Chapter 6

They looked like they'd been waiting for me for a long time.

The arrogance they used to carry was gone. All that was left was something wrung-out.

At a glance I could see they'd lost a lot of weight. They didn't look like they'd been well.

It had been so long I almost didn't recognize them.

The second they saw me come out, they walked straight to me.

Their lips moved but nothing came out.

I kept my voice even. "What are you two doing here?"

Kieran's voice was raw. "Back then we wronged you. We just came to apologize. We wanted to know how you're doing…"

He paused. "Your… your mother wants you to come home with us. She wants to see you. Come home with your brother. Please?"

Brother.

It was the first time I'd ever heard him call himself that.

But now it didn't move me at all.

I didn't look at either of them. I just said it lightly. "I'll handle my mother. I'm not going back with you."

Nash stepped forward and tried to take my hand. I slipped out of the way before his fingers touched me.

He saw me do it and it cut him.

"Wren, hear us out. Everything that happened was because of me. I'm sorry, but the rest of it was Camille. All of it. I've already sent her to Moonhaven Sanitarium."

"Can we start over? I will never do anything to hurt you again."

Easy for him to say.

"We can't. Us being together was a mistake from the start."

I hadn't stepped outside the institute much, but I knew they had come here looking for me more than once.

Every time I saw them waiting at the gate no matter the weather, I just pretended they weren't there.

Even though I didn't hate them anymore.

It didn't matter how much they did. I wasn't going to forgive them.

I didn't want them in my life, so I was going to say it once and be done.

"If you hadn't gotten me drunk that night, I would never have slept with you. I was naive enough to think you actually loved me."

"And you took those photos of my first time. You let them out. Do you know how those men looked at me? I wanted to die."

Nash's face lost every drop of color.

Kieran whipped around and grabbed his collar. "You told me it was consensual. You got her drunk…"

His hands were shaking. He'd never been this sorry for anything.

"I only told him to film it once the two of you went through with it willingly. I didn't know he would get you drunk…"

Nash's eyes filled up. "I really know I was wrong. Wren, give me one chance to make it right. Please?"

I looked at the two of them and felt nothing.

Once I'd ached for someone to love me. I'd treated Kieran like a brother. I'd treated Nash like salvation.

And they were the ones who'd pulled me under.

I said quietly, "Isn't my being gone exactly what you wanted? You can be with Camille. You can treat Camille like your little sister."

They both shook their heads.

Kieran pushed it out. "No. I was only good to her to hurt you. You're the only sister I have, the only one who ever actually cared about me. She doesn't deserve it."

It was almost funny.

The one who didn't deserve anything, in his words, had been me.

Nash followed right after him. "I lost my mind. I thought that way Kieran wouldn't know I cared about you. I ended up hurting you. I'm sorry."

It was all too late.

Not every wound heals. I wasn't going to forgive the people who'd given me mine.

I said it one word at a time.

"If you actually feel guilty, then never come near my life again. I don't want to see you again."

I turned and walked off without looking back.

They didn't show up in front of me after that.

The last thing I heard from them was that Kieran had signed nearly everything he owned over to me. Nash left me a bank card.

Like money could fix it.

Kieran even said that even if my mother and Alaric Severed the Bond, he'd always be my brother, for as long as I let him be.

Nash said he'd wait. That whenever I looked back, he'd still be there.

It didn't mean anything to me anymore.

I wired my mother money every month. I didn't want much contact with her.

She never touched the card Nash left.

Later I found out she'd learned what Kieran had done to me after I left.

That was why she'd finally Severed the Bond with Alaric.

She regretted it, and she kept saying she was sorry she hadn't caught it sooner.

"I know I failed you. I'm not asking to be forgiven. I just want you to know, no matter what happens, you still have a mother."

She sounded so full of guilt, and I couldn't find a single thing to say back.

I wasn't angry at her anymore, but I didn't have any love left for her either.

Later someone sent me a bracelet made to look exactly like the one my grandmother had given me.

No matter how close the match, it wasn't the original.

I never saw Kieran or Nash again.

I heard neither of them had been doing well.

It didn't have anything to do with me.

I'd put the past behind me.

From now on, I was going to live my own life.

Become a better version of myself.