The following morning, Rile stood next to his brother on the second story stoop outside Alex's apartment. "Open the door, Cale. You have a key."
"I'm knocking," Cale said. "It's called being polite."
"It's called being inefficient. We won't see what's going on, either. We shouldn't have waited until the morning. I don't know why I listened to you."
"You didn't listen to me. I beat you at the staff every time you tried to leave."
"Next time, we're wrestling," Rile hissed.
After a few hard raps on the door, Cale pulled out his key and fit it into the lock. He opened the door a few inches and called Alex's name. Rile shoved the door the rest of the way open and strode into the apartment. He surveyed the empty kitchenette and living room.
"I hear the shower," Cale said. "Let's go."
"You go." Rile walked to the bedroom door and laid his head against it. "Shower is correct."
Anger crossed his face. His claws dug into the wall and he pulled them down. Pieces of plaster sprinkled to the ground. He pushed away from the door, walked into the kitchenette, and opened the freezer. He pulled out the ice cube bin and dumped the ice cubes into a pitcher.
"What are you doing?" Cale asked.
"Shut up and watch." Rile filled the pitcher with water. He walked to the bedroom door and eased it open.
"Rile, whatever you're doing, stop."
Rile shook his head at him and entered the bedroom. Cale backed to the front door. He heard Alex's shriek and Gabe's hiss-growl. Rile burst out of the bedroom, running, only to be tackled by his wet and furious oldest brother.
"I'll kill you," Gabe shouted as they wrestled.
"No, don't," Alex called out. She burst out of the bedroom and slammed into Rile. "Let me do it."
Gabe disengaged to make room for Alex.
"What are you wearing?" Rile held off Alex's hands and stared at the shimmering cloth that covered her from her neck to the top of her legs.
"They're called bathing suits." Alex's neuro-electric blast went wide, sending Gabe and Cale scrambling.
"You're in the shower together and both of you are wearing clothing?" Rile laughed.
Alex's wet hand slid free of Rile's grasp and she fired at him. He freed himself and ducked behind the couch. Gabe tackled him again.
"Please don't kill him. We need him in the future," Cale said.
"That's right, the future," Alex said. "Your future. Without me. Let him go, Gabe." Alex hugged herself. "I'm cold and getting a towel."
"Alex, don't," Rile said from where he was held in a choke hold by his oldest brother.
"I'm wet and cold, Rile," Alex said. "I need a towel."
"That's not what I meant."
"I know what you meant. I'm still doing it. You took what you wanted. Excuse me." Alex fled the room."
"Perfect Eldest Son wins again," Rile hissed.
"We all lose," Cale said.
***
Rile watched the stairs to Alex's apartment for over an hour until his oldest brother left. Then he walked up the stairs and knocked on the door. "It's me."
"I'm not buying what you're selling," Alex called back.
"Please let me in." Rile tried the doorknob and it turned.
"Come in and get it over with."
Rile walked into the living room and towered over Alex as she sat on the couch. "Don't do this, Alex. I know you're angry with me. I know you feel betrayed, but don't do this."
Alex caught his hand and pulled him down beside her. She cradled his hand, palm up, in hers. She outlined his fingers and then drew circles in the palm. She traced her finger up his arm to his neck and leaned close to whisper.
"You'll take me down, take what you want, and leave me bleeding by the side of the road. Your kind always does."
Alex jumped to her feet, her expression one of angry satisfaction. Rile grabbed her hand and she sparked it with the red power so he released it with a curse of pain.
"I wouldn't do that to you," he said.
"You already did. I dictate the terms of my relationship with Gabe and makes sure he keeps the proper distance. You saw for yourself. Bathing suits in the shower, clothing in bed, he doesn't kiss me. We're both happy."
"You're not happy. No one would be with that. It's awful. He doesn't even kiss you."
"Human kisses are disgusting and I wouldn't force them on him. I'm as happy as something like me could be. I'm content. Leave me be."
"What do you mean disgusting? What do you mean something like you? You're amazing. I can't, I won't leave you to these lies."
"Knock your head against the wall, then. Only more pain for the both of us. So be it." Alex plopped down on the couch, picked up an iPad, and started to read. To her surprise, Rile left without an argument.
That was too easy.
*****
It was after lunch when someone knocked on Alex's door. Cale always knocked and announced his name before entering Alex's apartment. She always yelled for him to come in and that he didn't have to knock. She was still sitting on the sagging couch, legs propped up, and reading her iPad when he peeked around the door.
"What can I do for you, Cale?" Alex didn't look up from her iPad.
Cale walked in, but stood there. A muscle twitched in his jaw, lines tightened around his eyes, and he shifted foot to foot, fiddling with the hilt of his sword. At his silence, she finally looked up.
"You look tense. What's wrong?" she asked, not hostile, but curious, and clicked the iPad off.
"That you always offer to do something for me, for us," Cale said. "It's not all about what we want."
"Rile got what he wanted. Gabe gets what he wants, but I dictate the terms and keep a proper distance between us. You saw for yourself when you burst in on us in the bedroom," Alex replied. "You saw when Rile dumped ice on us in the shower. Clothing all the time. No kissing, either, if that makes you feel better. A very proper distance between me and your future Clan Head. What do you want, Cale?"
"I want to help you," he said.
"Life is about pain. Morgan taught me that. Life is about betrayal. Rile taught me that. Life has no true intimacy. Gabe taught me that. Do you have a lesson that you want to teach me?" Alex clicked on the iPad again and started reading, expecting Cale to leave at her bitter words.
Instead, he sat down beside her. "I want to teach you to not learn from them."
Alex spent the next hour telling Cale all the things that he wanted to hear and ignoring his words about the Creator of All. Being what someone wanted you to be was the very first lesson that she had learned upon awakening in Morgan's bed. Once Cale looked sufficiently reassured, she left for her sword lessons.
Next time, I'll be the one spearing someone with my blade. Watch out, Cla. I'm coming for you.
****
A/N
Can Cale save Alex?
Can anyone save someone who doesn't want to be saved?
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