Steel Princess (Royal Elite 2)

“Abandoning me and Mum was also a long time ago, Aunt?”

She gasps, her hands covering her mouth.

“I heard you the other day.” My voice is neutral, almost too detached.

I don’t know how to speak in any other tone without breaking down.

“You owe me an explanation,” I tell them.

A deep sigh rips from Uncle’s chest as he staggers backwards and falls beside Aunt. “Tell her.”

Aunt touches her temple with trembling fingers. “N-No.”

“We knew this day would come, Blair.” Uncle’s jaw clenches. “Just tell her already. She deserves to know.”

“I said no, Jaxon!”

I rip my gaze from her and focus on Uncle. “Who’s Eli?”

His eyes widen like I’ve never seen them before.

Like he’s having a heart attack.

“Oh, God,” Aunt’s voice catches on a sob.

Usually, I would do anything not to see them like this, but not today.

Today, I need answers even if I have to hurt them in the process.

“I had a dream — no, a nightmare — about clutching his hand before he disappeared into the lake.” The itch starts under my skin. “Who is he?”

“It was just a nightmare, hon,” Aunt doesn’t even sound convincing anymore.

“They were never nightmares, Aunt. The ache and the pain and the tears were never nightmares. The blood, the screaming, and the whimpering were never freaking nightmares!”

“What on earth have you been through, pumpkin?” Uncle sounds defeated, completely and utterly worn out.

What have I been through?

They’re the ones who are supposed to tell me that.

“I’m asking for the last time, Aunt. Who the hell is Eli?”

“He was your brother,” Uncle says in a low voice.

I grip my backpack’s strap so tight, I’m surprised it doesn’t snap. “W-Was?”

“He died in that lake you always have nightmares about.”

It’s as if someone took a knife and jammed it straight into my defective heart.

I’m bleeding and no one can stop it.

“H-how?”

Uncle’s eyes fill with sympathy. “He drowned, pumpkin. He was just seven at the time, a year older than you.”

No.