Everything in the poolroom was broken. But the Watts Mansion was as miraculous as Cyan's blood. By this time tomorrow, the furniture would be restored, the alcohols stocked, and the floor mopped. The room would heal, but no magic would cure the Watts boys.
Everett relived the horrifying crash to reveal Cyan's healing ability. Will, Simon, and Luke swept him through the wreckage of the room, and he let them. The second rule of the Brother Codes: cheat but never lies. Everett never understood the differences until the penalty wasn't breaking of skin, but trust.
***
At the Coopers' front door, Everett hesitated. This house somehow expanded twice its size, and he felt unworthy to be here. He was a part the lies and pain Cyan had to endure. Ashamed and helpless, he took a step back.
The door swung open, and all Everett could see was Cyan's blood on Hector's face.
"Thanks for coming. I'm sorry, but I don't know what else to do." John led Everett to Cyan's bedroom. "What's happened, Everett? She won't talk to me."
Cyan curled on the bed, facing the windows, in the rosy-rain scented room. Wounded, she wept. Everett's heart melted. He couldn't bring her justice, unable to give up his brother.
"Please." John tapped Everett's shoulder and reluctantly stepped away.
There was no explanation for Hector's cruelty. Hopelessly, Everett drifted to the bed. Cyan shuddered when he touched her. Bill Watts's brats got away with many things—serious troubles and legal dilemmas—but Everett never expected to use these privileges to mistreat her.
"Hey..." Everett loosened his grip on Cyan's arm.
She didn't turn but rolled her face deeper into the sheet, sobbing through the echo of his touch. Her eyes were red and drenched when he flipped her to face him. She easily wilted as his fingers trembled across her face.
Feeling powerless, Everett reclined beside Cyan and carefully brought her into his arms. "I'm not going to let anyone hurt you." He placed his lips on her cheek, and she sucked his air into her lungs, huddling against him. "I swear." Warm kisses dotted across her forehead. "I'll always protect you. He'll never come near you again."
Cyan didn't speak but held onto Everett's shirt, nuzzling into his chest. He would crumble if she said anything to him. The answer would be another lie, a pitfall that would bury them afterward.
When Cyan slept, Everett crawled out of her bed. He tiptoed to the living room where John sulked on the couch with a bottle of beer between his fingers. John slid another bottle on the table, and Everett flopped onto an armchair.
"I can't see her like that." John lowered his head.
"She's going to be okay." Everett took a sip of beer, the only thing that had gone inside his body since the afternoon.
"It was my fault." John stared at his feet. "I scared her. I thought maybe she's got through all that." He glanced at Everett and took a deep breath. "About a year ago, I was caught in a horrible pileup. I was unconscious for three days. When I woke up, she was screaming at me for trying to leave her." A drop of tear fell onto the back of his hand. "She must have thought..." He let out a harsh breath. "And I didn't call."
Everett felt awful that John blamed himself. He wished the truth was easy and allowed. "It wasn't your fault." That was one of a few truths in a while.
A rigid smile centered John's face. "She's seventeen. She's supposed to be partying or worry me about boys, but..." He shoved his hair back and drank some more. "She said she wouldn't go out with anyone until I did." He swallowed an uncomfortable titter. "But that was before she met you."
"She told you?" Everett asked through a thin satisfaction.
"Nah, but I could tell."
"I'll take care of her." Everett stacked his hand on top of John's.
John raised his face. "The look in your eyes." He studied Everett's face. "I was there before. I know what's it like to have someone carried your heart for you."
"I love her." Another truth. Overwhelmed, Everett admitted to someone else for the first time that he might have a soul. The girly ghost in him agreed and echoed I love you back. Everett couldn't live without a heart. Away from Cyan, he couldn't be alive.
"I know." John slapped Everett's shoulder and rose to his feet.
"John." Everett raised his chin. "Do you mind if I use your couch tonight?"
"That's a good idea. She'll need you when she wakes up."
Everett had the strangest dream that night. A terrifying nightmare. Cyan lay in a canvas in David's forbidden vault. The cherubs were crawling on the iron reliefs, and their tears had drenched the floor. In that bizarre fantasy, Everett floated to Cyan and kissed her. A painful howl rippled through his throat as the kiss was cold and empty. She didn't move or breathe. He touched her face, kissed her again, and retreated. As he backed away from the girl he loved, from his mutilated heart, the reflection in a mirror on the wall gaped at him. But he couldn't be. The echo wasn't his. It was Hector's, grinning back so vividly. Everett stumbled away, and a knife fell out of his hand. Red. Red paint dripped from his fingers. David is going to be so mad!