Page 94 of Unravel Me

But I can't. I have to pretend, smile, and look good, because my life will be in publicity photos from now on.

CHAPTER 18: JARED

Present day

Unfortunately, I fail to get up on time yet again. I wake up around ten in the morning, which almost certainly means breakfast is already over, and as I mutter a string of incoherent curses under my breath, I drag myself out of bed, still feeling exhausted.

I'd heard that if an omega doesn't rest properly on the first day of heat recovery, or has sex during it, recovery can drag on for an extra day or even longer, so this doesn't exactly surprise me. It's still incredibly frustrating, though, because all I want is to get back to feeling normal again.

I take another shower, splashing ice-cold water straight into my face in a desperate attempt to wake up, but it barely helps. Even so, I manage to haul myself out of my room and make my way downstairs to the living area.

I find Silvio, Emilio, Gianni, and Tony sitting around the table, quietly sipping tea, and I'm genuinely surprised Veyron isn't there.

"Oh, sweetheart, come join us," Silvio says warmly, waving me over.

As I walk toward them, I glance around, hoping to spot Mauro somewhere, but he isn't in the room too. Silvio must notice where my eyes keep drifting because he chuckles. "I know we're probably not quite the company you were hoping for, but maybe we can keep you entertained until he shows up," he says with a wink.

Heat rushes into my cheeks. I feel ridiculous. I really shouldn't be this easy to read.

"Tony, dear, could you bring Jared whatever's left from breakfast? I'm sure there's something we can warm up."

"Of course," Tony replies, giving me a curious look before heading into the kitchen.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to be a bother," I say. "It's just… this sleepiness is so overwhelming I feel like I'm barely standing."

Emilio simply shrugs. "That's completely normal during heat recovery. Mine sometimes lasted an entire week. It's honestly one of the worst parts."

Gianni stays silent, his eyes behind thick glasses staring vacantly out at the patio.

I sit down, and Silvio tilts his head before sliding a small plate with a cookie toward me. "You must be absolutely starving. Don't worry, Tony will work some magic."

I hesitate, wondering what I should say. I have dozens of questions I'd love to fire at them like a burst from an assault rifle, but I keep holding back because I still have no idea which of their secrets are actually secrets and which are… common knowledge.

In the end, I decide to start cautiously. "Yesterday, when I was upstairs, I overheard you talking about a disease spreading through the forest. Is it serious?"

Silvio lets out a long sigh. "Yes, sweetheart. The drought left the trees badly weakened, and when the hurricanes hit the coast, the climate suddenly became much more humid. A lot of the trees are struggling now, and fungal networks are spreading beneath the soil."

I hesitate again because this is the moment where I either take the plunge or keep pretending I know nothing. My fingers tighten around the edge of the plate before I finally speak.

"I thought you were guardians of the forest. I thought you could heal it too."

Bam! Well… there it is.

Silence settles over the room.

Silvio tilts his head slightly, and his eyes, so strikingly similar in color to Renato's and Mauro's, narrow ever so slightly.

The silence stretches on. Damn. Did I just dare to say too much? Then again, they'd been dropping cryptic hints around me ever since I arrived, so they really shouldn't be that shocked.

"Being guardians of the forest doesn't make us literal healers."

My heartbeat immediately picks up.

There it is… us. A plural.

That’s what I’ve been hoping to hear.

"So there are several of you, aren't there?" I ask, deciding to gamble. "You, Renato… and Mauro?" In truth, it's little more than a guess based on their identical eyes and all the strange things they've been saying and doing, but I need something, anything, that lets me believe Renato isn't the only one with those abilities.