I didn’t want to. I really didn’t want to.
I was afraid of the reality I was going to find.
Were my twins dead?
Or were they alive.
And naked.
And posed weird.
I gave up hiding. I was awake, and I wanted to find out. Because, dear gods, stars, and Gaia, I wanted to find them alive.
I opened my eyes, and I saw a huge grin break out on Aiko’s face.
“You’re awake.”
I nodded and regretted it immediately.
Aiko slipped a pillow under the one I was resting on. “Just speak for now. You wound up with a nasty bump on the head. I tried to catch you, but you fell away from me.”
“Aiko…” I whispered.
“They’re alive. You’re on a cot, and they’re on the bed. We figured that you’d be fine much sooner than they would be.” He glanced to the right. “They were baffled and unresponsive at first. But both went straight to sleep once we got them in the bed.”
“Can I sit up?”
“You can try,” Bel said. “You went down hard, and I wished I’d joined you because I didn’t need to see their dicks. For any reason.”
Aiko shook his head but helped me sit up on the cot. I turned my head to see the bed next to me.
The two sleeping forms of my twins were there, breathing evenly and slowly.
“Oh, gods,” I gasped and burst into tears.
“More weeping.” Bel waved me off. “I’m going. Everyone here is fine. We have a war to win. I don’t have time to play nursemaid.”
He walked out of the room, and Gwen followed with a roll of her eyes.
I wasn’t even remotely upset. Bel was just like his brother—a royal ass unless it came to his mate. He would literally burn the world down for her. I understood that now, far, far more than I had before.
It wasn’t far from what I had done for my twins.
I swung my legs over the side of the bed and pushed to standing. I gave myself a moment to make sure I wasn’t going to fall over. Apparently, the fall was the worst part of what had happened because I felt fine save for a small headache.
Dorian wasn’t in the room. My mood dropped as soon as I realized he wasn’t.
Aiko’s hand landed on my shoulder. “He’s fine. He stepped out to get some water and food for the twins when they wake up.”
“You knew…”
“He knew you’d be upset if he weren’t here, but he wanted to walk a bit. He said he needed to think and offered to stay until you woke.” Aiko rolled up his sleeve. “Take it. It will help you.”
I laughed. “Every time I just take a little from you, we end up naked and tangled up.”
His head cocked to the side with the adorable smirk I was starting to love. “And that doesn’t happen with any of the others in this room? Ever? I mean, Kimber. You don’t even need to take their blood to end up naked and tangled together.”
“Well, I mean…”
