let them win.

They don't know me better than I know myself.

Turning my back on the beautiful boy, I follow his father out of the kitchen and to the front door. Sure enough, a massive wall of a man in a fitted suit stands on the porch wearing his usual impassive expression.

I hate that I look just like him.

I'll die before I ever become like him too.

"Royal," Dad Vince greets, his voice icy and smooth. "I hope I'm not interrupting anything."

His words insinuate we've been up to bad things. Before I can open my mouth, Oliver interjects.

"The boys were about to work on an assignment," Oliver explains. "They're in AI Programming together."

"Is that what they were doing?" Dad dismisses Oliver with a derisive snort. "Get in the car. We're leaving."

I'm frozen in place. I don't go anywhere with my father if at all possible. Not since he sent Dad Morgan to a rehabilitation facility. I don't trust for him not to send me there too.

"We don't mind running him home after—" Oliver starts, but Dad cuts him off.

"We have an appointment we can't miss." He cuts his eyes to Oliver. "I do hope they were supervised. Unmatched boys have no business spending time alone together."

"They weren't alone," Oliver assures him, though his voice is tight with irritation. "I never took my eyes off them."

Except when you did, and I nearly kissed your son...

Of course, I don't rat out either one of us.

Dad waves me toward the car, his impatience evident in the way his hand cuts through the air. That same hand, though manicured and never seen a day of hard labor in its life, sure packs power. Unfortunately, I know this from experience. I've been on the receiving end of that power many times over the past couple of years.

"We're going to see your father," Dad says, jerking me from my thoughts.

Dad Morgan?

I gape at him in shock. I'm not allowed to see him. He's been gone all this time and I've missed him so much. It's almost too good to be true. Rather than letting the tears of happiness spring forth, I blink them back and swallow down my emotion. If Dad Vince knows just how much I want to see Dad Morgan, he might decide to change his mind along the way.

Eyes burn into the back of my head. I don't have to turn around to know they belong to Shay. That he's joined his father on the porch. But, with Dad watching me for signs of weakness he can expose, dissect, and remove via any means necessary, I refrain from looking over my shoulder. With my spine straight and my chin lifted, I stride down the steps and across the lawn to Dad's car. I climb inside and steal a quick glance at Shay.

Concern has his brows tugging together and his lips thinning. It warms me. I need all the warmth I can get if I plan on surviving the chill that is Vince Ever. Oliver clutches onto the back of Shay's neck. His features are less concerned and more suspicious. Under normal circumstances, it'd please me to see someone look at my father that way.