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He hums and strokes the side of my face with his thumb. “Maybe you should sleep more.”
I groan, shaking my head as he pulls back slightly. I’m exhausted enough to do as he asked, but that’s the last thingI want. “I can’t stay in the bed any longer. I’m not sick. Just growing a person.”
Something about that sentence affects him. His face shifts, and I wish I knew him well enough to read his expression. But after a beat, it disappears, and he just stands carefully, then offers both hands out.
I imagine this is what it’ll be like when I’m massively round and ready to pop. Even Ari’s started being gentler with me. When he kisses my stomach, it makes me wonder what he actually feels about this child. I’ve read up on people like him, and they get possessive over what they consider theirs. They can love, it’s just…not the same. Love is different when you don’t feel guilt or empathy.
But oddly, it was comforting to know that he feels something beyond just an animal instinct. And I will never admit this aloud, but it feels heady to know he wants to possess me and ruin anyone who might get in his way.
I slip on one of Phoenix’s big sweaters and follow Kane downstairs. He leads me past the dining room and into his office, then sets me up on the sofa while he goes back to work on his computer. It’s strange, but I don’t mind.
One of the kitchen staff brings me a tray not long after with hot tea and a couple of buttery croissants, which suddenly smell like the best thing on earth. I groan as soon as the door’s shut, and Kane shoots me a smile just as his phone rings.
“They have chocolate too if you want me to order you one,” he tells me as he hits the button and presses the phone to his ear. His smile is soft. “Just let me—”
And then his entire expression changes. There’s anger in his eyes—cold fury that terrifies me. He takes a slow breath.
“Be more specific,” he snaps, and oh, I know that tone. This has to do with the boys. “Alright. Can you—no. Yeah. I’ll call himright now, but I want updates every ten minutes. Yes, she’s with me. No, I won’t lie to her.”
My heart’s beating fast enough now to make me dizzy. I can hear the sound in my ears, and my raging appetite has soured. I push the tray away and hug my middle as I lean forward, my eyes never leaving his face. “What’s happening?”
He holds up a finger, and I know someone’s hurt. God.God. I don’t know if I can keep taking this sort of stress.
The call ends after a beat, and then Kane pushes something into his ear. It looks like one of Phoenix’s earbuds, and I realize it’s probably so he can stay connected without the phone calls. He places his hands on the desk, rises, then bows his head like he needs a second.
I’m desperate to know what happened, but I say nothing.
“James is hurt,” he says eventually.
Fuck. I think I might feel the same way no matter who it was, but James is just so…he’sdifferent. He’s softer and needier and more desperate. He’s afraid far more than the other three are, and he’s a lot like me. He’s young with the potential to have a life so different from this one.
“How hurt?” I finally manage.
“Nothing life-threatening. He was shot in the arm. It went straight through. It was a setup.”
My face goes cold. “They knew?”
Kane looks up at me, his eyes glittering, and I wonder if he thinks I had something to do with it. “They knew.” I hold my breath and wait, and he comes around the desk, and then his hand is in my hair. I wait for him to wrench me up and accuse me of something, but instead, he just tilts my head back and kisses me roughly. “Stay here, little goddess. I have to go make a couple calls and get the med room ready for him.”
He lets me go, and I sink back, wondering why he doesn’t suspect me. I had nothing to do with it, but he knows I’vebeen keeping secrets. It worries me because if he’s trusting me blindly, maybe he’s trusting someone else he shouldn’t.
The thought makes my stomach ache, and I’m beginning to wonder if maybe our priorities aren’t totally out of whack. Why are we planning a goddamn wedding right now when we should be tracking down the person who’s capable of getting the jump on the misfits without even trying? Without missing a damn beat?
I grab one of the croissants and stuff half into my mouth, choking it down because I know I’ll regret it later if I don’t try to eat something. My knees feel shaky, but I stand up anyway and start to pace the office. I have no idea how far away they are until I remember that I can track them. Phoenix has set up my phone to be connected to all of them, but it’s up in my room.
Is it worth it to risk disobeying Kane’s order?
The answer to that is simple. I open the door and dart out, hurrying for the stairs. I flee like there’s a beast at my heels, but I quickly remember my beast is currently in a car, hurrying home with my sweet, injured Hook and my silent Ariel behind the wheel.
My stomach is twisting on itself as I head through the maze of hallways and eventually make my way to the garage. I know they’ll come around through the back and park there because it’ll be easier to get James inside that way. The garage is massive, and it’s dark and smells like exhaust, which isn’t helping my nausea, but I won’t be able to calm down until I see them.
It’s not the murder that bothers me. It’s not the crime or the fact that their souls are tinged black with everything they’ve done in their lives. It’s the threat of losing them at every turn because even when they take out my father and Marco, there will always be something on the horizon. One war will breed another, and there will never be actual peace.
There will only be moments.
I have to keep telling myself it’s worth it, otherwise, despair will ruin everything.
I feel like I’ve been wandering the room for an hour before I hear the subtle click of one of the doors shifting. It slides open, letting in a wash of light, and I back up all the way against the wall as Ariel recklessly careens the Jeep inside. There’s chaos as I run up. Three people I don’t recognize immediately follow the Jeep inside, and there’s a stretcher.
