“I know,” Dom nodded. “I know I lied. But I did it at The Oracle’s discretion.”
Leo frowned at this, while Spencer sucked her teeth.
Still, Dom pushed on. “Anything they didn’t tell me to do was something I did to protect you from my family’s misdeeds. All of you.”
Leo rolled her eyes. “Can you just say you’re fucking sorry?”
Dom opened her mouth at that, but swiftly closed it. She tried again, but nothing came out. Not yet, at least.
“Fucking ridiculous,” Spencer huffed, pushing out of her seat and storming out of the kitchen. Leo followed close behind her, glaring back at Dom as she disappeared around the doorframe.
And not wanting to be left alone with Dom again after everything that had happened, I stood too, turning to follow after them.
“Wait,” Dom said, emotion flickering behind her eyes as I turned to face her.
She looked miserable at best, and heartbroken at worst. But it didn’t make up for what she’d done.
With a sigh, I shook my head, “It’s just two words, Dom. But if you want to fix this, you’re going to have to prove you mean it. For real this time.”
And with that, I left to follow after my lovers, hoping that somehow, Dom would hear what I was telling her.
50
KIERA
By the timeI left the kitchen, my saviors were nowhere to be seen. But I could already hear Spencer’s footsteps up in her room, the door locking shut behind her.
They both probably need a minute to themselves…
I did too, to be honest. Dom had dropped an absolute bomb on me, and I still wasn’t over everything else she’d pulled on us: all the things she still wouldn’t apologize for.
But being cooped up in this haunted house while those fragments of memory looped in my head… it wasn’t an option.
So instead, I turned right, marching through the front door and around toward the gardens. It was already getting too brisk for walks like this, especially this early in the morning before the sun had a chance to heat the grounds. But the air helped cool the flush of my cheeks, the slight discomfort helping to ground me.
I took a deep breath as I passed through the tall hedges. Only a few weeks ago, the asters and goldenrods edging the grounds had been vibrant purple and yellow. But as winter crept closer, their colors began to dull.
Just like everything else in this place.
Sighing, I came to a halt by one of the tall statues. And only when my own footsteps had stilled did I hear the ones that were following me.
“...Leo?” I turned to see her approaching from farther down the yard, worry written all over her face.
“Just came to check on you.” She frowned, “Everything alright, Princess?”
It absolutely was not alright. Nothing was.
“It’s fine, you don’t have to babysit me.” I huffed. Usually, her presence would have comforted me. But everything Dom shared had ripped open wounds I didn’t even know I had, leaving a gaping mess of tender nerves right through my chest.
It was one thing to take Leo’s comfort when I was still in control of my feelings. But this had left me like a wounded beast: too sensitive to touch, too terrified to trust.
“It’s not babysitting, it’s checking in.”
“Well I’m fine, so thanks for checking in. Goodbye.”
“Kiera…” Her tone dropped an octave as she paced closer.
Prickling at her proximity, I started walking again, taking the first turn into the hedges. “Seriously. I just need a minute. That was a lot.”
