AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Charlie shook his head. “It’s not going to be hard to be palatable with Sloane. Look at her.”
“She is gorgeous.” Truett sighed. “I only kissed her in anger. That wasn’t well done.”
Oliver pointed at him. “Do better, then. Remember, being married is hell. This happened. We’re…all in this, including her, whether she wants to be or not. We can’t let her run off again. And she’s got strong visions. They’ll be helpful, so keep your eye on the goal. Get the girl home, and we’ll regroup. It’s just another strategic battle.”
They faded away, and I was back in front of the red monster. He still held my chin. “They’re not your friends. Whatever you think, they don’t really like you. You’re mine. And soon you’ll be with me. All of you, whether you like it or not.”
I jolted awake with tears streaming down my face. I was still in Oliver’s lap, but it wasn’t just him and Charlie who were there. Freddie and Truett were, too. They were both staring out the window.
I stumbled forward and nearly fell getting up. Oliver jumped up, holding onto me. “Easy there. What’s wrong?”
The scene raged through my mind like a battle through the memories that I’d made myself. Was that real? How did I see that? That was first and foremost in my mind. Something else had happened, but I couldn’t remember it.
“I’m sorry.” I yelled, whirling around. “I didn’t realize I was a strategic battle. Just tell me what you want, and I’ll do it, but stop playing with me. I’m…not just another battle. I’ll give you my visions. Just stop the game playing, okay?”
To their credit, they all froze as I spoke. Oliver seemed to pale.
“How did you…?” Freddie shook his head. “How did you see that?”
I shook my head. “I just did, so you can all leave me alone. I won’t run. Just get rid of the flying thing, and we’ll coexist or whatever. I’m a nice person, and I know you didn’t want me. Guess what? I didn’t want you, either. I just wanted to go home and marry some mid-level Baron then stay close to home. I didn’t want this. I would have to be crazy to want this. Look at me, do I look okay to you? So, knock it off. I saw who you all were right away, and you’ve only confused the whole thing in my mind.”
I stormed from the room. Something nagged at the edge of my memory, but it didn’t matter. Should I have kept running? To the edge of the planet, to be away from these men who thought I was something to manipulate, to win?
Tears I didn’t want to shed fled my eyes anyway, so I buried my head into my pillow. They don’t get to hear me cry. It will give them too much pleasure. My head pounded. Whatever good feeling I had was long gone. That was okay. I didn’t need anyone to take care of me. I knew how to take care of myself. Getting up only made me dizzier, but I found my herbs. I could handle myself without anyone’s help. I knew how to survive.
Chapter Eleven
Iwoke with a groan. I blinked awake and wished I could keep sleeping. Charlie sat next to me, his hand resting on my forehead. “There you are. Been having a bit of a time waking you up. Was starting to get a little bit nervous about it.”
The whole incident from the night before rushed through my memory, and I swatted his hand away, which made him frown. “Stop touching me. Why did you wake me?”
He’d roused me from a deep, dark warm place that felt like magic because my head didn’t hurt there. It was absolutely still hurting in the present. I rolled over, intending to go back to that place. I didn’t need to be there at the moment.
“Oh no,” he lifted me up. “You either wake up here in the nice bed, or I’m going to put you in the shower and let the cold water do it.”
I swatted at him but he didn’t let go of me. “Why is it so important that I be up right now? It’s not like I can add anything today. I’m in Hawkseye, so no visions. I’ve done what you need from me. Just let me sleep off my headache.”
“I think you and I both know that isn’t how your headache is going to work. It’s lunchtime. You slept all morning, and we need to get set up.”
Again, why did that have anything to do with me? “So, go take care of it. I did my job. Go do yours. If you get hurt, I’ll take care of you, and you can use that against me.”
He frowned. “What did you take last night that it was so hard to wake you?”
What difference did it make anyway? “I don’t remember exactly. I was pretty out of it and looking to be more so. I could look at the herbs and guess. Why?”
“Don’t do it again.” He took my hand and squeezed it. “I don’t want to be unable to wake you again. That was…disturbing.” He rose and then stared down at me. “You have to go with us because—in case the knock on your head has made it so that you don’t remember—you were nearly abducted yesterday, and you aren’t safe on your own. So you have to come with us. Plus, your sister and your friends are going to be there, and I’m sure they’ll want to see you, too. So get up, eat something, and let’s get moving.”
He made some unfortunate good points, so I swung my legs off the bed, feeling the soft floor beneath my feet. Someone had spent time making their place comfortable. I would love to ask who, but I doubted that the guys I lived with would know. They didn’t care about the mundane questions of life the way that I did. In fact, who painted these walls? Who picked the color? And who had slept in there before I did? Was it Sadie’s room? Had she liked it?
I opened the closet. Were her clothes still there? No, they weren’t. In fact, my own clothing, made for me at the ritual, hung inside. Who brought them here?
“Sloane.” Charlie sighed. “I didn’t use my injury to manipulate you. I wouldn’t do that.”
I could see the vision of their conversation in my head. I could see it clearly. “I know what you guys said.”
“You saw what Freddie said, sure. What the other two agreed to, possibly. If you really saw the whole thing, then you know I didn’t say that. Whatever was happening between us, it wasn’t false from me. Honestly, I don’t think it was for them, either. Freddie in particular has a hard time with expressing things so he…you know what? Never mind. You didn’t hear me say one thing that should have made you upset with me. We’re all like brothers, but we’re not the same people.”
He was right about that. I only meant to nod, but instead I ended up crying. Tears spilled from my eyes. “I don’t know how to do this, okay? I’m just a girl from nowhere. I’m not strong, I’m not tough. Tell me the truth. If I’m simply a tool, then be honest. Okay?”
