Hating that all I can do is sit here, I hiss, “You justhadto tell her about the journal.”
“I’m not going to lie to her,” he argues, glaring at me over Callie’s head.
“Why didn’t you tell her about that time we went to the beach when you were ten. You got caught in seaweed and screamed like you were dying because you thought it was a fucking jellyfish?” I counter, talking so fast that if I needed to breathe, I’d probably be lightheaded by now.
Kaleb flashes me a confused expression, one eyebrow climbing up his forehead. “How is that relevant?”
“It isn’t,” I snap, scrubbing at my face with both hands, “but it was something she didn’t know and it would’ve made her laugh instead of…this.” I motion at Callie, who’s too far gone to actually take in anything we’re saying.
Guilt flashes across Kaleb’s features. “Callie, it’s okay. Do you want to talk about what happened? We’ll listen.”
Her response is to cry harder, her body tensing under the strain of her emotions, and she goes back to repeating, “I’m sorry,” over and over again.
“I’m going to guess that’s a no for now,” I observe, crossing my arms over my chest. I want to reach out to her, touch her again so she can feel me here, but it feels awkward while Kaleb’s holding her. He notices too much.
At the sound of Callie’s wounded cries, there are loud bangs of doors swinging open and the rest of the guys pour into the living room.
Connor is the first to arrive, sliding the coffee table out of the way so he can kneel down in front of Callie. She reaches out to him, but doesn’t let go of Kaleb, her arms hooked around both of their necks in this awkward desperate hug. Followed by more nonsensical apologies. This time promising that she does want Connor around, which I didn’t know was in doubt until now.
Donovan and Nolan aren’t far behind, the stairs rattling with the speed they run down them.
“The hell is going on?” Donovan bellows. Wearing only a pair of jeans and a glare, he swoops in and picks Callie up from Kaleb’s lap. He cups her face, wiping at the tears streaming down her cheeks while using his other arm to hold her up off the ground. “Angel, talk to me. What do you need?”
“Don’t leave,” she begs, then buries her face into his neck. “I’m sorry I didn’t know it was your birthday. I know you don’t have a choice, but please... don’t... leave.”
“I’m right here,” he assures her, scowling at the rest of us over her head.
I hold up my hands in surrender. “She already knew, we just explained why you didn’t celebrate it.”
“And then she started crying?” Nolan questions, walking over to rub soothing circles over her spine. Dressed in a tank top and black pajama pants, it looks like he was in the middle of getting ready for bed.
Nolan is immediately captured in a Callie hug-headlock, crushing the three of them together. She then starts apologizing for throwing herself at him, that she didn’t know, and begs him not to hate her because of her magic.
Connor and Donovan both groan, while Kaleb blinks and echoes, “Threw herself at you?”
“She didn’t throw herself at me,” Nolan insists, attempting to shift himself into a position that’s less of a choke hold. “Callie love, I don’t hate you, and what did I say about apologizing when you haven’t done anything wrong?”
“That you’d kiss me,” Callie answers, then apologizes for apologizing.
“You’re that bad, huh?” Donovan snorts, while adjusting Callie in his arms, pulling her legs around his waist.
“I thought you said nothing’s happened,” I accuse, getting up from the couch so I have room to pace. Uncomfortable images of them together in bed bounce around in my head. “You said all she’s doing is feeding you.”
“You’re feeding from Callie?” Kaleb barks, springing up from the couch. “Nolan, she’s not one of your playthings. How could you take advantage of her like that?”
“Allshe’s doing is feeding me, and she volunteered to do it,” Nolan seethes and shoots Connor a harsh glare when he starts to growl. I can’t tell if Connor’s mad about the feeding or the idea that Nolan might be taking advantage of her. “Also, not really important right now.”
Callie makes a wounded yelp when Connor punches the ground. Cracks in the marble floor spider out from the bloody knuckled stain he leaves behind. He curses, takes a deep breath, then climbs to his feet.
“Lo siento, mi reina,” he murmurs when he gets close to her, his hand gently running down her wild hair. “We’re all here. You won’t be alone in the darkness.”
I feel like a dumbass, because now the crying and apologizing makes sense. While her childhood home was burning around our heads, I promised that all of us would hold her up when it was too hard for her to keep going. She’s apologizing for all the things she thinks might drive us away.
Looking at the marble floor, I declare, “We’ll need mattresses. The ground is too hard to sleep on. For you guys.”
Nolan and Donovan look confused, while Kaleb and Connor nod, already getting what I’m suggesting.
“Good idea,” Kaleb praises, following Connor out to retrieve the mattresses from the other rooms.
