Free Phantom Eyes (Witch Eyes) by Scott Tracey Page B

she’s not exactly known for her listening skills. Your brother was gone for half his life and she still went after him with a vengeance when he came back.”
    “Leave my brother out of this,” Jason snapped, strangely sharp.
    “Then what about your son?” Trey pushed. “You know I’m right. She doesn’t care that he’s not a threat anymore. You tricked her, and she’s not going to just let that go.”
    Okay, that was it. I’d had enough of this. I went to push my way past Drew and force my way into the conversation, but the shifter glided out of my way and merged into my wake. “Stop talking about me like I’m not even here. If you’re going to plan stuff, I should be involved.”
    Jason exhaled in annoyance, the very picture of an exasperated father. “You couldn’t keep him occupied, Drew?”
    Drew puffed up, Jason’s words triggering the undercurrent of hostility that was always running through his veins. “I don’t work for you. And I’m not his babysitter.”
    “Thank God,” Trey muttered under his breath.
    “Well?” I demanded, looking between the two of them. “I’m right here. If you’re going to start planning out my future, why don’t we get started.”
    “Now do you see what I have to deal with?” Jason said in an aside to Trey. The two of them. Conspiring! They hated each other! What the hell was going on? They couldn’t just go around changing sides now.
    Trey’s resulting smile was brief and humorless.
    “I’m not kidding,” I snapped. “I swear to God, if you don’t start filling me in, you can’t blame yourself when the plan goes all to shit. Would you rather I just go pester Catherine all over town until she gets annoyed and she death-whammies me? Or maybe I should just save everyone the trouble and go jump off the cliffs out back. Would that make it easier on everyone?”
    Trey winced, and even Drew looked uncomfortable. Also notable, neither of them would actually look at me. Jason stared down at the floor, his expression thunderous. Silence hung in the air, but the tension radiating off of Jason made it clear we were all waiting for him to react. No one wanted to precede that.
    I took a step back, just in case. I didn’t know what I’d said exactly, but whatever it was, I was the only one who didn’t see the deeper meaning. I’d never seen Drew look so uncomfortable.
    “If you ever threaten to kill yourself again,” Jason said, his voice so low it crept down along the marble floors, “I will lock you up where you can’t do anything. It will be a beautiful cage, but make no mistake that it will be a cage, and I will leave you there for the rest of your life and not lose a minute of sleep over it. Do you understand?”
    “Jason—”
    “Do you understand?!” he roared, an explosion of emotion that had both Trey and Drew rearing back in alarm. I was the only one who didn’t move, but only because my feet were rooted to the ground.
    No one spoke. No one even breathed. I think we were all trying to come to terms with the fact that Jason Thorpe, the cold, clinically detached steel facade of a man, looked dangerously close to losing the last bits of his control.
    He took a deep breath, still staring down at the floor. “Goodbye, Gentry.”
    “Jason, seriously. Let me help. Let me do something. ”
    “ Goodbye , Gentry,” Jason repeated firmly.
    Trey took one last look at me, eyes full of emotions I didn’t want to see. I turned away, mirroring Jason and staring down at my shoes. Scuffed gray tennis shoes that were falling apart at the sides. I had a closet full of shoes upstairs, but I still wore the same ones I’d brought with me to Belle Dam.
    Trey walked out of the library. Jason waved his hand sharply, and the library doors slammed shut behind him.
    “Keep up with what you’ve been doing,” Jason continued, looking over at Drew. “I haven’t seen this much color in his cheeks since before the hospital.”
    “Exc use me?” The words carried a