The Fire and the Sky (Book 3 of the... - Chapter 35: Chapter 35

Sitting across from Jeremy — staring him dead in the eyes — May chose her words carefully.
"How did wishing for you land your mother in prison?"
Jeremy pursed his lips and looked out over the room. May could feel the agitated bouncing of his knee beneath the table.
"My father put her there."
"Why would he do that?"
"Because he's a Loyal." He stole a quick glance at her and she was surprised to catch a glimmer of shame in his eyes. "A die-hard. And he's a pretty powerful guy."
May was shocked enough to do a genuine double-take. "Wait, if they were Loyals, why would she do that?"
"I said he's a Loyal," Jeremy corrected. His knee bounced to an impatient beat. "She didn't buy into any of that shit. But she loved him."
"So why risk it?"
"Why did any of our parents risk it?"
"You know what I mean." It was May's turn to bristle with impatience. "Did she not know his beliefs?"
Closing his eyes, Jeremy leaned back against the plush booth seat. "She knew. She just didn't care. Their marriage was falling apart and she thought having a kid would make things better — I guess they had tried back when they first got married but it never took. She thought she could use the star and somehow keep it a secret from him."
"But he figured it out."
He pointed a finger at her. "Ding ding, we have a winner."
May ignored his snark and pressed on. "Is using the wishing star a crime?"
"No, but like I said, he's kind of a big deal." Jeremy sneered, like the words had gone sour in his mouth. "High up in the Loyal organization and a senior aldermember in the community. When he found out, he was pissed and humiliated. He thought if word got out about what my mom did, he'd lose his status. So he pulled some strings and had her locked away for some bullshit fake charge."
"That's terrible," May said. "And people just let him get away with it?"
"He's Wyndam Aviar," Jeremy replied, looking disgusted. "He gets away with everything."
May had no idea who Wyndam Aviar was, but the name picked at a familiar thread somewhere in her memories. "I feel like I've heard that name before."
Jeremy gazed longingly at the bar. He looked like he needed a drink. "He was a talking head on every news broadcast after the, uh, incident at Marina's. Stirring up all kinds of false public panic over Em because he knows exactly what she is — another Starborn that needs to be eradicated."
That was it. The memory of a video flashed in May's mind — the broadcast Grant had shown them the first day she and Em arrived at the Crow's Nest.
"That was your dad?" she hissed in disbelief.
"Only according to my birth certificate." Jeremy grimaced.
May considered all of this. Jeremy's persistent anger was starting to make a lot more sense.
"I guess that's why you changed your last name?" May ventured.
"Part of it, yeah."
"Okay, but why did you take Grant's last name? Didn't he kidnap you when you were little?"
A shadow fell over Jeremy's already tense expression. "She told you about that, huh?"
May's blood went icy. Yes, Em had told her how Jeremy had gotten caught up with the Rookery after being kidnapped and held for ransom as a child. Only now was it occurring to May that mentioning it probably hadn't been a great idea.
"Yes, but that's all she told me," she scrambled to defused the situation. "She said the rest wasn't her story to tell."
Jeremy huffed and crossed his arms, resting them on the table. He shook his head so that his red hair fell like a curtain over his eyes. May let him have his privacy.
"Yeah, he kidnapped me," Jeremy said without looking up. "But it wasn't his idea. He was hired to do it."
May drew in a sharp breath; she had a sinking feeling she knew where this was going.
"Wyndam?"
Jeremy looked up and gave her a feeble, unconvincing smile. "You're good at this game."
"Fuck."
"Oh, don't worry. It gets worse." Jeremy drew himself so he was sitting up straight and smiled wider; faker. "He instructed Grant to demand bail — made him think this was all a publicity stunt for his political career. But when Grant did — very publicly, I should add — Wyndam refused to pay it."
"What?" May gaped. "Why?"
"Because," Jeremy sat back, looking morbidly pleased with himself. "He didn't want me back — he wanted Grant to kill me."
This was too much. May's brain went blank; she couldn't wrap it around what Jeremy was telling her. "Grant? Kill you?"
