A Knife in the Dark | ✓

Thirty Eight

It was only for a moment.

The silence was suddenly filled with shouts of protests. Bell let out a loud cry. Leah pushed her face into my ribs, hiding her face in my shirt. Saylee and Jake exchanged a look, gripping the other tightly. As for Lars, Lucius, and Tiberius--well, I'd never seen such violent expressions.

Bell was trembling, sobbing. Her tears and Leah's soaked my shirt. I didn't know what to do. They'd already lost a sibling each. I didn't know what to do.

Ren was the only one that wasn't reacting. He sat in his chair, calm and collected, completely unfazed. If his chest didn't rise and fall, and if he didn't blink every few seconds, I would have thought him a statue.

Maybe Snow was still talking, or maybe someone else was. Hell, maybe the anthem was playing. Not a sound could be heard over the angry voices of the Marcellus family.

I didn't know what it was they were saying. Maybe I should've tried harder to listen. All I could see was the look that was exchanged by Saylee and Jake. All I could hear were the cries of Leah and Bell. It was like I'd lost all of my senses besides those. Nothing felt real. I wondered when I'd wake up.

Eventually, things calmed down. The anger fled the room, followed by panic and fear, the all-encompassing kind. The doorbell rang. Ren stood to answer it. Caprenia waved him off and went to get the door herself. Bell and Leah calmed down. Leah stood, wiping off her tears with the backs of her hands, and went over to Jake. Bell slid closer to me. Lucius took the seat beside her. Lars and Tiberius sat on the floor in front of her. They said nothing. Nothing could be said.

Caprenia returned with three guests. Brutus, Lyme, and Enobaria. They didn't look angry. They didn't look afraid. They were terrifyingly calm. Just like Ren was. Just like Clove had been. Just like Cato had been.

"It cannot be avoided any longer, Marcellus." Lyme said. I wondered if the ache went through her that went through me. I'd heard her shout that same name across the Training Center so many times... "We can't keep ignoring this."

"Not here." Ren replied. "Not now. We mustn't discuss it now." His eyes wandered around the room, specifically hitting Bell, and Leah, and Caprenia, and Titus, and me. I wanted to know what he was hiding from us.

"We've got a half hour until Odair and Cresta show up." Brutus announced after glancing at his watch. "Then we'll be on call with Abernathy and those other two from Three."

"You can't be serious." Lucius said. "Do you have any idea how risky this is?"

"What the hell is going on?" Titus demanded.

"Nothing." This was a chorus from Saylee, Jake, the Victors, and the three Marcellus brothers.

Ren glanced around the room. "Titus," he said slowly, "I'm going to ask you only once, and I expect you to do exactly as I say. I want you to take your wife, and your daughter, and Dahlia, and I want you to go home. I want you to not mention this to anyone, ever. And, if she can be convinced, I want you to take Atala as well." His eyes were not hard on mine with the last statement. He wasn't angry with me, he was protecting me. From what, I didn't know.

Bell and Leah both stuck their chins up into the air. "But Grandfather," Bell said, "Leah and I already know."

The Victors and her brothers seemed to freeze. Jake's mouth fell open a little. Saylee's eyes were wide.

"How?" Tiberius demanded, and I'd never seen him look so fierce and angry, or so much like his younger brother.

"You were never very quiet." She glared stubbornly at Lucius, who looked down. He looked upset. "Maybe if you three hadn't yelled so much all the time, Leah and I wouldn't have known." Leah nodded in firm agreement. "We're staying. We want to help, too."