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“I understand you might not be able to help,” Levi assured her. “We all do. Knox simply wants you to give it a try. That’s all anyone can and will ask of you. Now, are you going to tell me what play Celeste made earlier?”
Piper did a double-take at the abrupt change of topic. “We covered this already. She was merely being her usual annoying self.”
“Then why are you so reluctant to talk about it?”
“Why are you so determined to hear about it?”
“Because it’s obvious that she managed to upset you. You’re clearly hurting, and I’m not at all good with that. No one gets to fuck with my anchor.” Her eyes flared with something that made his chest hurt, and he felt like he’d said the wrong thing. “Piper—”
“Being my psi-mate doesn’t make you privy to every thought that runs through my head,” she said, her voice stiff. “There are things you don’t want to talk about. I accept that. Now you need to accept that there’s something I don’t want to talk about. If that changes, I’ll let you know. Unless or until that happens, drop the subject. It’s not in your nature, I know. But you need to give me this. I make a lot of concessions for you. Now it’s your turn.”
Levi inwardly cursed. He hated that she was hurting and he simply wanted to fix it. But how could he push her on this when she was absolutely right—she did make a lot of concessions for him. More than he deserved. And yes, there were things he hadn’t yet discussed with her, such as the full truth about his aunt. Pressing her right now would make him both a hypocrite and an asshole. “Fine. But if she confronts you again—”
“Let’s leave it at ‘fine.’”
Silence fell between them. Thick. Heavy. Uncomfortable. At that moment, she seemed more emotionally unreachable than she ever had before, and he had no fucking clue what to do about it.
Noon the following day, Piper trailed after Levi as they entered the house of Missy’s grandparents. Her stomach was heavy with dread, just as it typically was during such times. Not that Piper would even consider backing out, much to Levi’s disapproval. He’d asked her four times this morning if she was certain she wanted to do this. Each time Piper had confirmed that she was up for it, he’d looked both disappointed and unsurprised.
It was kind of touching that he’d choose her emotional welfare over getting answers to a mystery he desperately needed to solve for the safety of their lair … because it meant he really was putting her first. Well, putting his anchor first. If Celeste was his psi-mate, she’d receive the same intense level of attention and protectiveness from him. It would be natural, of course. But the whole thing highlighted that Celeste had been right when she said, “He doesn’t see who you are but what you are.”
Maybe that was a good thing, though. Maybe Piper should try doing the same with him. It would provide some emotional distance and help her move on from him. That would sure be welcome. Because she was too aware of him now. Aware of where he stood, when he moved, what emotional vibes he gave off. Like her entire being was attempting to attune itself to his.
Walking into the living room, Piper exchanged quick greetings with Knox, Harper, Larkin, and Lois before firmly settling her attention on the female sitting gingerly on the edge of an armchair. Piper gave her a gentle smile. “Hi, Missy.”
“Hi.” Missy rubbed her thighs. “I know I should say thank you for coming and stuff, but part of me hates that someone else will see how helpless I was.”
“That’s entirely understandable, though no one would think less of you for being powerless,” said Piper. “We don’t have to do this if you don’t want to. No one will force you.”
“No, I need to do this. It’s driving me crazy that I can’t remember someone I spent five days hating. And … the truth is that I blocked him out a few times. Just curled into a mental ball in a corner of my mind. I don’t know what happened during those times.”
“You’ll get no judgment from me or anyone else. People often disappear into their own minds to protect themselves—it’s instinctive.”
“I know, I do, I just … No offense, but can we get this over with?”
“Absolutely.” Kneeling before Missy, Piper lifted a hand. “I need to touch your forehead. Is that okay?”
Missy nodded, her lips trembling. “Brace yourself, because this won’t be fun for you.”
No, it wouldn’t. But it helped that Levi had already given Piper a bullet-point version of what occurred. It not only warned her of what was to come, it meant she knew what details they already had. Levi and the others were interested in what Missy hadn’t passed on.
