Page 41 of Conquered Betrayal
With the pot done brewing, I grabbed the handle and poured two mugs worth before returning it to the burner. I passed Landon his, meeting his gaze, expecting to see the same sort of anger as yesterday, but it seemed to have fizzled away. He gazed at me with a curious expression, like he was trying to figure me out.
What had Walker told him? “Are they okay?” I swallowed. I’d add the trauma they endured to the long list of all my other sins.
“Yeah,” he said, turning away from me with his mug in his hand. “They survived.”
There was a finality to his tone, like he wouldn’t speak more of their welfare. Understanding I didn’t deserve more than that, I took my own mug to the sofa where I flopped down on the thick cushion, a huffed sound exuding from the worn leather.
After a moment, Landon joined me, sitting in the armchair on the other side of the coffee table. Elbows resting on his knees, mug cradled between two hands, he met my gaze straight on. “Why is your brother doing this?”
Nausea swirled in my stomach, the band around my chest tightening. Here it was, time for thebig truth.I prayed I was strong enough to get it all out. Closing my eyes, I tried to keep my voice level. “It’s my fault. Everything my brother has done is because of me.”
When I opened my eyes again, it was as though someone had hit the pause button. Landon sat motionless, his gaze fixed to mine.
“Tell me how it’s your fault.” His voice was quiet, calm, deceptively so.
“I saw all three of you that day.” Questions flared in his eyes, and I hurried on before I chickened out. “Those bear attacks. I was seventeen at the time, and you’d already graduated. I was walking in the forest, heard a woman scream, then I saw—” I paused as images from the scene sprang fresh in my mind. As long as I lived, I’d never be able to forget. “I saw your friends change and attack that bear, one into a cougar, the other a grizzly.”
The stillness hadn’t left him, and I waited for him to speak, to comment, to saysomething. When he didn’t, I finished with, “A grizzly and two people died that day.”
“The grizzly deserved it,” he spat, and I jumped slightly at the force behind it.
“After seeing what it had done to those hikers, I agree with you.” I shivered, though it wasn’t cold in here. “But I was seventeen, scared, and I ran home freaking out, crying. I told Emerson everything I’d seen. For once, he believed me, said he’d always known something was wrong with our town. Every decision he made after was to monitor, track, and contain people like your friends.” Embarrassed by my pleading tone, that I was dying inside for him to understand, I gripped my coffee mug tighter, the heat too much for my skin, but I accepted the sting of it anyway.
Landon glanced away from me, his face ashen like he was going to be sick, his knuckles white on his mug.
This was it. This was the end of every possibility between us. I’d confessed my darkest sin and he’d be done with me. I inhaled a deep breath and held it.
Silence rang between us for long moments, then he met my gaze again. “You were young. It was years ago. You’re not responsible for your brother’s actions.”
Such simple words, but they did something tremendous inside me. My chest felt like it had been cracked open, my innards spilling out onto the floor in sheer relief. I’d been so tightly wound, holding myself unnaturally rigid for so long, those words felt like forgiveness even if they weren’t meant that way.
I couldn’t speak, and stared at the mug clutched in my hands, trying to regain control of my emotions.
“Why did you want to work for me?”
I swallowed around the lump in my throat and lifted my head. “I never would have applied for the job if it wasn’t my brother. Ever since we were kids, he’s been dictating my life. It got worse after my mom passed away, and more so when my dad died.” I took a deep breath, letting it out slowly. “But everything started, his…” I hesitated, trying to find the right word for it. “Obsession with people like your two friends, that day.”
He glanced over his shoulder at where Marley and Alina had disappeared.
“I’ve told them everything,” I said, predicting his question. “I’ve had to with what we’re doing.”
His expression hardened. “And have the three of you told anyone else?” The words were strained, like someone strangled him as he spoke.
“No,” I said, and some of the tension leaked from his posture.
We stared at each other, only soft murmurs coming from down the hall. I appreciated my friends knowing I needed privacy for this.
“I’m sorry.”
Landon’s words made me twitch. I frowned. “You’ve already apologized for yesterday.”
He lifted a hand and let it fall. “I’m sorry about what you said just now, about your brother controlling you when you were young and after that. It wasn’t right. The adults in your life shouldn’t have let it happen. The people around you should have seen the truth.” His words left me raw while his eyes stared at me like he could see all of my faults. “Ishould have seen what was happening and done something.”
“Why would you have?” Confusion made me shake my head.
His Adam’s apple bobbed. “When you worked for me, I should have known something was off, that you were in danger. That he’d hurt you.” His last words were tinged with the anger I’d seen yesterday, but this time paired with self-loathing.
I shook my head again, my brain not comprehending his statements. How could anyone have helped me with Emerson? It didn’t make sense.
