Page 44 of The Final Storm
But he did, and Dean convinced him.
Dean stops and turns. The banging overhead stops for a moment, and they both look up. We all hear my footsteps walk across the roof, and then the steady thud starts again.
“She’s not one to give up, is she?” my brother-in-law says.
“Neither am I,” Dean snips. He steps back inside, shutting the door behind him and crossing his arms.
“I’ll go to the hall today and talk to the AOE,” my brother-in-law agrees. “I’ll discuss it with Morgan after it’s done. She can’t stop it once it’s in motion.”
A small smile creeps up Dean’s mouth. “No, no, she can’t.” He uncrosses his arms and places his palms together. “You’re doing the right thing for you and for your family. You need protection for what’s coming.”
“I thought that’s what you were for. You’re the bully of Babel Road.”
“I’m no bully,” Dean says. “Bullies rule with fear. I’m just honest, but the truth is scary right now.”
The bully of Babel Road. I’d heard someone call him that in school. How fitting.
“My father will come by here regularly. Invite him in,” Dean orders.
“Is he some goddamn vampire?” my brother-in-law bites back.
Dean’s eyes narrow. “I don’t want to hear about any complications when he’s checking in on my family.” Dean draws out the word family and then looks up to the roof where I’m working.
My brother-in-law stands with his hands in his pockets and saunters over to Dean. He’s beaten, and I can see it. Never a strong-willed man, he went with the flow and catered to others, ripe for the picking and manipulating. He didn’t stand a chance with the AOE, and every ounce of power they made him feel drew him deeper into their entanglement of lies. They wrapped their vines around a man in need of validation and squeezed everything that was decent out. Not that he had much to begin with.
They both stiffen around each other, visibly uncomfortable.
“I am sorry about the baby,” he says to Dean. “I should’ve told you that before. We’re both so very, very, sorry.”
Dean doesn’t respond. He leaves, slamming the door behind him, and I run after him. I’m caught in the closing door, but it passes through me. An odd sensation, but then again, this entire experience is odd.
Dean gallops down the steps, and I see him stop on the last one, rubbing his face with his hands. I pad my feet over to him, unsure why I’m being so quiet. It’s obvious no one is aware of my presence.
He’s a mix of anger and sadness. I can’t recall the last time I saw him upset like that. There were plenty of times when we were younger, but with every passing year, a wall grew around him. I wonder if this is the last time he let sadness permeate his heart. Not even a minute passes before it flickers off, his mask firmly back in place.
He calls out to me, walking out into the grass. “I’ll get some tools and come back to help. I didn’t know you were starting this today.”
“Me neither,” I yell back. “But I can’t take it anymore. There’re no days off on a farm, you know.”
Dean chuckles and jogs toward his jeep. Both things disappear into a mist, and I stand on the porch in shock at what I just heard and saw.
Dean is the one who convinced my brother-in-law to join the AOE.
This is the past I never saw. Maybe the things… I should have.
The moment the realization hits me, the world goes dark, and I open my eyes to fluorescent lights and a stranger’s terrified face.
Chapter 18
A Toast
“Wakeup.Doyouhear me? Oh, God!” With each word, a man’s voice grows more panicked. His hands press into my shoulders, but I can’t focus with the unbearable pounding in my head. It sears through my body, making it hard to breathe, to think.
I lift one hand to my skull and cover my eyes from the beaming lights. Black spots form in my vision while I struggle to respond. Opening my mouth to speak, I cough and taste the tang of blood. Each movement sends a searing knife into my brain.
“W-what?” I croak. The words don’t sound like my own. I cough more, shivering from the agony of each movement.
“I’m going to get help,” he yells.
