“Grr,” he repeated, like he was mocking me. “All loud and stupid with your stupid heart.”
“Thump, thump, thump.”
He nodded. “Should have killed you.”
“Why didn’t you?”
“I could have,” he snapped. “If I wanted to. Torn out your throat. Your stupid heart. Eat it. I would eat it.”
“Still didn’t do any of that, though.”
“I was tired. And you were saying grr. Like you were brave. And then you were shouting—”
“You were trying to drag me into the fucking woods!”
“Bury you,” he said, and his eyes flashed. “In the woods. Bury you and come back to eat you.”
I huffed out a breath. “You’re so full of shit. You were trying to keep me away from everyone else. You were trying to protect me.”
“No. Bury you. Eat you later.”
“You’re a real son of a bitch, you know that?”
He was pleased with himself. His lips twitched. Then it faded and he said, “Did you know her?”
I was taken aback. “Who?”
He looked away, gritting his teeth. “Nothing.”
“Oh, no way. Not gonna happen, dude. Who? Who did I know?”
“Stop. I’m not dude.”
“I don’t give a shit about that. Who are you—” And then it hit me. I wished it hadn’t. The ice was cracking beneath my feet. “Your mother.”
He glared down at his lap.
I said, “No. I…. That was before me. I didn’t—she was already gone.”
“Oh.”
“I don’t think I ever even knew her name,” I admitted. “It’s…. I don’t know. There’s this history. Livingstone. Bennetts. It goes back a lot longer than I do. Always together somehow. Like we’re twisted in with each other.”
“You’re a Bennett.”
“Glad to know you can retain information. Proud of you.”
He didn’t appreciate that. “I’m not Livingstone. Not twisted with you.”
“A rose by any other name,” I said quietly.
“What?”
I shook my head. “It’s… something Kelly said to me once. It’s this weight. A name. Especially our name. Bennett. It’s a crown that we can never take off. No matter where I am, no matter what I’m doing, I can’t change that.”
“Here.”
“What?”