Surrender by Lee Nichols

the table, so Bennett got up and I slid into his place as he leaned against the kitchen counter. Nobody said anything. I took a bite of the cinnamon bun Bennett had abandoned and glanced at Anatole hovering near the stove.
These are perfect
, I told him.
Like always
. Then I added,
Can you believe how awkward this is? Are the French this ridiculous?
    Worze
, Celeste said.
    Impossible
, I told her. I took another contemplative bite.
They are missing one thing
.
    Anatole’s mustache bristled.
You are suggesting I forget zomething? Thiz iz reediculuz! What iz your so-called missing ingredient?
    Arsenic
.
    He snorted a laugh, and Celeste
tsk
ed at me from near the sink, though I’m pretty sure I saw her smiling.
    â€œIf you’re talking to
them
,” my father said, “you can talk to
us
.”
    â€œEmma doesn’t owe you anything.” Bennett set his coffee cup down hard on the counter. “You left her to fend for herself in San Francisco.”
    â€œAnd you took full advantage of that,” my mom said.
    â€œAt least
I
got her somewhere safe. You left her alone, and never even told her who she was. You tried to have her powers destroyed.”
    I was glad Bennett was here, voicing my position. Somehow I’d never been able to say these things to them myself. He made me feel like I had a right to be angry.
    â€œWe
tried
to protect her,” my dad said. “You have no idea what she attracted just walking down the street. Then Neos found her.” He took a deep breath. “We didn’t know what to do.”
    â€œYou should’ve gone to the Knell,” Bennett’s father said in his deep voice. “They could’ve protected her.”
    â€œNo, Dad, we couldn’t,” Bennett scoffed. “We couldn’t even protect ourselves.”
    Right again. I wanted to jump in, but he was on a roll. And honestly, I was worried I’d say things I couldn’t take back.
    â€œIf they’d gone to the Knell,” his mother said, her voice tight, “Neos wouldn’t have searched San Francisco. He wouldn’t have found Olivia. He wouldn’t have—” She swallowed.
    She held her head high and didn’t quite look at me,and I knew she wished it was me who was dead, instead of her daughter.
    â€œI can’t imagine how difficult that is,” my mother told her, surprisingly gently. “And I—”
    â€œDon’t you dare,” Bennett snarled at his mother. “Don’t you even
think
about putting Olivia’s death on Emma.”
    This is where we finally differed. I knew Neos was ultimately responsible for Olivia’s death, but I still wondered if things could’ve been different.
    â€œI’m not,” his mother snapped back. “I’m saying that if Jana and Nathan did the responsible thing—”
    â€œNow, now,” Bennett’s father said, his voice placating. “There’s no way to—”
    â€œIf
we
did the responsible thing?” my dad said, his face reddening. “Are you suggesting—”
    â€œOlivia only moved to California to get away from
you
,” Bennett said. “If she—”
    Everyone started yelling at once. I could only catch snippets of what was said, and felt like my brain was going to explode.
    â€œDon’t you speak to your mother like—”
    â€œâ€”and almost got killed fighting Neos, while the Knell stood by and—”
    â€œâ€”walking around like a junkie—”
    It was time to break my code of silence.
    â€œStop!” I screamed. “Just stop!” My voice echoed around the kitchen. When they quieted down, I continued. “Don’t you see none of this matters? We have to find Neos, that’sall. After we stop him, I don’t care—you can lock yourselves in a room and argue for months.”
    My father rubbed his face with his palm. “You’re right. She’s right. But how are