“No worries.”
“It was hard to stop. I’m so sorry. I didn’t expect it and—”
“It’s me, Win. I don’t need an apology. I know you. Inside and out. It was out of your control in that moment, I get it. And yet, you still stopped. Keep that in mind.”
He slipped into quiet then at the same time as I closed my eyes for a few moments.
“You know what Vax says… we’ll see to it. And that sexy know-it-all is pretty much always right when he puts that out there. He thinks the same thing about all this surrounding us now. And remember, you’re not alone in this. You just… please stop operating that way. You promised us. Please don’t let thisundo that, yeah? The four of us are together on this. On every fucking thing going forward.”
I waited, but there was no answer.
I forced my eyes open with some struggle, and peered out through blurry vision to see Winter slumped against the couch.
Sound asleep.
He was no longer shuddering.
He didn’t have that grimace on his face that I’d seen all over him when he’d been asleep earlier.
The feed had worked.
I smiled and reached for one of the throws and haphazardly in my out-of-it state, managed to drape it over him.
Then I leaned in and pressed a kiss to his forehead. “I love you. You know that?” I whispered. “Fucking love you, Win.”
8
~Winter~
Everything was going to be okay.
Iwas okay.
Last night had just been an anomaly. I pulled at my gray hoodie, adjusting the hood that didn’t need adjusting.
Yeah, last night had just been an aftershock from the kidnapping andNihilumbrabeing used to restrain me. The tremoring had ceased. That unbearable emptiness and awful void-like sensation had abated. As soon as I’d fed from Zayn, all of that nastiness had faded away.
It had made me… fine again.
Everything within me was copacetic.
I was stable.
Absolutely solid.
Well, aside from some mildly aggravating intrusive memories of the many things Ruxnoth had conveyed to me yesterday.
“You’ll experience comfort, adoration, acceptance, and deep belonging. Eternally, Winter. There is a world that wants you, and that is mine.”
I blinked it away, like I’d been doing for the last couple of hours.
After feeding from Zayn, I’d dosed off briefly, then awoken to find him in a deep sleep. In one of his tangled states, something that occurred when he was distressed. He’d had his legs on the sofa, but his head on the floor, his body basically twisted up. So I’d gathered him to me, careful not to wake him. I’d wrapped the spell around me that I’d cast over the room to insulate any sound, scent, magic, blood, from anyone beyond the two of us, then I’d put him back to bed in the guestroom, nestling him between Vax and Evira. They hadn’t been able to register the movement or my presence due to my spell being in effect. I’d then even retrieved Nuvri, who Evira had so sweetly put in my bed as a clear act of comfort, and tucked him in beside her, so when the three of them woke up, it would signify that I was well. I assumed they’d dart straight to my bedroom then panic when they didn’t find me in there otherwise.
I’d been too wired to go back to sleep. And not in a good way. Mostly because of the intrusive memories and some flashes of Ruxnothwarmingme. I’d spent the rest of the night walking the house enveloped in my spell, thinking and strategizing, preparing myself for the mountain of questions and difficult decisions that would descend on me once everyone woke.
That time was fast approaching.
Day had broken.
