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Silas grinned in triumph. “I like that.”
“You sure do.”
Rayen sat down and looked at his friend. If it weren’t for Silas, Gwen would’ve been hurt, her mind broken, her body violated. She would’ve been all alone, left in an alley–perhaps even left to die. He closed his eyes and almost instantly pictures of her flooded his mind–pictures of her kicking and screaming, knife held to her neck. A growl formed in his chest as he thought of his little bird, hurt and alone her wings yet again broken. Only this time, she probably wouldn’t have been able to recover.
“Fuck, what’s wrong with you? I didn’t do shit. She adores your humor. It’s not my fault that my voice is nicer,” Silas barked at him.
Opening his eyes, Rayen saw red, and knew his dark side had come out again. He’d buried that demon many years ago, but the thought of his precious Gwen hurt and alone had pulled it out of the grave. At first, he’d been angry with Silas for scaring Gwen by ripping those men apart in front of her. Now, in that moment, he understood why he’d done it and realized he would’ve done the same.He pushed his anger back down, and with it his demon.
“It’s not that. She can love your voice all she wants, as long as she is happy.”
“Then why the fuck did you want to rip me apart just a second ago?”
“Not you, dickhead. The men who touched her.”
Silas started grinning demonically again. “That pleasure was all mine.”
Amon came into the room and handed them both a piece of paper. “I was able to track her finances, and this is how much she is in debt.”
“Weren’t you the one who said we should guard her privacy? I think this is pretty fucking deep into it.” Rayen quickly read the paper. Her debt wasn’t much, but then again, he remembered her circumstances and cringed. “Why were you looking it up anyway?”
“She told me earlier that her mother left her in quite an amount of debt, and I wanted to help her.”
Silas snorted out a laugh. “She finally knows who we are, opens up to us, lives with us, and the first thing you ask about are her finances.” He laughed even harder. “Fucking hell… why would you bore her like that?”
Amon chose to ignore him. “I don’t want her to worry about it, so I looked it up.”
“She got upset with us because we sent her to buy clothes with our money. If you think she’s just going to accept us paying for this, you’re crazy. I’m surprised she didn’t fight us earlier with the trip to the store.”
Amon sighed. “She didn’t fight us because it wasn’t an expensive store.”
“You asked her?”
“Yes, I had the same thought. Last time she got upset with us but not this time, so I asked her.”
“Amon, I know you’re still trying to figure this out with her, but this is not the way. Just talk to her, spend time with her. She doesn’t want your money, she wants you.”
Amon’s face hardened because that was the problem. He wasn’t ready to give her what she wanted, even though it was exactly what he wanted too. Stuck in the past, his heart still belonged to someone else. His stare went blank as he collapsed into one of the armchairs.
They all jerked their heads up as a little painful whimper came from Gwen’s room. Just like last night, she had nightmares again. They heard a little sob and her rolling in bed before her footsteps came closer. A moment later her sleepy, sad face appeared in the door frame to the library.
She came in without saying a word and laid down on the couch. With her head in Rayen’s lap, she curled up and closed her eyes. Rayen hadn’t expected this though he was glad about it and quickly started to run his hand over her back.
“Do you want to cuddle in your bed, little bird? It’s more comfortable for you.”
She gently nodded her head.
Silas was by her side right away, pushing his arms beneath her and tugging her to his chest. She didn’t fight him, only rolled closer. Rayen rushed to her room and sat on the bed, waiting for Silas and Gwen to come in. Silas placed her beside him and sat next to her. She laid her head back into Rayen’s lap and slid her feet under Silas’s legs.
Rayen quickly pulled the blanket over them and started massaging her scalp. Silas was doing his part and kept running his fingers up and down her spine. Amon had settled in one of the armchairs and watched them with longing eyes.
Gwen shifted a few times throughout the night, though she stayed in a deep sleep. He loved being this close to her, and her needing him. Silas seemed to be feeling the same as he laid his head back, his eyes closed.
Gwen didn’t wake up until well past sunrise. She stirred before stretching out her whole body. Rubbing her eyes, she sat up, and instantly blushed as she looked at them.
“Hi,” she whispered shyly.
“Good morning, little bird.” He loved the way her eyes lit up when he called her by his pet name.
