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I cave first and turn away from Archer. My gaze skitters across the room, looking for anything to focus on, and failing miserably. My heartbeat is too fast. My skin tingles, and the ghost of electricity sparks just beneath the surface. My blood bubbles with the anticipation of something to come.
The warm touch of Archer’s finger as he draws a line down the nape of my neck turns my body into molten lava. I struggle to hold back my shiver, but can’t stop the goosebumps from breaking out all over my body. My breath catches in my throat when I try to suck in oxygen. Archer steps in close and I squeeze my eyes shut as a painful need wrecks me. It physically hurts to have him so close without reaching out to touch him.
Archer takes another step and then his body is molded to mine, chest to back, wrapping me in sunshine and sandalwood. My senses careen out of control, heightened simply from his nearness. His hand slides over my shoulder and across my collarbone. When he closes his palm around my neck, my knees wobble. He tilts my head to the side so he can run his nose up the column of my neck, and I gasp out his name.
“Lena.” My name on his lips is heavy with meaning, but I can’t interpret all of the layers. Need, guilt, fear. They’re all mashed in there together and they mirror my own feelings.
“I fucking hate that we’re not talking.”
Talking? This doesn’t have anything to do with talking.
He’s still behind me and neither of us attempts to move. It’s much easier to have this conversation without looking directly at each other. Archer sighs, his breath warm as it tickles my ear.
“You’ve been ignoring me.” Archer’s voice is laced with pain, as if it physically hurts him to say those words. He’s not alone. I feel them right in my heart, a thousand daggers sliding in slowly.
“You shouldn’t be touching me.” My response is weak, rasped out with sorrow twined between the words.
Archer curses, his fingers flexing against my neck, holding on tighter and making my whole body shudder. It should scare the hell out of me, but I know him too well. Trust him too much. Except… not with my heart. He’s already breaking it and it’s not even his fault. We’re both reinforcing our walls, making sure those cracks and fissures we made in the other’s defenses are filled back in. Impenetrable.
I don’t think our bodies are getting the message.
Archer spins me in his arms so that we’re facing each other. His hand remains on my neck, and he angles my head back. With a groan, he buries his face in my neck. Disappointment sweeps through me in a crashing wave. Everything we’ve done, all the places he’s touched me, tasted me, and he’s never kissed me. As if it’s the final barrier that can’t be breached. If it is, our make-believe world will come tumbling down.
“What the fuck?”
Everything happens so quickly, I can barely track it. Archer’s ripped out of my arms and Rhys is roaring like a madman. His fist flies through the air and connects with Archer’s jaw with a crack so loud I cry out and then slap a hand over my mouth. I’m momentarily frozen in place by the sheer ferocity of my brother’s anger.
“That’s my fucking sister, you piece of shit.”
Rhys swings on Archer again, but Archer moves too quickly, almost like he’s a shadow skittering across the room. Suddenly he’s behind Rhys and shoving him forward.
“You got one hit. That’s it, Rhys. I mean it.” Archer wipes away a trickle of blood from his bottom lip as he snarls at my brother.
Rhys definitely doesn’t agree and launches himself at Archer, tackling him and propelling them both into one of the tables holding a collection of potted plants. Dirt goes flying and the shattering of pottery echoes around the room as they yell at each other.
“Stop it!” I shout, trying to figure out how to get the two of them apart without getting punched.
Davis, Miri, Ruby, and Ezra come barreling into the conservatory, obviously drawn by all the noise. The room feels a hell of a lot smaller with all of us in here. Davis and Ezra jump into the fray, Davis grabbing Archer and pulling him away, while Ezra does the same with Rhys. Neither one of them stop fighting, struggling and squirming against the hold of their friends. They’re all too evenly matched, and it’s only a matter of time before Archer and Rhys break free and start pounding on each other again.
“Cool down, motherfuckers!” Ruby shouts, turning on a hose in the corner of the room, and spraying Rhys and Archer with freezing cold water. I know it’s not warm because I can feel the mist from it as it splatters all over them. They’re spluttering and swearing when she finally turns it off, but not before she just so happens to soak Ezra too.
“What the fuck, Cube?”
A huge smirk breaks out over Ruby’s face. She holds the hose like a gun, blowing over the top as if there’s steam curling off it. “Oops. My bad.”
Great, now everyone is pissed off. Well, except for Davis, which is pretty ironic considering he has the shortest fuse out of all of us. And obviously not Ruby, who’s enjoying herself a little too much.
“What is going on here?” Miri stands at the top of the steps, hands on hips, scowling down at everyone. Her eyes narrow on her overturned plants, and she looks two seconds from screaming at the room. Magic crackles in the air and I gasp in surprise. Which one of us is doing that?
“Don’t you dare make it rain in here, Davis.” Miri points a finger at Davis, but she’s not looking at him. She’s glaring at Rhys and Archer. “Someone better start explaining what the fuck is going on. And after you tell me why you’re acting like a bunch of children, you are going to clean up this mess.”
“Oh, someone’s a mean mommy.” Ruby giggles and I shake my head at her in exasperation. Miri huffs out a breath and rolls her eyes.
Rhys shrugs off Ezra, who lets him go when it’s apparent he’s not going to lunge for Archer again. Rhys is an absolute mess. Dirt streaks his arms and hands. His clothes are soaked, and a trickle of blood runs down his chin from a split lip. I know it’s a bad idea to give any attention to Archer right now to see how he’s faring. Yeah, maybe I’m being a coward, but the cat isn’t out of the bag yet.
I wrap my arms around myself, cold sinking into my bones. I finally give in and look at Archer. He doesn’t look much better than Rhys. Along with the split lip, there's a rapidly swelling bruise on his jaw that makes me grimace. It looks painful. My stomach churns as my nerves take control of my body.
“Is someone going to tell us what the hell is going on?” Ezra hisses, but I think he’s more pissed about being sprayed by Ruby than anything.
