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She shushed me, fingers digging into my hair and keeping me in place.
I wasn't really processing anything as she held me, burning like wildfire down our bond, yet being smothered by the ice that was consuming me.
Everything was numb. My hands, my face, my body. Her touch ached when she pressed her cheek to my temple.
“I’m sorry,” she whispered. “I’m so sorry, Sariel.”
Like a dam breaking open, the ice cracked, and that inky blackness that had been building inside me began to leak out.
It took several seconds to realize that the low growl in the room was coming from me.
“I’m going to fucking kill him,” I snarled. “I’m going to rip his throat out.”
“Yeah, we will.” Her cheek was wet as it brushed against mine. “We’ll make it hurt, too.”
I didn’t leave the bed for three days.
Aria was patient with me, even though she shouldn’t have to be. There was food left on her side of the bed for me every morning, and she would stop in for lunch just to make sure I’d eaten something. By the third day, she coaxed me into the shower with her so that she could get me cleaned up, and when we’d finished, the sheets had been replaced.
I could only assume that Johnny was helping her drag me through a self-care routine when she started brushing my hair, detangling the red mess with a leave-in conditioner that smelled a lot like him.
“I’m okay,” I whispered to her one day. I’d been through this before already; memories of when I’d thought Auren was dead tried to slip through my defenses and were promptly crushed.
“You will be,” she agreed, voice soft as I took to staring at the wall. “Until you really are, though, I’ll be here.”
My eyes burned. I closed them, letting her guide my head further back.
Tarragon's death would be slow. Agonizing. And I’d be damned to Hell before he ever got his hands on my niece or nephew, even if I had to throw Lucia in a cell to ensure it.
My mate finished her routine and let me crawl back beneath the dark sheets of our bed to lick my wounds. She didn’t join me, instead pressing a kiss to my temple and slipping from the room on silent feet.
The curtains were still open, letting in the light of the setting sun, and I stared out onto the street, watching people pass without really seeing them.
I knew we should have gone for them sooner. I knew I should have forced Mikey to come with me, to begin with. I knew I should have fought harder for them.
Grel telling us about the wedding had given us a false sense of security, and my brother had paid the ultimate price.
I tucked my head beneath the blanket, promising myself that I’d only wallow for one more day.
20
GIRLS’ NIGHT
ARIA
Marilyn had been asleep for days. Dr. Vasille hadn’t been certain, but Jack confirmed that it was a spell being used to keep her asleep, which had prompted the vampire to leave our friend in his care instead. He’d been with her ever since, hands hovering over her as he tried to work out how long she’d been put to sleep for. Johnny had been hovering in the clinic as well, making himself at home in Tyler’s old cage.
Sariel had been upset to find him passed out on the spare cot when he’d gone in for his shift playing security. When I’d pointed out he would have done the exact same thing for me, he’d let it go.
Apparently, seeing a man he considered family so distraught was enough to send him into a small fit. Our bond had been bouncing with agitation, a desperate need to help sliced through him and me both, yet there was nothing he could do.
All we could do was wait.
So, naturally, when Marilyn gasped awake one evening as we were all preparing to go home, her arms flailing around, everyone tripped over themselves to be helpful.
“It’s gone!” she shrieked. The wail choked off with a round of hacking, and then a broken sob broke free of her. “My magic, I can’t… I can’t feel it anymore. Why can’t I feel it? Oh, god, please, no—”
Dr. Vasille moved with inhuman speed when Marilyn's hands went for her face, nails dragging down the skin of her cheeks and spine arching off the cot. Her words became an incoherent wail of denial and pleading, it took Sariel and Johnny to keep her thrashing still.
