Free Canes of Divergence by Breeana Puttroff

because it got in the way of his vision of what he wanted for Zander. “I don’t want to talk about this anymore,” he finally muttered through his teeth.
    “Well, you can’t put off talking about it forever. The deposits are due soon. And, honestly, son, I don’t have any intention of throwing my money away. If you’re determined to mess around and waste your time chasing after something that doesn’t have a future for you, then you’re going to have to find a way to pay for it yourself.”
    Zander stared at him, stunned into silence; his mind had suddenly gone completely blank, and he couldn’t focus on anything, except the strange ringing in his ears.
    “Someday, when you own a nice real estate business, and you’re standing in the kitchen of a nice house with your own son, you’ll thank me for this, Zander. Now, I have to get to bed. I have a busy day planned with my family tomorrow, which will be paid for with money from the business I run. Good night.”
    His father pa used on his way out to pat him on the back, but Zander still couldn’t respond.

~ 8 ~
William
     
    Rosewood Castle, Eirentheos
     
    T HE SOUND OF the sitting-room door closing startled Quinn; she hadn’t realized she’d dozed off. At the motion, the baby, who had just finally fallen asleep on her chest, stirred and immediately began fussing again. She didn’t know if it was because of her own heightened emotions or what, but Samuel had been a mess ever since she’d brought him inside after the fox attack.
    For the moment, though, she ignored the fussing and carried him with her to the other room. The motion quieted him down a bit.
    “Will! Are you all right?”
    He nodded, though he wasn’t the least bit believable. The dark blue of his shirt hid most of the blood spatters, but it was ripped in a couple of places. Most notable was the big white bandage that was wound around his right arm, just below the elbow. Almost white, anyway, a small dot of red had seeped through in the middle of it.
    “You’re still bleeding.”
    “It’s fine,” he said, shaking his head. “We can’t close the wound all the way right now. The fox probably had rabies.”
    Cold, stark horror washed over her. “What? Are you sure?”
    “Almost positive. Nathaniel is going to test it.”
    “Did he give you the shots?”
    “No … why is he crying like that?”
    Samuel’s fussiness had now exploded into full-on screams, his little face turning red; Quinn was rocking and bouncing him, but it wasn’t helping, and she couldn’t concentrate on anything except what William was saying. “What do you mean no? Why not? People die without those, Will!”
    “Seriously, Quinn. T he baby. Feed him or change him or something . Look, I’m a mess, and this has been … I’m going to go and have a bath. Take care of him, please.”
    He walked away from her, through the bed room door and then, a second later, she heard the bathroom door close. She stared after him in shock, the baby’s cries piercing her ears. He’d just blown her off. Avoided her question entirely. She was afraid she was going to be sick.
    And still, the baby cried. His diaper was dry and fastened perfectly. He’d finished eating only a little while ago, but still she sat down on the cou ch to see if he was hungry again – but that only made him angrier. It was the dance they’d been doing all day.
    Finally, she wrapped him snugly in his blanket, scooped him up, and carried him out of the room. Miraculously, by the time they’d gone a few feet down the hall, he quieted. She stopped and looked at him. Immediately, his bottom lip quivered again, and she started walking, quickly. If that was what it was going to take … well, she thought she could probably do with some exercise herself.
    Besides, if William wasn’t going to give her any answers, she was going to find some for herself.
    Bouncing the baby the whole way, she headed toward the family’s wing.
    She was almost to the common room