Page 70 of Tethered

“What? How?”

“He had no idea his brother was the one who raped me. All this time, he thought the drugs had started to wear off early and that I came home, got raped by my dad, and then shot him in retaliation.”

“He still drugged you, Calliope.”

“I know. He did it to protect me. He didn’t want me to go back home. He had a bad feeling something would happen…” I hedge. “He thought if he could keep me at his place overnight, I’d be safe until he could come up with a plan. And well, we know how that turned out.”

She looks at me skeptically, and I can’t say I blame her. If I were hearing this from someone else, I’d be searching them for a brain injury. The problem is, she doesn’t know the urgency Austin felt because of my powers coming in. I wonder, and not for the first time, if I should tell her the truth. She might be a no-nonsense kind of woman, but she’s always been my biggest advocate. With others already knowing the truth, it’s starting to feel wrong keeping it from her.

“There’s more to it, isn’t there?”

Dammit, I need to stop surrounding myself with perceptive people. “There is, but now isn’t the time or place.”

“But you’ll tell me later?”

“Yeah, Jen. I’ll tell you everything.”

“I’m going to hold you to that. Now, let me go talk to this sheriff of yours so I can spring you from this joint.”

“You are a goddess.”

“You’re not telling me anything I don’t already know.”

I laugh as she leaves and shake my head at how different things are from the last time I was in a police station. As much as I don’t want to jinx myself, it’s impossible not to feel hopeful about what’s to come, especially when I can see the positive changes happening around me.

Who knows, maybe I have more sunshine in me than I realized. Even after the stunt that Porter and Derek pulled today, I’m not feeling particularly murderous. I’m more pissed about what happened to Sarah than what happened to me. Would I still like to see my dad dead? Of course, but mostly on principle. Truth is, the less I’m around him, the less I want him infecting any part of my life.

I don’t know if that’s part of me healing or maturing, but I’m not going to question it. When I made the plan to kill my dad, I had nothing to lose. But now I have everything, and the thought of it all getting torn away from me is what wakes me up at night.

Chapter Twenty

By the time I get home, I have a very angry party of people waiting for me.

I don’t even make it to the front door before Riggs is tearing down the steps and scooping me into his arms, holding me just this side of too tight.

“I’m okay.”

“Oh, I know you could have fucking eviscerated those motherfuckers, but I’m pissed you were in that situation in the first place. I know you want to be the one to deal with your dad,but I’m finding it harder and harder to hold myself back,” he tells me quietly so Jen doesn’t hear.

“I know. I’m sorry.”

“It’s not your fault, but I can’t promise that I won’t be stealing a pair of Shepard’s cuffs later.”

I laugh because it’s precisely the response I thought I would get.

I lean up onto my tiptoes and kiss him. “Not sure that’s much of a deterrent. If my punishment is getting cuffed to you, I might find myself seeking out trouble.”

“As long as I’m following you, I don’t give a fuck.”

I pull back and look up at him. “You really would, wouldn’t you?” He looks confused, so I elaborate. “You’d follow my lead, even if it was a fucked-up decision that landed us both in trouble.”

“Opie, you need to wake up, baby girl. I’d follow you into the fires of hell. I’d rather burn beside you for eternity than watch you walk away.”

“Okay, my turn, big guy.” Dawn butts in, nudging Riggs out of the way so she can hug me. “I was so worried when I heard what happened. Though I’m not sure what actually did happen. All Shepard said was that he was taking you in for some bullshit questions because Porter and Derek were motherfuckers.”

I throw my head back and laugh. “He did not.”

“Oh, he did. Mr. I’m-never-flustered lost his shit.”