Choosing Home

Chapter Twenty Five

Claudine stared at her brother in shock, almost unable to comprehend what he had told her. Granted it'd already been a bit of a shock to come back from Dragon Hall to see a pink wearing blonde haired having cream cake of a Princess sitting where she usually sat. But then to hear that?

"I'm sorry what?! You've lost your damn mind over there in Boreadon if you think I'm going to just sit back and let you gift wrap my position in this gang to...to her! You've got to be joking," she exclaimed once the ability to speak came back to her.

"Does it look like I'm joking Claudine?" Freddy asked with a smirk.

"Oh I'm sorry, I forgot you don't know the meaning of a joke! I was hoping you'd have the common sense God gave a housefly and not do something like this! Of all the ideas you've come up with, Fred, this has got to be the most ridiculous," Claudine growled.

"Whatever do you mean Claudine? I'm tired of how soft you've made the gang while I was gone so I decided that it was time we had a new second in command. Just so happened I knew the perfect person too," Freddy said, the smirk still present.

Claudine grit her teeth, her hands curled into fists. "My 'soft' approach was the reason you had a gang to come back to, Fred! I kept the gang alive! I kept us from getting decimated after you made us the laughing stock of the Isle! And this is how you repay me? You want to give my spot to her?! She won't last one day on the Isle let alone as second in command!"

"You can't get the gang to stop fighting for more than five minutes. You couldn't get Strat to listen to you which resulted in Zevon of all people getting the drop on him and hitting him with a portion. Why should I repay you for doing your job and doing it poorly? And I wouldn't be too quick to judge Audrey. She managed to get a Boreadon royal crying in mere seconds."

"Hmm, I think the fact that we shoved Chad into a closet had something to do with that," Audrey chuckled. If one looked closely, they could see Morgan roll her eyes in the background, trying not to draw attention to herself.

Freddy shook his head and chuckled. "God, the level of weakness in Boreadon will never fail to amaze me."

"Ben tried to claim that I should have known since we were 'friends' for so long. Claustrophobia? Ha! Just another word for weakness."

Claudine stared in shock. So this was the girl who managed to make Fred loyal for nine months. The girl who somehow got him unable to have a fling with an Isle girl. The one who caused him to look out toward Auradon when he thought no one was looking—and therefore missed Claudine noticing it. The one who earned Shayla and Locklyn's ire considering they were still glaring at the girl.

It made sense—he managed to take an Auradon girl and twist her into someone exactly like him. Nothing else would ever compare for Fred. Claudine knew her brother after all. Or at least she thought she did.

There had been no reaction to Audrey coming to the Isle without their kid after all. Though Claudine knew that didn't necessarily mean something. Fred could just be plotting—which was probably the most dangerous thing he could do.

"Fine. If you really want to make that choice Fred, go right ahead. But don't think Miss Pink over there will be able to look to me for pointers on how to keep the girls from tearing each other apart because I am done!" Claudine snarled, marching toward the door.

"You walk out that door, you're dead, Claudine," Freddy warned, causing Claudine to pause. "You're the one who's always trying to cash in on our 'familial bond' and yet you're abandoning your own brother? The mother of your niece? Not very sisterly of you."