If I thought the room was thick with tension before, it has multiplied by a thousand now.
Not a single pair of eyes meets mine. Not even Ember’s.
“Someone explain it to me.”
The beast stretches his neck from side to side as his emerald eyes settle on mine. “You were killed.”
I sway, thankful that I’m already seated as rage erupts around the room.
Everyone screams and shouts, angry over the truth, as I clamp my hands on either side of my face and try to breathe. I can’t make out what one single person is saying, but collectively, they reach new volumes as they scream about what Mr. Man Bun just said.
With every sharp inhale, I feel my face pulse, my nerve endings tingling with anxiousness and distress as I curl myself into a ball, plastering my hands against my ears to block the world out. Tears trail down my face, wrapping me in more emotions I can’t decipher as a sob parts my lips.
“Get out. Get out. Get out.” The words burn from my lips over and over, slowly growing louder until I pinch my eyelids shut and scream louder than the rest. “Get out!”
Heaving, I bathe in the silence that follows, but it doesn’t last more than a handful of seconds before someone clears their throat.
“If I may interject, I believe Miss Hayworth is experiencing mild bursts of hysteria. Emotional spikes are to be expected. A little sedation may?—”
“Sedation?” I bolt upright in my bed, eyes wide and my muscles coiled tight as I blink at Dr. Holland. “Stay the hell away from me.” It’s a warning, one that vibrates through every inch of me as I glower at the man in question, but he doesn’t seem fazed by my outburst.
Instead of running from the room as he should, he takes another step toward me, needle in hand.
Before he can take a third, Mr. Hazel-Eyes stands in his way, his back to me as he stands protectively at my side.
“Back the fuck away from her. Now.”
A chill runs down my spine at his tone.
“Mr. Bowen, I?—”
“Don’t try to reason with me. I said, back the fuck away, and I mean it.”
The doctor shakes his head. “It’s my job to?—”
“You won’t have a fucking job if you take another step toward her because you’ll be dead. Do you understand me?”
My pulse rings in my ears, disbelief coating my vision, yet a flicker of the tranquility and peace from earlier resurrects itself.
“I understand your protectiveness at this time, but there are consequences that come with such magic. You should be mindful of the choices you make, especially under such tense circumstances,” the doctor warns, taking a backward step. “Another emotional spike like that, and I’ll have no choice.”
He disappears before anyone can deny him of the promise he lets linger.
Lethargy wracks my limbs as the chaos calms a little, and I stare up at the ceiling, lost and afraid.
“Angel?”
I tilt my head to the side to find Mr. Hazel-Eyes peering down at me, concern etched into his features as he runs his thumb down my cheek.
“Archer,” my brother warns, and I scowl at him.
I don’t like his tone toward one of my mates, but I like the insider information.
“Archer?” I repeat, my eyebrows gathering as I blink at the man beside me. The tension eases in him as he smiles softly.
“Angel.”
“You’re one of my mates?” I clarify, and he nods. “And you’re not an asshole?” I clarify, earning a snicker or two from around the room as he shrugs.
