Fire Breather

38.

   I often spent hours when I was younger, imagining what life would be like if the revolution never happened and my father survived.

Now that I was older?

Now all I wanted to do was forget my past completely and start fresh. Even cut off the damn rebellion relic on my arm if it meant I wasn't who I was—Blaine Riorson, the girl who was lied to by everyone she loved most.

Voices were talking around me, hands placing different plates of food down in front of me while I sat at the head of the table that consumed the length of the two-story room. The table could easily accommodate thirty people, but only I was sitting with my adopted mother seated to my left, silent as ever with her blue eyes studying me like she used to when I was younger.

"Where did that scar come from, Moon?" Mrs Barber—Leonie—questioned me, not asking before she reached forward, pulling the collar of my black tunic down to show the many silver scars from the wyvern that attacked me and Nim. "They're new."

"A wyvern," I flatly answered, staring at the painted portrait of my brother and I hung on the wall behind her. Gods, we were so young and happy once.

Axel stopped pacing on my other side, slowly turning to Xaden who was oddly quiet and didn't meet his eyes. "You didn't tell me that part," he lowly said, pointing a finger at me. "Why did you not tell me that part?"

"Because it's for her to tell if she wishes," my brother snarled back, finally looking up at him with cold eyes. "I told you what you needed to know."

"That was something—"

"Is this why I've been dragged out of my room?" I sharply asked, cutting Axel off while facing him and my brother, the pair straightening under my stare. "To have stupid arguments that don't answer any of my questions? To waste my time on trying to prove who's the better brother when you're both in the shit house considering you all kept this from me? If so, then fucking fight it out with your fists. At least then it'll be entertaining."

Axel's lips parted as he blinked hard at me and then turned to Xaden who had the same facial expression, looking at him.

"Well, I understand Imogen's warning now." Brennan whistled, leaning against the table beside my adopted mother, focusing on me. "You truly are blunter than your brother."

I leaned back in my chair, crossing my arms over my chest. "I don't trust you," I admitted, looking him up and down in clear judgment as he raised his brows. "You allowed your sisters to believe you were dead for six years. That proves that you allowed your sisters to suffer in grief to protect yourself. What else would you do to protect yourself?" I leaned forward while Garrick straightened against the wall near him, shooting Xaden a worried look that I ignored. "Would you throw away the revolution to save yourself, Sorrengail?"

One heartbeat of silence. Two heartbeats of tension—then, "I would never," Brennan firmly declared, leveling my cold stare. "Would you?"

"I've killed and nearly been killed more than you could probably say for this fucking revolution," I remarked, tilting my head as I leaned back in my chair. "How the fuck are you alive?" I asked but he stayed silent, keeping his eyes locked with mine. "Either you or someone starts answering my questions before I make heads explode. I burned my best friend yesterday and I am not afraid to burn more—family or not. I want my fucking answers."

"I believe she's being serious," Axel whispered to my brother.

"She is," Garrick mumbled, running a hand through his curls.

Brennan sighed and I glimpsed at the rune-shaped scar on his palm as he pushed off the table. "Naolin...He was—"

"Tairn's previous rider," I monotoned. "He was the siphon who died trying to save you, according to Professor Kaori."