The Duplicate

Chapter Thirty

As soon as we reach the front door, I spin around and punch Dax's bony arm.

"Ouch! Shit, Evette." Hopping away, he rubs at the spot and hisses through his teeth. "Geez, that freaking hurt. I think you hit a nerve."

"Are you kidding?!" I whisper harshly, causing Dax to flinch, his eyes to go wide. "Do you know who you just pissed off? Do you know how hard he can hit? You'll be lucky if he only punches you! What were you thinking?!"

Distraught murmurs drift from the kitchen, and my gaze flits towards the sound. While I've pulled Dax aside to speak with him alone in the cream-colored hallway, Aubrey and Malcolm must be having their own little discussion. It doesn't sound good.

I want to stomp my foot in frustration. "Dax, why didn't you say anything about a family?"

"I—you... You guys didn't ask."

"That is the worst excuse you could ever—"

"Okay, okay. Triple didn't like the idea of coming to one person. I knew he definitely wouldn't come if there was a family here, so I left that flyspeck of a detail—"

"Flyspeck?!"

"—out. Like you said, this was our only option, right? You said that, Eve, remember? We would have never been able to convince him to come here if—"

"You lied to us."

Gasping, Dax throws his hands in the air as if to ward off the accusation. "No, no, no, no, I didn't lie. I'd never lie to—"

"Leaving out important details on purpose is the same as lying. You should have learned that in kindergarten, Dax. What did you think? That we wouldn't notice the teenage girl or the screaming baby when we got here?!" My voice bounces off the walls, a little too loud. Glancing down the hall, I reluctantly lower it again and take a step closer to Dax. "This was so stupid of you. I can't believe you did this. Now Trip is pissed, and he's going to kill you."

"I know, I know he's pissed. I'm sorry." Dax miserably flops himself back against the wall. "I didn't think he would react like this. Not this extreme. It was stupid, I know it was stupid, but I thought the atmosphere, I thought Aubrey and everything, I thought... maybe he'd..."

He'd find this homey? It would calm him down? A sigh presses out of my lungs, heavy and drawn-out. I'm finding it impossible to stay angry at Dax with that kicked-puppy look on his face. Too bad that look won't work on Trip.

"I know you want to help, Dax, but being dishonest was the worst thing you could have done. Of course he would react this extreme. You forget what he is." Suddenly, I realize I sound like my father. Dropping my head, hair falling forward, I press my fingertips to my forehead. And with a huff of air I correct myself, "Who. I meant who he is."

"Yeah," Dax says quietly, "I know what you meant."

Whispers, whispers. Still coming from the kitchen. Rising for a moment, only to hush back down. This is such a mess.

Shoving my whirling thoughts aside, I lift my head and look through the colored glass of the front door. "I've got to go talk to him."

"Whoa, wait. Alone? What if you guys start fighting? What if you piss him off even more and he breaks your arm or something crazy?"

"I've had to deal with him without you around as a referee before. I'll be fine. Besides, you should probably wait in here while I try to convince him not to beat you into the ground."

"Ah. Sounds like a good idea."

Turning my head and leaning back, I try to peek down the hall, around the archway, into the kitchen. I can't see anyone, but the whispers continue. I turn back to Dax. "You have to talk to them."