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When we get to the right floor, a doctor is heading out of one of the rooms just as we are opening the stairwell door.
“Astrid, long time no see,” he bellows in a deep voice that echoes down the brightly colored hallway.
“Hey, Dr. Denish. We come bearing gifts.”
“I can see that. But why on earth did you take the stairs? You must be exhausted,” he states, looking us over.
Me, James, and Slade turn our heads to glare at Astrid.
“Nah, it’s fine. I have three big, strong men now. They can handle anything.”
“There’s no problem with the elevators, is there?” Slade sighs.
The doctor looks confused. “No. I’ve worked here for twelve years, and I don’t remember a time that it’s ever been out of order.”
“You’re dead to me, Astrid Montgomery. Do you hear me? Dead,” James growls, making me laugh despite my aching arms.
“You’re going to regret this later, sweetheart, mark my words,” I warn her and grin when she shivers.
The doctor coughs. “Right, well, let’s go deliver all this.” He turns and leads us back the way he came, swiping his badge to open the door for us.
When the staff sees Astrid, they all walk over and greet her, but I notice that nobody touches her. It gives me pause for a minute because we’re all so tactile with her. But now that I think about it, I remember her saying something about avoiding people. At the time, I thought it was because of how she was treated. I was clearly wrong.
We watch as Astrid smiles and laughs as she tells everyone about all the things we brought and about the guys coming later. By the time we’re being shown in to meet the kids, she has everyone eating out of the palm of her hand.
The moment we walk into the room, I have to wonder how my girl can possibly think she’s invisible when she has this fucking blinding light that draws everyone to her.
“She doesn’t see it. She’s grown so much, but I still see that terrified little girl inside her. What happened to her was tragic, but it didn’t stop her from seeing the good in people. It stopped her from seeing the good in herself,” James tells me as the three of us stand and watch our fairy princess enchant a room full of children.
“We’ll get her there. One day she’ll see what we do,” Slade says, watching her with a hunger bordering on inappropriate for where we are.
“And what do you see when you look at her?” James asks curiously, but it’s me that answers this time, thinking about Astrid’s words from before as she throws back her head and laughs.
“Magic.”
He nods as if he understands exactly what I mean. And he probably does. He was the one to see something in the broken girl who crossed his path when the rest of the world closed their eyes in ignorance.
“You're right, she is, and not just because of what she can do. I mean, look at her. Look at the kids’ faces—how they hang on to her every word.”
“She’s in her element.” I smile as one of the kids laughs loudly setting off the others.
“Exactly. Kids get scared of the dark, but for Astrid she’s never known anything but darkness. Somehow, she found a way to navigate it and now she’s showing these kids how to do the same.
“She has witnessed the worst the world can offer, and that's all she sees. I think for a long time she considered herself bad because of it. Now, though, I think she's getting it.”
“Getting what?”
“There's no bad without good. And she's good. She's the balance. And this”—he nods toward Astrid and the pile of presents surrounded by kids in hospital gowns—“just proves it.”
CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR
Astrid
“I’m going to fuck you in those boots later,” Slade growls.
I grin as I hold up the hem of my dress and do a little dance in my black thigh-high boots with a billion buckles. My wings had been removed so I could slip into my leather jacket, taking me from fairy princess to biker chic.
“Why wait? There’s a maze back there. I’m sure we could lose all these kids for a little while,” Jagger states.
