AllFreeNovel
Share Us
They look at each other, guilt written all over their faces. My hands ball into fists. I want to knock their beautiful, stupid heads together until little birds dance around their skulls.
Only the ones you love can truly betray you.
“We weren’t trying to leave you out,” Eli says. “That’s exactly why we were talking. We all wanted to make sure we’re on the same page about certain things so that we can work together to be the best tribunes for you.”
“We weren’t holding a war council,” Gabriel pipes up. “Not without our favorite queen.”
“And what have you decided?”
“That Eli will go to law school,” Noah says, resting a hand on Eli’s shoulder. “He’ll learn the ins and outs of international law so he can find the best ways of circumventing it, and maybe he’ll also make some contacts that will come in handy. I’ll leverage my father’s name into a career in politics – that will give us further advantages. Gabe will quit music and work full time as your assistant. He’ll help you use social media to raise your profile in the criminal underworld, make working with the August family a desirable goal for any discerning criminal.”
My mind reels at their vision for our future, at everything they’re willing to sacrifice for me, for the glory of the August name. “You three… this is too much…”
Noah cracks that heart-melting half-smile of his, the one where a faint hint of sunshine bursts through the darkness. “And we were thinking that maybe one day in the future… you and Gabriel will get married.”
My stomach contracts like I’ve taken a punch. “Let me get this straight, after all your tantrums, you want me to marry Gabe?”
“Just for the legal benefits, and the social clout. And only if you want to, of course. The ceremony could be for all four of us,” Eli adds. “Because we’re all fucking nuts about you.”
“You all want to marry me?”
They nod.
“But Eli has to be the wedding planner,” Gabe adds. “He has very specific ideas.”
Eli’s cheeks flush with color. “All I said was that I wanted a church service, and white lilies in the bouquet, and blue flowers on the tables to match Claudia’s eyes. You can plan the wedding if you have a problem with—”
“Please. I’ll be too busy planning the wedding night,” Gabriel grins. “That’s my department. Noah can take care of chair bows.”
“As long as he’s not in charge of the cake,” Eli says with decisiveness.
I can’t hold it in any longer. I burst out laughing.
It’s like a cork pops inside me and healing balm pours into my veins. All the tension of the last few weeks is sloughed away by their declaration. I look at their three perfect faces – at Eli’s too-pretty smile and Noah’s coal-black eyes and Gabriel’s shit-eating grin – and I see how truly wrong I’ve been.
I can’t believe I thought they betrayed me.
All this time, I’ve been so worried that they weren’t truly in this, that they were holding on to the broken shards of their old lives. But they’re willing to raze their futures to the ground for me, and from the ashes something new and fierce and brilliant will emerge.
I topple forward and they catch me, pulling me into their arms, laying their kisses on my skin, linking their hands around me to hold me upright, to keep me strong. Tears scratch my eyes. I needed you, and you came through for me. You always come through for me.
“I’m sorry,” I sniff, burying my face in Gabriel’s shoulder. “I’m so sorry. I shouldn’t have sprung the Gabriel wedding thing on you without discussing it first. I was in problem-solving mode. I didn’t think that it might impact all of you. I know I’ve been acting like I’m in this alone, like nothing I do is above scrutiny, but I’m just so fucking scared. And I’m the one who’s supposed to be strong. I have to hold it together but… Mackenzie came into our house. She was right there in the room with us. It could have been any of you bleeding out on the floor, and the thought of that makes me ill—”
“It could have been you,” Noah growls, brushing his lips across my forehead. “You’re not the only one who feels trapped or afraid. That’s why we have to stick together. Because all we have now is each other. And if we have to marry you off to Nero and Constantine at Lupercalia, we won’t even have that—”
“I told you, I’m making a plan to get out of that.”
“Then you need to tell us the plan, Claws.” Noah sighs. It’s the same sigh he uses when he tutors me and he thinks I’m being really fucking dim. “You’re not alone anymore.”
You’re not alone anymore.
Fuck, if any four words could break me, those are the ones.
The tears I’ve been holding back spill over. I’m so used to being alone, first when my father hid me away from the world to protect his legacy, and then for four long years in this big, silent house while life went on outside the walls. I’m not used to letting people in. I’m supposed to be strong enough to survive on my own.
But I don’t have to. Not anymore.
I start crying harder as Eli adds, “We’re here to help you. And if you truly think it’s the right thing to do, we’ll help you marry Gabe now—”