"Relax," Jeremy laughed and gestured at himself. "Obviously you already know how this story ends. Lucky for me, Grant's no child killer. He took Wyndam's money and me and was more of a father to me than that dickwad could ever dream of being. Hence the last name and my initiation into all of this." He waved a hand at the room around them in a flourish.
May slumped back. "Wow. That's... a lot."
"Whatever," Jeremy muttered, suddenly looking sheepish. "I think it makes for a pretty good origin story myself."
A beautiful waitress with a cheeky smile breezed up to the table and inserted herself into the awkward silence that fell between them.
"Can I get you two something to drink?" she asked in a bright and chipper voice.
"Whisky," Jeremy answered. "Should probably make it a double."
May watched his gaze trace the waitress' figure in a subtle sweep and was in the middle of rolling her eyes when she realized she was being spoken to.
"Miss?" The waitress looked ruffled, having mistakenly assumed the eye roll was directed at her.
Heat assaulted May's cheeks. "Just water for me, thanks."
"You sure?" Jeremy asked. "I'm paying."
"I'm trying to cut back on the booze."
"Aren't we all?" He gave the waitress a nod. She turned and he watched her sashay away.
May bristled.
"Listen, considering you convinced Em to get rid of me so you could have her to yourself, the least you could do is refrain from checking out other women in front of me." May said, surprising herself. Since Em had shared Jeremy's plan of sending her away under the guise of keeping her safe, she had tried to appeal to his better nature. She had tried to give him the benefit of the doubt — to assume Jeremy's intentions in planting the seeds of separation in Em's head had been pure and noble.
But now she realized just how deeply she didn't believe that. And although he had just shared his depressing history with her, that didn't change the fact that she was still pissed. Her insides twisted; she felt like the personification of vindictive.
Jeremy gave her a withering stare. Their short-lived truce was clearly over. "I wasn't trying to get her to myself."
"Bullshit."
"It was to keep you out of harm's way."
May seethed.
The waitress returned balancing a silver tray on a skyward-facing hand. The two backed off for the moment, glancing away as their drinks were placed in front of them.
"Can I get you anything else?" The waitress directed her question to Jeremy.
"No," May answered for him. "We're good for now."
This time, he didn't watch her walk away. He didn't look at May either — just lifted his glass to his thin lips and took a long pull.
"They found me," May said, her voice steady and her eyes narrowed.
Jeremy glanced back at her, then away.
"Who did?" he asked his glass of whiskey.
"The Loyals. Melanie came to my island. She attacked me in my own fucking home."
Startled, Jeremy finally looked at her head on. "What do you mean?"
"What do you think I mean?" May pointed furiously at her bare scalp and the thin scar that ran from the top of her forehead, bisecting her hairline. "She wanted information. She tortured me, Jeremy. She was going to kill me."
He considered this for a moment.
"What did you tell her?"
May slammed an open palm on the tabled. A few sets of eyes turned curiously, but glanced away just as quickly; the type of people who came to a place like this knew enough to mind their own business.
"Are you even listening to me?" she hissed. "That lunatic tried to perform open-heart surgery on me with a broken dinner plate. Because that's the sort of shit the Loyals do. And you know that. You knew they would find me."
Jeremy leaned in, his brows knit tightly over his glare. "I knew they could find you if they wanted to, I didn't know they would."
"What is wrong with you? Why would you ever think that made it okay?"
Scowling, Jeremy pulled away and threw back what was left of his whisky in one shot. He refused to look at her.
"Answer me, Jeremy." May refused to look away.
And she broke him.
"Fine," he snarled. "You're right, I was trying to get rid of you. Happy now?"
"Of course not," she replied. For some reason she had thought his confession would make her feel better. She was disappointed to discover how wrong she was. "Are you?"
Jeremy closed his eyes. "No."
"Why? You got what you wanted."
"No I didn't," he said with a scoff. "What I wanted was my fiancée back. But everyone was right — Audrey's gone."
He looked away, but even from the side May could see the glimmer of tears threatening at the brim of his eyes.
"And even if there is some part of her left inside of Em, it doesn't matter," he whispered. "Because she is definitely in love with you."