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“And some dude named Finn,” Toby added with a smirk. “You should bring him in while we’re working so we can check him out, make sure he’s good enough for you.”
Excuse the fuck right out of me, but no way in hell was I bringing Finn in so these two could check him out. Poor Finn had been judged enough.
It hadn’t gotten past me that neither of them had answered my question, and I wasn’t about to let it go. “And you boys heard all of this where exactly?”
Toby shoved an entire lemon bar into his mouth as he gave Baylie a meaningful look. He wasn’t talking.
Baylie scowled at him before turning back to me. “First we heard Rain lecturing Simon and Trenton about you. He gave them the third degree and told them he’d beat both their asses if they didn’t act right around you because you’re his woman now. They both told him he had nothing to worry about because they were raised better than that.”
Fucking Rain. Who knew he had such a big mouth? And now I kind of felt bad about what I did to them earlier. I had regrets. Though, who the hell knew how the hell long that would last?
“And, well…” Toby looked sheepish for a second before he blurted out the rest. “And then we overheard Tyson giving the guys next door hell because of you. I didn’t know you two were so tight, but the dude obviously has your back. Apparently you went through some serious shit that we don’t know about, and don’t worry, he didn’t get into it so we still don’t know shit. Your business is your business. But Ty thinks you’re absolutely perfect for both Rain and Romero, because he says they have both been through hardcore shit themselves, and you all deserve to find happiness in each other. He wasn’t so sure about Finn, but whatever, that’s why we want to meet him, so we can make our own decisions about him.”
That was… highly unexpected. Then again, given how he tried to get me to talk to him the other day, maybe I shouldn’t have been so surprised.
Tyson had been absolutely right about Rain, Romero, and myself, but I hated how everyone was with Finn. It was really going to piss me off until I could shut it down permanently.
But this shit? Toby was trying to make me feel comfortable by making sure I knew they didn’t know my trauma and all the dirty details. These two boys really did give a shit about me, even though I’d been doing my best to keep them at even longer than an arm’s distance away.
They were making the effort.
While all my goodies from the bakery were a step in the right direction, it wasn’t exactly me opening up to them and letting them know that their friendship actually meant something to me.
So, fuck it, I’d let them in a little and share with them. They were here in this house, so I assumed they were, at the very least, slightly fucked up as well.
I cleared my throat as I picked up a muffin. I wasn’t hungry, my stomach was actually tied up in knots at the moment, but I needed something to focus on so I didn’t have to look at either of them. If I saw pity, it might kill me on the inside.
I tore at the wrapper around the muffin, unpeeling it. Anything for a distraction. “You guys know that we have some things in common, right?”
Neither of them said a word, which, honestly, worked just fine for me. It would only make things harder if they tried to soothe me with words of their own nightmares.
“So, umm, I’m not sure how much you’ve heard or what all you actually know, but… my family was murdered. To this day I still have no idea if they were murdered by the Council or hunters, and I fear that I will never know.”
“Were you there?” Baylie asked in a quiet voice that carried the weight of a man who’d lived several lifetimes instead of the teenager standing across the island from where I sat.
Shit.
It was one thing to think about, but an entirely different thing to actually open up and talk about.
“Yeah,” I whispered in a hoarse voice choked down with my raw emotions. “I was there. But I didn’t see it. My mother forced me to hide, and so I did. It fucking kills me that I hid while they all were slaughtered, but I’d always been the type of girl who’d done exactly what my mother told me to do. That, and if I’d gone out there, I’d be just as dead as they are if it really was witch hunters. And if it was the Council, then I’d be exactly right where I am today. It’s fucked up either way.”
I was a choked up mess, but thankfully I wasn’t crying.
“My mind is really fuzzy after that. I have no idea how much time passed or how long I was out of it for. I just know that when I woke up, I was chained up down in a hole, naked. My sight and magic had been stripped away from me, and when the Council came down to visit me, they beat me and were way too touchy-feely. They tortured me. They drowned me. And I have no idea how long I was down there for. Weeks, months, fuck if I know. I just know that it lasted far too long, and it really fucked my head all up royally.”
I had to stop to compose myself and get my shit together. I dropped my shredded muffin onto the countertop and hid my shaking hands in my lap.
Neither boy said a word, but I felt their eyes on me. I felt the heavy weight of their emotions in the air, pressing down on top of my own already heavy feelings.
Fuck, it was time for story time to be over before I had a breakdown and scared these poor boys.
I cleared my throat. “Anyway, I somehow managed to suck Ariel into my head, and she and Rain figured out where I was. Rain came and literally dragged my dead body out of that water-filled dirt hole. He saved me. I guess they both did because without her, he never would have found me. Rain’s been there for me ever since. I thought Ariel had been too but… yeah, so that’s my story.”
“There are whispers that Ariel had been stolen from her family when she was a little girl,” Toby murmured thoughtfully.
I blew out a heavy breath, thankful he hadn’t asked me any questions. I’d much rather talk about Rain than share anymore about myself. “Yeah. Rain’s sister, who didn’t have magic herself, stole Ariel away. Then Rain’s wife died. Then his dad died. Then Rain spent his life up until a year or so ago searching for his little girl and not stopping until he found her. He found her living with Marcus Cole, who’d been sleeping with Rain’s sister, a horribly abusive woman who Ariel believed was her mother. Their story is incredibly tragic and would break anyone’s heart.” At least it sure broke mine.
“Hot damn,” Baylie muttered under his breath.
