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"Well... I mean... We love opening doors for you, but that's different. You're a girl."
"Shut up, brother," Trenton grumbled. "You are not helping yourself by speaking, so just shut your mouth."
Ignoring both of them, I bent over at the waist and shoved my head between my knees. I squeezed my eyes shut tight and breathed deeply.
I would not puke.
I would not black out.
And I absolutely would not have a stupid panic attack.
"Tell me," I began between sucking in large gulps of air. "Did you call Quinton earlier?"
Please, please, say yes. I needed him right now more than I had ever needed him before. He would make me feel safe and he would know how to fix this mess I now found myself in. It was Quinton's job to take care of the rest of us and he was damn good at it.
"Uhh..." Shit, Trenton hesitated, and he never did that.
My hands went to my knees and I pushed myself up. I turned in my chair and found Trenton pointedly avoiding looking down at me. I grabbed ahold of his t-shirt and dragged him toward me. He didn't resist.
His head tipped down to mine and his silver eyes bored right into me.
There. That was more like it.
"I texted Rain and let him know about our unannounced visitor. He said he'd get in touch with Marcus and send him over. I haven't heard anything back since."
I released his shirt and pushed myself up out of the chair. I stumbled toward the door and away from them. It wasn't their fault and I wasn't mad. But right now I didn't want a lecture from Rain and I didn't want anything to do with Marcus Cole's optimism. Neither would do me any good at the moment and they wouldn't make me feel any better. Only my coven members could do that, Quinton in particular.
"Where are you going, Ariel?" Simon called out after me. "We don't want you leaving the house right now. It's not safe. I know he just left, but Adrian's probably on the phone right now making calls to have people watch you or even do something worse."
I knew all of that already.
"Then I guess you better call Rain back and let him know he needs to lay low so they don't find out about him," I called over my shoulder as I walked out of the room. "And for fuck's sake, one of you call Quinton."
The doorbell rang and I didn't have to check to know Marcus had showed up now that I no longer needed him.
"Ariel." Trenton's voice was a lot closer than I had anticipated. "Stop."
He grabbed my elbow, stopping me in my tracks. I yanked my arm out of his hold and whirled around on him.
In a hoarse, scratchy voice, I whispered fiercely, "Don't touch me right now, Trenton. Please. I'm not going to leave the house. I give you my word, but I need to be in my own space right now and around my own things." I looked away and swallowed as tears of frustration hit my eyes.
Trenton's voice gentled when he demanded, "Promise me you won't sneak off without letting either of us know. I know you don't always like having us around, sweetheart, but we are not the enemy here. You're the closest thing Simon and I will ever have to having a family again, and we cannot lose you. I don't give a fuck how many people like Adrian we have to face off against, you're worth it."
My stupid chin wobbled, and now it was me who had a hard time looking him in the eye. I jerked my head in a nod and whispered, "Promise. Now can I go? I don't want to be around Marcus right now. He's too..."
"Daddy's gonna make it all better?" Simon finished for me with a smirk.
I waved my middle finger in his direction, making him laugh.
The doorbell rang again. Marcus was starting to get impatient. Time for me to bail. I never thought in a million years I would be running and hiding from Marcus, but here we were.
"How many daddies do you have now?" Simon asked.
The doorbell rang a third time.
"Get the door, Simon. I hope you get used to playing butler, because I'm going to be making you open doors for me wherever we go from here on out. And it won't be the romantic, gentlemanly thing to do either, because we'll both know you'll be doing it because I told you to."
I stuck my tongue out at him while I turned my back on him. The pout on his face had been worth the threat we both knew I had zero intentions of carrying out. I felt better, though, and I had a feeling that was the sole reason behind the daddy jokes. Or, at least, I hoped it was. He better had been joking.
