I took a deep breath, ignoring the stinging in my eyes. “Remember that I love you and that you were the best mom to me. I never came here and today was a regular day. I died in the car accident.” My voice cracked. “You accept it and are at peace with that. You’re going to go to bed, and when you wake up tomorrow, it’ll be a new day.”
Her eyelids fluttered shut as Blaise led her away to her room.
Kai touched my shoulder, and I turned to him, sobs shaking my body like tremors.
“Do you want Thaddeus to help? He can alter your brother’s memories if you need to stop,” he offered.
“This is too fucking hard,” I choked out.
“He heard you. He just pulled Hunter.”
“What’s going to happen with Corbin?” I stared at the clean floors and furniture with bleach spots galore.
Mom will notice that and probably blame Hunter.
“We dumped him in the woods close to the road and called the cops. They’ll rule it an animal attack,” he told me, and my stomach heaved.
Corbin deserved better.
“Meow,” Jax called, rubbing up on my legs again.
I bent down and picked him up. “You wanna go home with me, baby?”
He purred, putting a paw on each of my shoulders and nuzzling his cheek against mine, tears soaking into his fur.
I inhaled the strong lavender scent with a wince but sighed. “I’ve missed you more than you know.”
Jax curled up on the pillow next to mine as I laid on my side beside him. His black eyes were studying me as if he’d known everything I’d been through.
“A lot has changed since the accident,” I whispered, throat dry from all the crying. “I’m not the same as I used to be.”
He meowed, stretching his paw out to my cheek.
“I’m not even human anymore. Does that bother you?”
He patted my cheek twice in response, and I smiled. “You always know just what to say.”
The door to my room opened, and Thaddeus came in.
I bolted upright, pulling the covers over my barely clothed body. I’d stripped as soon as we got home, and I was clad in my lacy bright red underwear.
Jax jumped over me and arched his back with a hiss.
“Friendly fellow, innit?” Thaddeus asked with a tilt of his head.
A giggle broke from my chest, disrupting the fog in my mind from earlier. Jax had never liked any male around me besides my brothers.
I patted his head, and he relaxed, keeping a glare directed toward Thaddeus.
“He doesn’t care for a lot of people.”
Thaddeus snorted. “Cats haven’t changed in centuries, yet humans still entertain them.”
I smiled at him. He was wearing low-hanging black sweats and a white T-shirt with his hair hanging down around his face. “You look good.”
Jax spun his head toward me and let out a huffed breath as Thaddeus glanced down at his bare feet.
“Thanks,” he mumbled. “I wanted to check on you and see how you were holding up.”
