I let out another shaky laugh, swiping at my eyes. “I wouldn’t want it any other way.”
I think the boys are still dead asleep. But then I catch it—the subtle shift of weight, the rustle of fabric.
“You guys are terrible at pretending to be asleep,” Maeve calls out, smirking over my shoulder.
Less than twenty-four hours here and she’s already calling them out.
How did I live without her here?
A low chuckle comes from Luca’s direction. “What gave us away? The breathing? The ‘listening very intently’ faces?”
Noah props himself up on one elbow, his hair sticking up in every direction. “So…we’re acquiring a new roommate?”
Maeve leans back, crossing her arms like she’s settling into a negotiation. “Depends. Are you guys going to hog all the hot water?”
Luca groans dramatically. “Great, another mouth to feed.”
Jace hasn’t moved, but his eyes are open now, meeting mine in the dim lamplight. There’s a kind of relief he doesn’t voice. Just a small nod, like he’s silently agreeing—this is good. This will help.
Maeve squeezes my knee. “Told you, Iz. You’ve got a whole team here.”
3 BLOODTHIRSTY
Jace
As the light left Tex’s eyes, it extinguished Isobel’s light too. Seeing her curled into herself in the shower, she looked so small. I had to comfort her. My body didn't wait for a negotiation between reason and reaction. That never happens to me, but it did, with her.
Her sobs into my chest tugged at something deep inside me, something I work hard at keeping buried most of the time. I wanted to hold her until she found the light again. I thought I could give that back to her. But it didn't work.
She's retreated into herself. Into a place I can't follow. When she's awake, she stares blankly at the walls of her room, like they might give her answers. She refuses to eat. I can see in her stormy blue eyes that she's thousands of miles away, stuck in the prison of her mind. When she does rest, it isn’t peaceful. She tosses and turns, flinching at any unexpected noise. She has constant nightmares, crying out his name. Tears fall even when she’s asleep.
The worst part? I can’tfixit. I can’t reach her.
Useless.
Luca can barely find the motivation to make jokes these days. Noah continuously buries himself in projects. We grieve in our own ways. We lost a brother. A silent agreement has formed between us. We have to stay strong. For her. Formygirl.
She’s the one who watched him die, so we made sure no harm came to her while she said goodbye. I rub at my chest, an unfamiliar feeling sitting there, refusing to vacate like a stubborn tenant. I have to keep it together. For all of them. I have to keep them safe.
I hate it. I hate how much she’s hurting. I wasn’t the one who helped her survive that nightmare. Maybe I even added to it.
Tex was the one who spoke up, who reached out to her before any of us. He was there when I wasn’t. When I was being an ass. Too proud and guarded. Still following the orders Gideon barked, his voice always in my head. If only I’d stopped listening sooner.
If she had been with me, this wouldn’t have happened. He’d still be alive.
They had a bond—one maybe I’ll never fully understand. Even though I knew she was mine, I still saw it. The way she looked at him, cared for him. The way he made her laugh when she thought no one was watching, how he grounded her when everything else was chaos. He thought he was protecting her, but all he did was break her.
Turn her into hishusk.
Lucian called to let me know Maeve was coming. I’d seen the photo booth strip of Maeve and Iz the night we rearranged her room. I looked at the picture and scoffed. She looked nothing like the girl who walked the halls of Blackmoore. But the smile on her face was so bright, it stopped me in my tracks.
I was blinded by my father’s agenda. Always doing what he wanted but ignoring the confusing feelings I didn’t have a name for yet. That foreign sensation refuses to leave me alone.
I open the door to find a girl with blonde and red-streaked curls with fire in her brown eyes. Her face set with determination.
“Maeve,” I say before she introduces herself. I spot the matching snakering on her finger.
She nods once. “Where is she?”
