AllFreeNovel
Share Us
I heard the door slam, and then a large, gentle hand was on my shoulder. I turned away from Sariel’s chest to see that it was Elias.
“I’m sorry for your loss,” he murmured. I saw his hand grip Sariel’s shoulder as well, giving it a bit of a shake. “It was senseless, but you don’t need this added to everything else you have going on. Go home, get some rest, and we can talk about what happened tomorrow.”
For some reason, his words started up my waterworks again, turning me into a blubbering mess.
Sariel didn’t bother trying to have me walk. Making sure to keep my butt covered, he lifted me bridal style and stalked out of the room.
I peeked over my mate's shoulder before the door shut behind us, feeling a bit better to see Auren crouched beside Reese, murmuring softly to her. Her arms went around his neck just as the door shut.
I squeezed Sariel tighter around the shoulders, too.
Don’t try to rationalize it yet, pup, he said softly.Just feel it.
I let out a whimper, hiding my face against his neck and wishing that things were more like the movies.
17
HAUNTED
SARIEL
Neo’s death replayed in my mind for days.
The way the smog had wrapped around him, invading his body and literally sucking the life from him, Reese’s frantic cry when the grenade was kicked back toward them, how he’d swung around to put himself between her and the weapon—it was all on repeat in my head, playing over and over behind my eyelids. I didn’t doubt that it would haunt me forever.
Aria hadn’t seen it, the way he’d looked at her when he’d realized was going to die, yet only had seconds to try and save her…
I shook my head, a poor attempt to wipe it away as the hot water beat against the top of my head. Reese was devastated; she’d withdrawn from everyone, locking herself away in her room most of the time to lick her wounds in private.
I understood it. Aria was struggling to accept that she didn’t want us around, that she didn’t want to talk about it at all.
“I think I should try to make her come to dinner instead of bringing it to her,” she suggested. My mate was sitting on the bathroom counter as I showered, hands clasped between her knees. “She needs to get out and get some sunlight.”
Aria was fretting, so completely distraught over making sure everyone else was fine that she was completely neglecting her own grief. Whether she wanted to remember it or not, she and Neo had bonded in that cell all that time ago. Sure, a lot of it had been Barimuz possessing him, but it was a bond nonetheless.
“It’s only been a few days, pup. She was in love with the guy. Give her time.”
Even though she’d tried to act like she wasn’t, I knew better. Their relationship was—had beenstrange, but it wasn’t as if mine was much better.
Aria bit her lip. “I know, but… she’s not going to get better by hiding from everyone who loves her.”
My brother had been no better lately. Auren had also disappeared into his place, avoiding confronting what had happened.
None of us blamed him. It had been an accident that happened too fast for any of us to put a stop to it. Knowing that Neo was Heaven-appointed had given me peace with the mishap—as he was still “alive” in some capacity, just now as Heaven’s unwilling lackey—but nobody else seemed to agree with me. We’d probably never see him again, sure, but I’d bet anything that the first place he’d gone running to was wherever Rory had taken up residence.
It was just the visual aspects that had stuck like glue to my psyche.
“She needs time, pup,” I repeated, and she let out a long sigh.
I ducked beneath the showerhead again, washing away the last lingering bits of soap. My mate was waiting outside the door, a towel extended to me, and she looked me pointedly in the face when I took it.
“Fine, then, we’ll just have to focus on Auren. Elias really laid into him, and none of that was his fault.”
I side-eyed her determined expression. “It was nobody’s fault. What were the chances of the grenade getting kicked back toward us?”
She made a face but nodded in agreement. “I’m going to try talking to him today, anyway. Reese won’t come to the door, but Auren never even bothers locking his.”
Her grin after she said that was contagious, and I leaned in for a quick kiss when she started to back out of the room.
