“Yes,” Xander says fakely. He even presses a hand to his forehead like he’s going to faint. “I feel ill. I think I’m going to pass out.”
“No!” She reaches up to his face and kisses him on the cheek. Now this isn’t so fun anymore. “Okay,” she says sharply to me as if it’s my fault. “Where is the closer nest?”
“I’ll take us,” Lyle says, catching on and playing pretend too. “Put the ill one in the car.”
“Yes.” My regina,my regina, takes Xander’s hand and gently leads him to the car as if he’s elderly! I gape at Scythe, but he just shakes his head and nudges me into the back seat with them.
“I was wondering what the smell was this whole time,” I announce as I slide in next to Aurelia, who takes the middle. “Xander must have gastro.”
“What!” Xander and Lia say at the same time, which makes me more annoyed.
“Actually, I think I’ve caught it too, blah!” I pretend to retch, and my regina cups her hands in front of me as if she’s going to catch my vomit. “You’re the best regina ever,” I say, copying Xander’s voice. “I’m running a fever, I just know it.”
Xander and I enjoy Aurelia fussing over the both of us as Lyle drives to one of our beachside apartments. When we get there, Aurelia demands to inspect the property first so she can assess for predators. I follow her closely around the three-bedroom apartment, and she sniffs better than any wolf I know, checking every surface, every curtain, and tests all the windows. Then, she finds some antibacterial wipes and runs them over every surface,includingthe light switches.
She makes me and Xander sit side by side, and she takes our temperature with the measuring device from the medicalkit she hunted out in the bathroom. Then she assigns Xander and me one ‘contamination’ toilet and the rest of them get the other. Then she checks over Scythe and Lyle. She tuts over Lyle’s matted hair, and her eyes glisten when she sees what remains of the healing wound on Scythe’s cheek. She gently eases her power into his skin, kissing him better, leaving his skin unmarked like it was before. She runs her fingers over the rest of his body, healing every little wound and scratch The Collector made.
After that, she tries to shove us all into the big showertogether.
Lyle’s cock is pressed up against my ass, which is all well and good until Xander’s cock comes swinging my way. I let out a high-pitched feral wolf scream, which has Aurelia jumping a foot in the air, baring her teeth, ready for an enemy. When she sees I’m pointing at Xander’s dick, she rolls her eyes and yanks me towards her and the soapy loofah she’s swinging like a mace.
“Ow!” I cry as she yanks my head down by the hair and scrubs the back of my ear with the aggression of a pissed-off wolf mum.
“Bad wolf!” she says. “I have to clean you properly.”
She worksfastand hard, scrubbing me all over, and I don’t even get to enjoy it because she moves on to Lyle, who grins at me while she attacks him. Scythe has moved into the corner, steadily cleaning himself, and I squeeze past Xander to go look at him.
“Don’t,” he warns me as I open my mouth.
I pout. “Okay.”
He uses a bar of soap and the sink while he waits for the shower head, scrubbing the back of his neck. Even though Aurelia healed him, I know he’s scrubbing more than skin right now.
Back in the shower, Aurelia turns on the spray, and with the removable shower head in one hand, washes down Xander andLyle like they’re cars. They rotate like good boys when she tells them to, and then they have to wait because she refuses to let them dry themselves.
Xander watches her so closely while she does all of this, a strange, distant look in his eyes. I think he’s back at Drakos Estate in his head. My heart feels less hatred towards him these days, and I don’t feel like vomiting when I look at him now, but I still can’t stand that darned black mark on his neck. It gives me the heebie-jeebies.
I shiver, and Aurelia is on me in a flash, dragging me and Scythe into the shower and shoving Xander and Lyle out of the bathroom with strict instructions to wait for her. Our regina has singular, dedicated focus on rinsing the soap off us, her movements so fast it’s like she thinks we’re running out of time somehow. Maybe she’s making up for lost time.
I’m alarmed when I notice she’s panting a little, a tiny frown between her brows. Scythe notices it too, and pulls the shower head out of her hands when we’re all soap-free. He cups her cheeks and ducks his head, pressing his forehead and nose to hers.
“You felt helpless, didn’t you?” my brother says softly to her. “So did I.”
Her cheeks pinken. “I have to take care of you,” she whispers. “Please don’t stop me.”
My eyes burn, and I scrunch up my face because this hurts so much. “I’m going to make fairy bread,” I announce. “I’m going to…to…do something.”
The biggest surprise ever is when Scythe says, “We should get popcorn and watch a movie.”
“And put pillows on the floor?” I ask hopefully.
Aurelia’s face brightens only a smidge. “Only if Xander and Savage feel better,” she eyes me with the suspicion of a doctor.
I pat my eight-pack. “Yep, I think you fixed it.”
She grabs the towel and starts to dry us. “There’s a lot to do, you know. I don’t know if there’s moisturiser and underwear for you here.”
Scythe yanks a new towel from the shelf beside the shower and dries our regina’s hair. “We only have men’s clothes here; you can wear my clothes until we can get back to the academy nest.”
