Blue. Her heartbreaking cries were always so visceral that my hand lifted and pressed against my chest, directly over my heart, as I dragged in a shuddering breath. Jesus. I gulped as I slid my feet over the side of my bed and walked toward the stairs. At the bottom, Seb looked up at me, his expression so full of pain that I knew he awoke the second Blue did.
Her night terrors had roused the whole house multiple times since she arrived. More than once, I stumbled from bed to find Seb already awake. He seemed in tune with her in a way the rest of us could barely grasp. As I descended the stairs, I saw him reach Sarah and Blue’s room, his expression tortured as he placed his palm on the door. So silent. He never invaded their privacy, but I knew he would be there the moment that door opened if either girl needed comfort.
They didn’t. Not tonight.
The door remained closed as Blue’s crying reached a fevered state. She sounded like she fought invisible hands as her voice, raw and hoarse from shouting, begged someone to stop. I wanted to cover my ears and drown the noises of her suffering, but I wanted to hurt the ones who did this to her even more.
That girl had been through a hell I couldn’t begin to imagine.
Seb’s anger stiffened his body as he formed a fist and placed it beside his flattened palm. Warring with the need to comfort and avenge her, he struggled with the rage that flowed through him. I sensed it because I felt the same. His eyes held mine, and I lifted my chin, letting him know that he wasn’t alone. Blue wasn’t alone. Whether she knew it or not, Sarah wasn’t the only foster kid in the Weathers’ household to comfort one of us when we needed it.
Hell, they did that for me the day I arrived. I didn’t have to go to Noma’s funeral alone.
Finally, Blue’s cries reduced in agony and pitch. They slowly quieted as exhaustion took over. I didn’t know how long we stood in the hallway, but by the time I realized Blue was falling asleep, I noticed that Ethan, Caleb, Gage, and Finn had joined us.
Ethan’s hand rested on Seb’s shoulder.
Gage’s hands were stuffed into his pockets, wearing jeans instead of gym shorts like he usually wore to bed.
Finn stood to my right, his lips pressed tightly into a thin line. He stared at the closed bedroom door, and it wasn’t hard to imagine he was lost in secret memories of the past.
Caleb quietly leaned against the closest wall, his head lowered as he fought his own internal demons. There was no handheld gaming device in his hand, nothing to let him escape the air to think with emotion from all of us. When I heard a slight whimper leave his lips, so low I was the only one who did, I nearly took a step in his direction.
I blinked back a surge of protectiveness and the raw need to inflict a little revenge on those who thought it was okay to hurt and bully others as I caught Dale at the top of the stairs on the second floor. I didn’t know when he arrived either, but he looked as anguished as the rest of us.
Seb finally pushed away from the door after silence had filled the hall for several minutes. He turned around to find us all now there, waiting for something we couldn’t name. He gave Dale a brief nod and then strode into the room he shared with Ethan.
Ethan followed.
One by one, everyone left the hall and returned to bed. Finn to a room he didn’t share. It hadn’t been explained why. I didn’t think it was my place to inquire.
The last one standing, I released a soft sigh as the girls’ bedroom door opened and Sarah slipped through. She blinked as she saw me.
“Johnny?”
“We were all here,” I explained with a whisper.
“But you stayed last,” she observed.
I dipped my chin.
Sarah didn’t ask why. She reached for my hand and squeezed. “Blue’s asleep now.”
“Good.”
Sarah sniffled, and I caught the dark circles under her eyes, shadows that were highlighted by the low lighting in the hall thanks to one of Harmony’s night-lights shaped like an owl.
“Want some hot chocolate?”
I knew where Harmony kept the basket of hot cocoa and tea bags. Sometimes, when I was too haunted by the past, I came downstairs to make a cup. If Harmony knew about it, she never said a word. Neither did Dale.
“Not right now.”
“You don’t want to leave her,” I guessed with understanding.
Blue shouldn’t wake up alone. Apparently, that was a silent pact Sarah had made with all of us.
“Yeah.”
