Page 42 of Fated to Her

Cyrus rushes in, his head bleeding before he tackles Eli, and I fall to the floor.

“Fucking get a hold of yourself, Eli. We have bigger problems than your father,” Cyrus says.

“She fucking kept it from us,” Eli tells him, kicking him off before stalking toward me.

“I didn’t know he would be there!” I scream, rushing over the top of the bed, only for him to grab my ankle before crawling onto the bed. Tears spill onto my cheeks as he growls at me, his nose pressed to my neck below my chin.

“Eli, she said she didn’t know. She is fucking pregnant. Get off her!” Cyrus tells him from the floor where he landed, an outline of his body on the wall where he hit it.

“Did Emery know?” he asks.

I shake my head. “No, she asked him to leave.”

He growls softly, yet I can feel his anger defusing as quickly as it came on.

“You let him touch you?” Eli says, confusing me until I remember the photo is of me shaking his father’s hand when he introduced himself. Is that what set him off? Because his father touched my hand?

“No, he just introduced himself.”

“Sam knows we are here, so we’re leaving,” he says, climbing off me.

“He can’t get in here, Eli. We are safest here,” Cyrus tells him.

“How can you say that?” Eli snaps at him.

“She will be more at risk if we leave with her. He is probably watching, biding his time till he sees an opportunity. Leaving now will be putting her at risk.”

I have to agree with him, and I don’t particularly want to leave the place knowing Sam could be anywhere. Eli hops off the bed, stomping off when he stops, turns back around and goes into the walk-in. He snatches some clothes, and when he comes out, he is shifted back into human form.

“Where are you going, Eli?” Cyrus asks him.

“To see my father,” he snaps, pulling some shorts on. He then turns to look at me.

“You don’t hide shit from us, nothing. I don’t care if you fear our reaction or don’t want to upset us. You don’t hide things, not when it comes to your safety,” Eli says.

I look away from him.

“Understood, Addie?” Eli growls.

“Yes, I understand.”

“Stay with her,” he says, peering at Cyrus, who nods. Eli turns on his heel, stalking out, and Cyrus comes over, sitting on the bed before pulling me on his lap.

“You okay?”

I nod, resting my chin on his shoulder. I just want everything to end.

Chapter 12

• Adeline •

I can’t sleep. My mind is in overdrive from the day’s events. Eli doesn’t come home till late, and I call Emery, who says he has shown up there but left when she refused to tell him where their father was staying. I have no doubt this issue with his father will not be the last I hear of it. Climbing out of bed, I head to the kitchen to get a drink, pouring myself a glass of orange juice. I drink it before washing the cup and placing it on the sink upside down.

As I head back toward the room, I feel like I’m being watched. A shiver runs up my spine at the thought. We are too high up for anyone to be looking in, yet the feeling remains, and I walk around the living room, closing all the curtains to the huge windows overlooking the city. I flick the rangehood light on in case anyone gets up during the night, not that they would need it; they can see perfectly during the night, but I don’t want to feel around for furniture to find my way back.

Climbing back into bed, I lie staring at the ceiling for a while, trying to get myself to sleep. Eli rolls next to me, turning to face me, his eyes opening and glimmering in the darkness in that eerie way they always do.

“Can’t sleep?” he asks, tugging on my hip and pulling me closer to him.