I'm Sorry, Did You Say Mate?

Chapter 34

            “Son, calm down. I know it’s hard for you to imagine that, but look, you’re scaring her.” He nodded in my direction and Evan abruptly cut off his pacing, turning to face me. He face became apologetic and he walked over to me. I let him embrace me, wrapping his strong arms around me.

            “I’m sorry.” He murmured, holding me tighter to him.

            “It’s ok.” I whispered, glad that he didn’t sound mad anymore.

            “Back to the hunters, I think we can make this work to our advantage. We have every right to strike before they do. They have no idea that Claire has decided to turn against them, so if we tell her something that isn’t true, they’ll have no reason to believe that it’s not the truth!” He cried triumphantly.

            “What?” I finally asked. That made no sense to me.

            “We’re going to do this fight on our own terms, only they won’t know about it. We’ll tell her how we’ll be in a certain place at a certain time. They won’t be able to resist and they’ll attack us there. Except, we’ll be  waiting and we’ll be ready.”

            “That’s…actually not a bad idea.” Evan murmured, thinking it over. I stepped up, shaking my head.

            “No, I don’t want her going anywhere near Lockey or his hoard of heartless monsters.”

            “Sutton, Claire will be fine. Nothing is going to happen to her, they need her.” Evan reminded me.

            “What if she get’s hurt? What if she’s taken again? Or worse, what if she get’s killed in the crossfire!” I could hear my hysteria start to bubble in my words.

            “It’ll be fine.”

            “No, it won’t. I can’t let her get hurt. I’m her older sister, I’m all she has. I’m supposed to protect her! I failed her in the past but I won’t now.” I whispered the last part. It was silent for a second before Mark stood up.

            “I’ll leave you two to talk while I get the details ready.” He murmured, leaving the office and closing the door behind him. Evan took my hand and led me to the small sofa pushed up against the wall.

            “Sutton, you didn’t fail Claire. You couldn’t possibly protect her. You had no idea she even existed, you can’t blame yourself for that.” He murmured.

            “I know that, but I just feel so guilty. Her whole life she’s had no one and look at me! I’ve had the best parents you can imagine and an amazing little sister. Not to mention I had an older brother looking after me. She never had any of that. It was just luck that I was adopted.” I felt a tear slip down my face as I thought about Claire growing up with nothing and no one.

            “You can’t change her past, but you can be involved in her future. She’s still young, she still needs you. There’s time for you to be in her life. You can still be the older sister she deserves.”

            “I guess you’re right.” I said after a minute of hesitation.

            “I want to apologize Sutton. For the way I acted about you getting into Columbia. I was a douche and I should have been happy for you.” He murmured, looking away.

            “I understand. You never gave me the chance to say I’m not going to any of the colleges I got accepted into.” I smiled softly.