She doesn’t react at first, and then she speaks.
“I know you’re there,” she calls out calmly. “You can come out now.”
Khalil and I look at each other, and he looks mildly impressed, and then I’m turning my head toward Seth, who smiles with delight. He’s practically fucking giddy at seeing her again—at least while conscious.
Seth leaves his corner first and approaches the bed. I hear Aurelia gasp, but before he can say a word, Khalil reveals himself too, and Aurelia shifts like she wants to go to him, but the hard look in his eyes warns her to stay away.
She shrinks back and then fists the sheets. “Thorin?” I hear her inquire after me. “Is he?”
Leaning my head back against the wall and closing my eyes, I try to quiet the voice that keeps whispering,she left you. She could have chosen anytime to walk away, but she did it when I was at my most vulnerable. I’m angry and itching to get even, but at the first opportunity we had, we came running instead.
And I know I’m not the only one feeling this way. Khalil is still angry, and apparently, so is Zeke. He split the moment we foundher rather than face her again. Seth is the only one who doesn’t feel some type of way, but then again, he’s Seth. Aurelia could say she wanted to let the world burn, and Seth would light the match.
It’s hard to blame her after seeing all of this and all that she has to lose, but it still hurts, and I don’t know when it will stop.
I finally walk over to the bed and watch her eyes widen when she sees me standing there. Her hands cover her mouth, and then she shakes her head to ward off the tears in vain. They spill uncontrollably over her hands like a waterfall.
Finally, she drops her hands to choke out, “You’re awake.”
I tip my chin down and coldly greet, “Aurelia.”
She gulps and then she takes turns looking at all three of us standing in her bedroom like thieves in the night. Or morning. It feels like déjà vu. Like we’ve come full circle.
“You’re here. You found me.”
“Don’t flatter yourself,” I retort. “We’re here because you have something we want.”
Misunderstanding me—or perhaps knowing me better than I know myself—her hands rise to cradle her belly.
“I—”
“Your uncle tried to kill me,” I explain and watch her brows slam down in confusion when I don’t acknowledge the obvious elephant in the room. “We want him dead as bad as you do, and you’re going to help us get even.” I let my gaze trail her body that’s ripening like freshly bloomed fruit and let my anger show. “It’s the least you can do.”
“TheleastI can do?”
I step closer toward the foot of the bed. “You heard me, wolf.”
“Thorin, what is your problem?”
“Did you seriously just ask me that?”
Her breathing quickens, and then her gaze climbs, and her lips part when she notices my hair. I see the question form inher eyes and her pleasure at my new look, but she doesn’t allow herself to act on either. “Well, if you hate me so much,” she asks instead, “then why are you here? You don’t need me to get at my uncle.”
“We saw the news that someone tried to hurt you. We were worried you might need us, so we came,” Seth answers honestly before I can think of a lie.
I roll my eyes when Aurelia’s gaze softens. A moment later, she thrusts out her hand for him in invitation, and Seth wastes no time accepting, letting her pull him onto the bed. “Hi, Seth,” she whispers softly once he’s sitting next to her on the bed.
“Hey, Sunshine.”
“Are you okay?” she asks since he hasn’t been awake in months. Not since the night Isaac came.
“I should be asking you that,” he retorts. I nearly swear when he tentatively reaches forward to rest a hand on the swell of her belly. “You’re having a baby.”
“Mm-hmm,” she confirms noncommittally. “I am.”
“Are you scared?” he asks while Khalil and I stand there like we’re furniture. It’s our own stubbornness getting in the way, but tell that to my heart because it won’t budge either. The jagged, broken pieces lie at her feet and to reclaim them would mean cutting myself open again.
Aurelia makes a sound caught between a laugh, gasp, and a sob. “I’m terrified.”
