AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“I-I don’t…” I swallow. “What does thatmean?”
“We don’t know how it will affect you exactly. Fortunately, the fragments are small. You are still the same person. Mostly.”
“Mostly,” I echo hollowly.
“We’ll work through it together with you,” Caelan promises.
Elias strokes his thumb over my knuckles, glancing down. Something almost like self-loathing curls his lips up into a grimace for a moment. “Do you know what the worst thing is?” he asks bitterly. “I’mhappy. I wanted to keep you, and now you’re bound to us on the deepest level imaginable.”
“It’s… it’s okay.” My head is still spinning, stomach churning as I try to understand the gravity of all of this. But it’s okay. “I think…” I pause for a breath, trying to work out exactly what I think. “I might be a bit pleased about that too.”
And maybe that’s fucked up. Part of my soul isn’t even mine anymore. There’s something demonic in me, something that’s theirs. And I’m happy. But it’s a strange and bitter happiness.
Elias is right. I wanted us to be together, and now, now we’re going to be together forever.
I glance away, not quite able to meet Elias’ eyes. “Like Caelan says, we’ll work through it, right? Everything will be okay.”
“I admire your optimism,” Elias says wryly. “But, yes, you’re right. Whatever may come of this, we will handle it. However, there are more pressing matters to your immediate health. Do you need something to eat, drink? You were unconscious for quite a while.”
I blink. I glance between them, then at the clock. It’s late in the morning, but I realize I have no idea what day.
“How long is ‘a while?’”
“Five days.”
It takes a second before that sinks in. “Shit! I’ve been missing classes and work—”
Elias cups my cheek and hushes me. He laughs somberly. “You seem more concerned about that than the potential loss of your humanity.”
“I mean, I…”
“It’s all right. Your manager called. The contact was marked as such on your phone. I hope you don’t mind that I answered. I informed them of the truth, for most of the part. That there had been a serious accident, and you were unavailable. I’m certain I could forge hospitalization documents if you wanted to present those. If they show no empathy and still try to hold you accountable for the time missed, I’ll allow Caelan to handle the matter from there.” He concludes the statement with a quiet, dangerous smile, and Caelan snorts.
“But for real, doll. Screw work. You need to eat and get your strength back up.”
I don’t feel that hungry. Maybe a little. But my stomach is still full of so many butterflies after everything that’s happened that food is the last thing on my mind.
If work knows, Grace probably knows. She’s going to be worried out of her mind. I don’t even have a personal phone number for her. As friendly as she is, and as much as we talk during breaks, I still don’t even know her outside of work, not really.
I can’t think about organizing my life or contacting people yet. My head is still spinning. I can barely focus on this. On them.
“We’ll give you some space,” Elias says. “It must be a lot to take in. Come downstairs when you’re ready. We’ll have a meal prepared for you.”
I nod at that. Some space to process sounds good, but even so, I’m not sure I want to leave things like this.
I stretch out my hand as Elias stands, then think better of it. There’s still so much we need to talk about. Like what Elias was so upset about that it erupted into an argument.
Elias notices and pauses. He leans back in to kiss me. “Any more questions you have, we’ll answer later. Take care of yourself first.”
“All right.”
Caelan pulls me into a tight hug and kisses me as well. “You scared the shit out of me, not gonna lie,” he says. “I’m glad you’re okay. I mean. Sort of.”
I smile weakly and kiss him back. “Sort of,” I agree.
He leaves with Elias after that, and I’m alone in my room again.
I flop back down onto the bed. The silence feels deafening now, without them, and I pull the pillow over my head as if I could drown it out. Maybe I was putting on a brave face for them without even realizing it because now they’re gone, I don’t even know how I feel.
