Page 54 of Ash Fall

"And before you decide Kara is your opponent, ask yourself one question. Do you honestly think you can go head-to-head with her and win?"

Briar's mouth opens.

"No. The answer is no. You cannot. I've known that woman most of my life, and I'm telling you as someone who actually loves her, Kara is not an opponent you take on expecting to come out victorious. Hurt her or someone she cares about, and she will destroy you for the entertainment value and sleep like a baby afterward."

Briar rolls her eyes and a small pout forms on her lips at the truth in that.

"As for the crazy old lady, you want clout? Fine. Elenor Cowen is a New York Times bestselling author. That woman built an entire career out of her brain while our mother built hers around being photographed beside important people and spending money she never earned herself."

That gets her attention.

"Gigi is?"

"Do not let her hear you call her that yet. She'll assume you've accepted the adoption."

Briar looks toward the yard again.

"She's also one of the smartest people I know. She's vulgar, inappropriate, nosy, occasionally terrifying, and the only kind of crazy anyone should aspire to be. Most importantly, she loves with her whole damn being. When she decides you belong to her, there is nothing she won't do for you."

Her eyes track toward where Elenor stands beside Luna.

"That is the kind of person worth impressing, Briar. Not because she's famous, because if the entire world was burning and you were trapped inside it, she'd walk straight through the flames to drag you out."

For once, my sister has nothing ready to throw back at me. I take the silence as a win hoping maybe some of this is getting through to her.

Then her eyes roll again. Well, fuck me for trying. The irritation I've been holding onto snaps tight.

"Listen to me. We will keep you safe. We will feed you. We'll make sure you have somewhere safe to sleep, and nobody is leaving you behind. If that's all you want from this life now, fine. You can spend every day taking from the people around you while judging them for not meeting whatever ridiculous standard Mother programmed into your head."

Her chin lifts again, but there's wetness gathering along her lower lashes now.

"That's going to be a pretty fucking bleak existence."

I step closer and lower my head until she has no choice but to meet my eyes.

"But if you want more, if you want a real family, happiness, people who will go to the wall for you and show you what actual love looks like, then leave the petty princess shit right here on this farm. Get to know them. See the people I see instead of their clothes, their jobs, or the balance in their accounts. Learn how to give back what they're going to give you."

Her throat moves when she swallows.

"You don't have to become somebody else overnight. God knows I didn't. But you do have to start figuring out who you want to be when nobody gives a fuck that you're Briar Stillwell."

She stares at me for a long time, hurt and anger battling across her face. Remembering that she’s just a young girl who is scared keeps me from adding anything else. This won't fix her. One conversation sure as hell didn't fix me.

Briar spent fifteen years learning that people have rankings and love comes with conditions. It's going to take more than ten minutes beside a farm shed to tear that out by the roots. I step back and give her room.

"Think about it."

I leave her there before either of us can make things worse. Halfway across the yard I glance back and find her standing exactly where I left her. Her attention isn't on her dirty shoes or the people she's been judging anymore.

She's staring up at the moon. The enormous, cracked thing fills half the sky, and from this distance my sister looks very fucking small beneath it.

Elenor and Luna are kneeling beside an open plastic bin near the motorhome, pulling sealed packages from inside and stacking them into smaller piles. I walk over, needing something practical to occupy my head before guilt sends me back to Briar too soon.

Elenor takes one look at my face. "How's it going with little sister?"

I rub a hand down my jaw. "Fan-fucking-tastic. I gave a motivational speech, she rolled her eyes at me, and I resisted the urge to sell her to a neighboring farmer as slave labor."

"She'll come around." Elenor pats the ground beside the bin twice and waits for me to kneel down. "She needs to be shown more than told. Don't forget your own long journey to enlightenment, darling."