Claimed And Marked By Her Stepbrother Mates - Chapter 39

Chapter 39: 39-Our Messy Stepsister

Maximus:

I was deeply concerned for my brother. I kept pacing around, wondering if I had made a mistake by letting him go after her. What if he was mistaken about the way out of the dream prison? I kept blaming myself for trying to do good for her. If I hadn’t hired her, my brother would be here with me today. My eyes landed on Helanie’s neck, and I groaned.

Helanie was fast asleep, her breaths slow and steady, but I couldn’t stop staring at the pendant around her neck. It caught the faintest glimmer of light, an unusual symbol etched into the metal that I had never seen before. What on earth was it? I moved in closer, careful not to trip and land on top of her, my heart racing as I tried to get a better look. The design appeared old, almost ancient, as if she couldn’t have purchased it from a local store. Slowly, I pulled out my phone, snapping a picture of it. The screen’s glow illuminated the pendant’s peculiar details, sending a shiver through me. I needed to find out what this thing was.

“What are you thinking?” my wolf snapped me out of it and asked, but I avoided him, shoving my phone back into my pants pocket. I had been at odds with my wolf for a long time—maybe ever since he had awakened and disappointed me. He felt like a curse, someone who didn’t care about my feelings. He would do what he wanted and get me in trouble.

“Really? When did I do that?” Xim was clueless, and sometimes I felt like I was being too harsh on him. I wanted to accuse him, to blame him. But he was as much a victim as I was.

“Sorry, I—did it again,” I sighed, apologizing for mistreating him once more.

“It’s alright. I can sense your anxiety,” he murmured.

I couldn’t stop pacing. The room felt too small, the walls pressing in on me with every step. Shadows pooled in the corners, stretching out with the flicker of the dim lamp, but I couldn’t focus on anything except the pounding in my chest. I had messed up. I could feel it in the pit of my stomach, a cold knot of regret twisting tighter with each breath.

“I should have stopped him, or it should have been me going in there,” I muttered, unsure of where it was. Kaye was responsible for learning about herbs and cursed plants. The air felt thick, as if I were suffocating under the weight of it all.

“He wouldn’t have stopped. He sounded like he knew what he was talking about,” Xim tried to console me, but I shook my head once again.

“I can’t shake off this feeling. If he knew what he was talking about, why is it taking him so long?” I anxiously ran my hands through my hair when I heard someone arrive in the garage.

I hastily rushed out of the room to check on whoever had arrived. My mouth dried up and closed when I saw Norman enter the garage with a book in his hands.

“Here, I only found this. Emmet gave it to me,” he said, placing the book on the table and waiting for me to get closer. I nodded, lowering my head and sneakily closing the door behind the sleeping beauty, and then strode toward the table. I didn’t think he would return so soon.

“Where is Kaye? Ask him to come here. I need to know something from him,” Norman demanded, hunching over the table with his hands on either side of the open book. I took my time, steadily reaching him. All the while coming up with excuses in my head. Norman would not be happy to find out I let Kaye do the crazy thing. He gave me one job—one job and I didn’t do it.

“Umm, he left,” I shrugged, while he steadily turned his head and raised it, his body still hunched over and towering over the book. His eyes hinted at giving me a second chance for my response. I could either take my words back or keep lying to him.

“Huh? What are you talking about? How could he leave? He was talking about all the potential and doing the right things—where did he go?” Of course, knowing Norman, I should have realized he would not be easy to persuade. He was asking all sorts of questions, and I was quickly making up lies in my head. But my throat keep drying up and I had to clear it everytime I started speaking.

“Ehm! He couldn’t sit around waiting for you to come up with something. He decided to look into the details of the rose himself.” Wow! I was getting good at lying. This wouldn’t be the first time I had deceived my brothers. I always did this to my father and everyone else. But today, I felt guilty. It wasn’t just about my life; it was about my brother’s.

“Maximus! What are you hiding?” Just when I thought I had him fooled, he slammed the book shut and straightened his back, facing me. Norman had taken care of me since I was a child, so obviously he could see right through me.

“Nothing—I’m just worried. What if Kaye couldn’t find anything, or your research didn’t turn out well, or Kaye couldn’t bring her back—” I shut up when I realized I was talking too much.

“Maximus, what have you two done?” He pushed me aside, not even letting me stop him, and ran toward the room. I knew there was nothing I could do anymore. He burst into the room while I stayed back. I was too scared to see his reaction.

After a few seconds, he came out, looking furious and breathing heavily.

“Why? Why wouldn’t you two listen to me?” he yelled, coming at me.

“He told me he knew what he was doing.” I instantly backed down from the fury of my brother. It wasn’t that I was afraid of him; I respected him immensely. He had always been there for me and had done so much for me. I didn’t want to see the disappointment in his eyes.

“Well, let me tell you something: he didn’t know anything. There is not a single book that can confirm how one can escape from there. That man who escaped never explained the full truth because nobody remembers how they got out,” Norman shouted, his voice causing my heart to flip inside my chest.

“That person is probably not even real. A myth!” Norman hissed, looking so desperately worn out.

“What do we do now?” I hastily followed him as he went back inside to glare at Helanie.

“It’s all because of her. Her arrival has ruined our perfect world.” His glare was so intense that I feared he would destroy the rose in her hand, ensuring there was no way she could ever return.

“Kaye said he wouldn’t come back if he couldn’t bring her,” I quickly added before he did something reckless and got Kaye stuck there if he wasn’t already trapped.