As what happened crashed over her like suffocating heatwaves, she could only find that her eyes pricked with tears. They spilled over her lash line and mingled with the old blood on her face—Rhyden had wiped away most, she presumed, but he hadn’t been able to get it all, not wanting to disturb her sleep.
Rhyden placed the tray down and walked closer. He stood by Auren’s side of the bed.
"Are you hurting? What do you need, wife? Tell me," Rhyden ordered, tone low yet possessive.
Rin just stared up at him. "You took care of me?"
"I wouldn’t just leave you there.Never."
Rin pressed her palms to her eyes. "I don’t know what we would have done if you hadn’t…"
"Don’t think about it. What’s done is done. Here, you need to get something in your stomach." Rhyden offered the tray to her.
She felt like she’d woken up somewhere different. How was the leader of Noctis bringing her breakfast in bed?
She saw the shadows beneath his eyes, his rumpled clothes. "How long did we sleep?" she asked.
"A day."
Rin’s eyes widened. "Did you? Sleep?"
Rhyden shook his head. "I had to watch you. Make sure you were okay. I don’t know what they fucking did to you. I didn’t know what to expect."
Cyrus’s fingers tightened around her ankle. "Got to say, doll," he said sleepily, "your adoptive parents don’t like me much."
"Cyrus," Rin gasped. "You’re okay."
He sat up slowly and stretched. "Are you? That’s what matters. I’m so sorry that I… My head still hurts. I don’t know what I was drugged with."
Rhyden plucked a piece of toast from the tray and held it out to Rin. She took it, her pinky brushing his. She took a small bite, humming at the flavor, but couldn’t manage much. Her limbs were still sluggish, though getting better.
"He’s been sleeping it off and leaving me to take care of you all," Rhyden said, pressing a glass of water into her hands. He tried to take the rest of the toast she didn’t eat, but Cyrus grabbed it from her hands, finishing it off, then licking crumbs from his fingertips.
Rin couldn’t keep her eyes open. She sank back against the pillows. "I should… shower."
Cyrus shifted up her body, collapsing against her thighs as he lay his head on her lower stomach.
Sleep tugged at her. "In a second."
When she was finallystrong enough to shower, it was Lucien and Rhyden who helped her.
Lucien and Auren weren’t as affected by whatever Sabine had done. Auren shook it off the most quickly, then Lucien, while Cyrus, who had been drugged by a high dose of Somnocept—Lucien later surmised after testing his blood—played up his exhaustion, content to stay in bed with her.
Even the few steps to the bathroom left her winded. Rhyden and Lucien both helped her, and Rhyden made her keep the door cracked so he could hear over the sound of the water. She leaned against the counter with her eyes cracked as Lucien helped her take her clothes off.
Through the crack of the door, Rhyden’s shadow lingered. Watching. Listening.
Steam from the shower misted against her naked body as Lucien helped her inside. The rainwater showerhead feltbrilliant against her, and cool-toned lights were embedded into the tile, not too rough on her stinging eyes.
Lucien’s hands were firm as he dragged a soapy cloth over her skin, washing every bit of what had happened away. As he turned the water off and they stepped out, she shivered as her feet touched the floor. Lucien wrapped a fluffy towel around her, patting her dry, and as his towel-covered hand brushed between her thighs, her eyes widened at the short burst of feeling. He didn’t linger.
"Where are your clothes?" she heard Lucien mumble.
"Here." Rhyden stuck his hand inside. He held a neatly folded bundle of her clothes out, which Lucien took.
Rin didn’t know how to feel about Rhyden listening in on something so intimate. Though she’d tried to forget, she remembered that he had been inside her—partly, at least. Her thighs clenched as she recalled the coolness of his piercings catching against her heat.
Lucien helped her dress in thin blush pink shorts and a soft, lacy tank. The heat of the city was chased away by the apartment’s air conditioner, but she was still overheated, not wanting to be stifled.
