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"This wasn't your fault. At some point you have to quit blaming yourself for everything that goes wrong. In case you haven't noticed, I tend to be a danger magnet. I went from this contently naive little jungle girl, to a witch-in-waiting that everyone wants to kill, or do whatever with my essence. At no point should any of this craziness land on your shoulders. You don't owe me anything, and I'm nothing to you. You can't take responsibility for my blood-related problems, or my pure bad luck."
I walked over to my bed and pulled out a suitcase from underneath it. Then I started packing my clothes.
My back was facing him, and I was hoping he'd just leave.
"You are something to me Aria—something more important than I should say. I just can't risk hurting you again," he said sadly.
Crap. Again we found ourselves thrown together, and I was making him feel worse than he already did.
Turning to face him, I took a deep breath and said, "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have said it like that. I just meant you don't owe me anything." I paused for a minute. I could hear voices coming from the living room. "Aster and Chris are here," I said, needing to shift the topic.
He nodded. "Chris will be upset to learn one of his kind was the traitor. I'm glad Amelia was with you tonight. If she hadn't been…" He dropped his head, more guilt plaguing him.
I refused to abed his useless guilt party.
"Well, I haven't gotten to see Aster a whole lot since she found out she was pregnant. I'd like to see her before I leave for house arrest."
I smiled and enjoyed his answering grin as it formed.
"You will definitely be under lock and key," he teased. "I run a tight ship."
He winked at me as he took my bag from my hand and carried it down the stairs for me.
"Aria. Thank goodness you're okay," Aster gushed in relief as she threw her arms around me. But her protruding belly forced me bend unexpectedly and snapped me forward.
Chris walked up with a guilty look on his face, interrupting our painful embrace—well, painful to me. What was it with all these immortals and their unwarranted guilt?
"Aria, I'm so sorry. I had no idea."
"It's okay, Chris," I said while disentangling myself from Aster. "Not your fault."
His guilt didn't seem alleviated, which was just annoying. It was funny to think about how I thought Chris was a bit of a jerk when I met him. Now he was just like one of my brothers.
Ayla and Jay were snuggling on the couch—per the usual. Gear and Olivia were in the kitchen, holding each other. Everyone was so in love.
Ash sat alone in a chair by the window as she stared out at Desmond running around in his panther form. More than likely he was checking for any other unwanted visitors.
Henry and Amelia came walking down, hand in hand. Henry had both of their bags is his other hand.
Aster leaned over to hug Amelia. I laughed as Amelia snapped forward as suddenly as I had, and I silently enjoyed her pained expression.
"Thank you so much, Amelia. I'm glad you're in this family," Aster said, weeping.
Pregnancy hormones were definitely a deterrent from childbearing. I'd seen Aster swing moods quicker than someone with a bipolar disorder.
"Well, Tallis saved the both of us so I can't take all the credit."
"I have to thank Tallis all the time. He probably gets
bored with it," Aster said while leaning back and wiping the tears from her face.
Tallis laughed at Aster's joke. I just glared at her.
"Don't let her get to you, Aria. I called her Dizz for a while," Gear chided as he walked toward us with his arm lazily tossed Olivia's shoulders.
"Dizz?" I asked, puzzled. A few chuckles followed my question. Aster wasn't laughing though. She was too busy casting a murderous glare toward Gear. "As in disaster. Before she turned immortal, she was always in trouble."
I thought to myself for a moment. Disaster; Dizz Aster. Oh I get it. Then I laughed as Aster hit him in the arm.
