Betrayed By You

Ch.15 - And Blackmail

It didn't take long to get in her head. Not long at all. Demeter would have been proud if he'd actually come back. Apparently the woman went farther than he'd anticipated and during the one phone call I had with him he seemed distracted and like he was still after her. That didn't seem good. Demeter moved fast, not as fast as I did, but he was still swift and he was more agile than I was.

I always waited until Duval had left for work before talking to Angeline. I had to get used to saying her name. Saying someone's name makes a deeper connection and the deeper the connection you have with someone the easier it is to take their thoughts and fears and twist them until the person doesn't want to move or think. Sometimes it's easy, but other times it's hard to connect with someone on that type of level.

Duval and I don't look exactly alike, but somehow just seeing me if she's drowsy she thinks I'm my brother. Stupid girl. Can't tell us apart. I'm a lighter blonde, more muscle tone, more tan, and I don't wear glasses anymore. Duval still wears glasses for some reason. The only thing harder about Duval than me is that my face still has some of the fat to it while his is all sharp lines. Guess I couldn't have all the luck to be terrifyingly sharp at every edge.

When Angeline left for work I stripped off what remained of my clothes, keeping my boxers nearby in case the woman came back from work early. I stretched out on the couch with one leg propped over the back and one stretched straight with the rest of me. I heard a car pull up the driveway within the hour and grumbled, debating if I wanted to put my boxers on and face my brother or if I wanted to grab my clothes and head to my room to remain naked. If I go to my room I can be naked. If I stay out here and talk to Duval I can't remain naked, but I CAN torment him to further get to her which will help me.

I grabbed my boxers and jumped up, slipping them on and sitting back down before Duval entered the house.

"I'm home." He called out.

"I'm right here." I said, waving a hand in the air.

"And I am deeply hoping you at least have your boxers on and that Angeline isn't here."

"She left for work a little bit ago and yes, I waited for her to get out of the house and down the road a ways before stripping. You know the closer the moon gets the more I want to run around naked anyway."

"You've always wanted to run around naked. All the time!"

"And you know it feels better when you run around without your shirt on."

"Until you're cooking bacon and the grease hits your chest several times."

"The full moon is two days out. Am I going to be able to shift here or do I have to stay far away? Are you ever going to tell her what you've done in the past? She and I have been trying to have conversations and without knowing what you've told her I can't really say anything because I don't know what I'm allowed to say and what I'm not allowed to say. If you don't want her knowing I'm a shifter or if you don't want her knowing you were part of a gang for a few years."

"No, she doesn't know about any of that. I'm trying to decide how to break things to her, if I break them to her at all."

"Already hiding secrets and not even together for a week. When are you finally going to man up and tell her about your past? She knows I'm bad and she knows there's something 'wrong' with me as most people say. You always were the golden boy. Pale little Duval, the golden child of the Carnell family."

"I was only the golden child because I worked at more than being something genetics could have made me. When you started shifting you were nothing more than that. You were just a shifter. When mom and dad died you joined the gang and then I kept an eye on you."

"No one ever said you had to."

"No, but I know mom worried about you. Dad didn't because he knew that you'd eventually get yourself killed by some hunter or something because that's what happened to people in his family. And mom's."

"Don't you dare talk about her to me."

"Why?"

"You know damn well why."

"I'll tell Angeline about what you are when I'm ready. I'll tell her about what I did, for you, for everyone there, when I'm ready."

"Then you better start kissing ass because if you don't tell her before I decide time's up you're not going to be the one TO tell her!"

"You wouldn't. Demeter wouldn't let you."

"Demeter isn't around right now, Duval. And he left me in charge."

"And I'm the one who still controls all the paperwork and the money for that building you all use. I'm the one who makes sure all those bills are paid before they pile up and collection notices form, I'm the one who makes sure everything is in order. All Demeter does is sign papers."

"Because that's all he should have to do since you're his little paper bitch."

Duval sighed. "If mom saw us fighting like this..."

"That woman was nothing but a dirty were creature whore!"

Duval looked up at me and I swear he was debating hitting me. "You take that back."

"No. She was a were creature. Were creatures are nothing but sluts and whores and they're disgusting!"

"Dad never thought any of those things about mom."

"Dad was one of the ONLY shifters who could tolerate were creatures and that's what made him so weak. Before they left neither of them could beat me in a fight."

"They were older and they didn't have to train. I still don't understand why you think training is so important."

"Because that's what makes me strong. It's something I control. All our lives YOU have controlled everything! What games the family played, what movies we saw, what dinner was, what vacation to go on, and even after our parents died you STILL controlled everything. You control everything now! You keep an eye on me, you control the money not just for my bank account but for the gang too!"

"I control all of that because you wouldn't remember to check things and you'd run yourself into the ground. You'd run everyone in that gang into the ground!"

"If you don't tell Angeline about your past before next month's full moon I will tell her. And you won't like how I tell her. You won't like how I do anything about it." I threatened, my teeth bared.

"If you touch her, Devlin, I swear on Demeter's life that you won't come out of it alive. If you do anything to jeopardize my life or hers in any way I'll make sure you don't survive it."

"You don't have the balls to."

"Try me." He snarled.