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It’d been the biggest surprise when December herself had texted me to let her son keep driving, that she and her husband felt it was safer Dorian and I were away from the city and together. Brielle and Ramses only backed her up in subsequent texts, and I went into protection mode then, protecting Dorian from himself because I knew what would happen if he found out what his grandfather had done. He’d be the dark prince, and I couldn’t risk what came with that. He’d tried to kill his grandfather when he’d threatened him before, and I saw what that had done to him. He thought he was a monster, and I couldn’t let him become one.
Especially over me.
“It kept him safe,” I said, no regrets. “He can be pissed at me. You can be pissed at me.”
“I would be if I wasn’t so worried about you.” Ares wet his lips before moving a hand down his face. “You okay? D said you guys got through the night all right when we talked this morning. Sounds like the storm gave you hell, though.”
It’d been loud, that was for sure, and we’d definitely gotten snow when I looked outside this morning. “We’re fine. You guys?”
“Yeah, we’re good. I haven’t seen Dad, but Mom came through and joined the mothers with us last night. The dads are all still out doing stuff. They won’t tell us what.”
I didn’t know what that meant, or what they were doing to help. Before I’d left, they had asked me to trust them, and it had only taken me a night after Callum had threatened me to know I did need to tell them what had happened.
I didn’t know this world, but I had come to know the people who were around me every day. They were fiercely protective, but I was too. I knew they could handle things, but I wanted to protect them as well. I wasn’t going to let Callum use me as a bargaining chip, so I had to leave and did once I’d been told Bru was safe. Before I’d run, Ramses and Brielle had said they’d gotten Bruno from school, and he was in transit back to their house. That hadn’t left me with a lot of time because I knew others would be notified next.
Dorian would know next.
The dark prince was the one person… the only person who could completely break my resolve about leaving. I knew, if I’d seen him, I wouldn’t have been able to do the right thing, and that was leave all the people I did care about. I would’ve wanted to stay, be weak and be with him.
Which was why things were as fucked up as they were now.
I had one toe in and one toe out in my plan to leave and had ended up betraying Dorian. “How’s Bru?” I’d spoken to my brother briefly yesterday when I’d gotten here. I’d called him but getting a read on him had been difficult. His anger had been evident, but he’d looked like he was trying to mute it through FaceTime. I think he’d been doing it for my sake and had spent most of the conversation in a sea of apologies, looking completely guilt-ridden over something that had nothing to do with him. Callum had betrayed him as much as me, and my brother had simmered with anger.
Even if he’d tried not to let me see.
It killed me he was going through that, but it was better I was here. I also knew the families would keep him safe, and he was better with them.
“He’s good,” Ares said. “He was still asleep when I got up this morning. Him and the rest of the house.”
A familiar face came through behind him, Brielle. She too had her running clothes on, and it sounded like they may be going together when he called back to her. The chatter stopped when she noticed I was on the screen, though, and Ares handed the phone to her.
“Morning, honey,” she said to me, both of them on the line. Ares hugged her and said he’d be outside with security. It sounded like a team was going to escort them when they went out this morning. Ares said goodbye to me first, though, saying we’d talk later. I waved at him through the line, and Brielle smiled at me. “I didn’t know you were up. Otherwise, I would have called.”
“It’s fine.” More emotion hit my voice than I wanted, seeing her, missing her and Ramses too. I’d cried my eyes out between them both when I’d told them what had happened with Callum. “How are things? Is Ramses okay?”
“Yeah, honey. He’s good.” Her smile was a shaky one, like she was trying to stay strong and struggling. “He misses you. I miss you too.”
“I’m sorry for running.” I lowered my head, using the blanket to wipe my eyes. “I keep running, and I’m stupid.”
“No, you were scared, and Dorian said how you didn’t want to be a liability. He called us.”
He did?
“But you aren’t one, you understand?” She wiped her eyes now. “Something terrible happened to you. Unimaginable, and we’re going to do everything to make sure you and everyone else stays safe. I want you to know that we are handling this, and we will all be all right on the other side of it.”
But how could we? Callum had said so many things…
I was scared, scared for everyone. I just wanted it to be me, me to suffer. At least, if I left he couldn’t use me against anyone else.
“Ramses and I love you,” she said, a sheen over her eyes. “We love you so much, and you will be safe. You, Bruno, Ares, Dorian, and the other kids. Callum Prinze is not going to win this. He will burn for this and will not bring fear to this family. We are stronger than him, and even more so, because it’s not just us. Rest assured, all the parents are working together on this issue to ensure you will have a safe place when you come home.”
Her words made me ache, the emotion in them. “I love you guys too. Tell Ramses that. Please?”
I wished he was there, and I could tell him. Somewhere along the way, they really had become my parents and I’d become their daughter, and I know that was why I told them the truth. I hadn’t even considered another option. They were my mom and dad.
And I needed a mom and dad.
Brielle did cry then, not bothering to wipe away her tears. She pressed her fingers to her lips, before touching them to the screen. “My love, you just wait for us, okay? Your dad and I are fixing this, and we will make it safe for you to return to us. Whatever it takes, we will.”
