"I am now." Tears rolled down my cheeks as I sucked in his smooth scent. "He said you'd be gone a few days. It seems like a week. I was so worried and lonely."
"Hasn't Lucian been here?" Gabe pulled away and looked me over. "You're a mess, you know that?"
I snorted. "I'm low. Been spending a lot of time vegging out in front of the TV and eating chips to forget the pain." Luc had been here, of course, but I'd been using glamours to try to keep him from getting upset. I didn't want to risk the magic that Michael and Gabriel had used to alter his memories being unraveled.
"Oh, honey." He gathered me in his arms and stood. "Come on. Let's go take a shower."
I sniffed and considered the last time I'd taken one. It had probably been a while. "Do I stink?"
He shook his head, but he did it way too fast. "So, I do stink."
I wasn't even embarrassed. We'd been together far too long for that. As he adjusted the temperature on the faucet, I stripped and threw my clothes in the hamper. The white undershirt of Lucian's I'd been wearing was covered in cheese puff dust and drips of chocolate ice cream.
Oh, well. I was entitled to a few days of checking out after what I'd been through.
Gabriel grabbed a brush and turned me around, graciously ignoring my naked body. It wasn't the time for him to get excited to see me in the nude.
"Damn, woman, when was the last time you brushed this mane?" He worked the brush for a minute, then sighed. "Do you have a comb instead?"
I looked through my drawers until I found a wide-toothed comb, then let him help me detangle. "Here." I handed him a bottle of leave-in conditioner. "That'll help. And, it's been since the morning you were hurt."
The mist from the bottle settled on my hair and shoulders, then he was able to comb it out easily afterward. "I can't believe Lucian didn't say anything about you getting so..."
"So?" I turned and gave him a look. He was on dangerous territory.
"Upset-looking," he said delicately.
I snorted. "Nice one. I glamoured myself so I looked normal. And I did my best to act normal when he was home."
"Okay, well, I have good news." He stripped down and put his hand on my back, pressing gently so I'd go toward the shower.
"Tell me." I stepped under the spray and moved over for him to join me. "I don't need you to shower with me, you know."
"I know." He fiddled with the knobs and turned on all the showerheads - two coming out of the ceiling, two out of the walls, and a removable head.
For rinsing. That's all I'd ever used it for.
I snickered at my thoughts. Gabe gave me a confused look but didn't ask as he grabbed the removable head and held it to my hair. "We've thought of a way to break the spell."
He set the shower head down and grabbed my shampoo.
"Well?" I asked. "Don't keep me in suspense."
Michael's voice rang out and echoed across the bathroom walls. "Lignum Crucis."
I gasped. "Oh, why didn't we think of that before?"
Gabe chuckled. "That's what I said." He worked the shampoo into my hair. I stood still and let him pamper me. Why not? I was going through one of the worst points of any of my lives. My mates were a small comfort, so I'd enjoy them all I could.
Michael walked around the corner and leaned against the wall. "Hey."
I smiled, but soap ran down my forehead, so I clamped my eyes shut. "Hey, yourself."
"I hear you haven't been taking care of yourself," he said.
He must’ve been listening to us. "I took a few days off. What of it?" I asked.
"You never do that," he said. "Never."
