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“Cevon’s in with Nora and Micah,” I say. “Fin’s there, too, but he’s asleep. Voss has gone out, he’s still investigating Seb.”
“I know,” Atticus says with a heavy sigh. “He blames me.”
“Are you surprised?” I ask, but based on his silence, the answer is yes. Atticus is genuinely surprised that Cevon blames him. “I think we owe it to him, to Nora, to try and let the past rest. I think we need to try and move forward with him because, at the end of the day, he’s not going anywhere, at least until he’s crossed off those four names.”
“What do you mean?” Orson asks.
“His goal was to kill himself once he completed his mission,” I say, and the scent of Atticus’s pain fills the room, but none of us acknowledge it. “He said Nora doesn’t like that plan, so we’ll have to wait and see how things play out.”
“I’m not sure he’s ever going to forgive me,” Atticus says.
“Then stop being a little bitch about it and actually apologise,” I offer.
“Ah, so we’re back to this are we?” he asks, smirking at me. “Cevon’s only been back one night, and you’re already leaving me?” Orson laughs, and Atticus and I smile.
I don’t answer, and Orson passes me a drink as we sit and chat shit, reminiscing over the past, but also slightly hopeful for the future.
For good or bad, Cevon’s home, and it’s about time we start fixing what got broke.
And it all starts with Lainey.
That bitch tore us apart and met an untimely end.
I’m just not sure it was as black and white as it seems.
34
NORA
“I’m nervous,” I say, squeezing Orson’s hand.
“You’ll be fine,” he reassures me. “And afterwards, we get to go deal with the griffin’s eye problems, and we can all have a good laugh.”
“Fuck off,” Griffin mutters, turning the car to the right.
He’s in the front seat, with Cevon in the passenger seat. Cevon wasn’t impressed with the seating arrangements, but it was either he sits there or he didn’t get to come.
Orson’s in the back with me, and I need him by my side right now. He’s the one who makes me feel safest, and with how nervous I am, he’s the steady person who I need to ground me.
“You’re not coming in, right?” I ask, and Fin shakes his head, meeting my eyes in the rearview as I sigh in relief. Orson I can handle. It’s different with him.
“I am,” Cevon says, and there’s a pleading tone to his voice. I sigh, and he tenses up before relenting. “To the waiting area.”
That I can handle. It’s not like I was going to make them wait in the car. I just didn’t want them going into the actual room with me.
“It’ll be absolutely fine, little cub,” Orson repeats, running his knuckles over my forearm. “They’ll steal some blood—”
“Wait, no,” I say, sitting up properly and shaking my head as the three men in the car tense up. “I nearly passed out when Atty—”
“What did that asshole do now?” Cevon demands, turning in his seat to face me. I’m sitting behind Griffin, to make it easier on Cevon, but maybe I should’ve sat behind him instead, considering the glare that he’s aiming my way. “What did he do to you, Nora?”
“Nothing!” I say, shaking my head adamantly. “I just struggled when he admitted me into the pride. I struggle with seeing my own blood, normally, I faint, and, obviously, he has to cut my palm for the bond to kick into place.”
“Good thing you clarified,” Cevon says with a smirk, the tension fading out of him. His eyes, the ones that always let me know how he’s feeling, are a lighter green as they sparkle in the light. “You didn’t mind seeing mine, though. It’s a weird distinction. Is it just the pain of yours that sets you off?”
“Why were you bleeding around her?” Orson asks, and there’s a touch of annoyance in his tone.
“I got stabbed,” Cevon says, and I groan as mortification fills me. He’s going to share this story, I just know it. He’s smirking, just waiting to drop the bomb.
