Chapter 14
Cambria
––––––––
“Good fuckin’ riddance,” Ted sneers, snatching the keys out of my hand and tearing up both of our copies of the rental agreement.
I flip him off with one hand while clutching my laundry basket to my hip. “A pleasure as always. I’d say I’ll see you around, but I sincerely hope not.”
He grimaces, already stomping down the stairs and out the door to the building. The guys have the rest of my stuff since this is the last load to get over to the new house. We have to walk, so it’s been slow going, especially with the mattress, but thankfully I don’t own much. One afternoon and we are wrapping it up already.
The new house borders one of the paths to the forest. We got a great deal, because some of the animals nearby have been getting restless as of late and are starting to push the boundaries. It’s making several of the fae in the area uneasy and wanting to move more towards the center of town, where it’s safer.
As in, a tiger mauled the shit out of the fae that lived here so we got it dirt cheap and bought it straight out; we just had to finish scrubbing the blood off the exterior. It wasreallyfresh on the market.
“We can worry about more furniture tomorrow,” I huff, tossing the last of my shit in the corner of my room.
Because yes, in the two bedroom house, they made a huge production of making sure I had my own space after losing my apartment. Not going to lie, if I wasn’t already swooning over them, that would have been the kicker.
Orgasms are great and all, but having people that actually give a damn about you is just slightly better. That, or I just haven’t been screwing the right people. I’m willing to test the theory out before putting in the effort embroidering towels.
Atlas rolls his shoulders. “I vote we buy a wagon. Or steal a shopping cart.”
Dorian tosses him a beer from the fridge and takes one for himself. “Or we just get a bigger bed instead of dragging three more mattresses back here.” He waggles his eyebrows at me and I laugh, washing my hands and reveling in the fact I have an actual kitchen to cook in. I mean, I’m not going to, but I could if I wanted.
There’s a knock at the door and everyone freezes. “At least the tiger’s polite before he barges in here to eat our faces,” I jest, laughing awkwardly as I move to the front door. Because let’s be real, I don’t get a lot of neighbors dropping off brownies to welcome me to the neighborhood.
My stomach drops as Rickon appears on the doorstep, like I assumed it would be. Who the hell else would willingly interact with the soul sucking harpy? But this time is different, because it will be the first time I’ve seen him since the incident on the street and I’m more than a little terrified.
“Little Lark. Look at you, moving up in the world,” he sneers.
“Dickoff,” I greet, hiding my nerves behind a mask of sarcasm and indifference. I catch myself and tuck my hands in my pockets casually, not wanting him to see I was rubbing the scars on the back of my hand like a nervous tick.
“We need to talk,” he demands, looking more serious than usual, his normal psychopathic cruelty hidden behind the guise of a real person for once.
A heavy hand lands on my shoulder that I know instinctively is Lucien. I breathe a bit easier, knowing that they can’t do anything but exacerbate the problem, yet leaning on the comfort still. I’ve never had anyone that even attempted to have my back, and whether or not I’ll get beaten because of their ‘help’, I still appreciate the sentiment.
“May we help you?” Luce asks coolly, putting my casual indifference to shame. I may fake it with the best of them, but Lucien lives and breathes it.
“Mind your place, human,” Rickon warns.
Lucien’s fingers tighten imperceptibly on my shoulder, the only sign of his rage. I’m grateful that I was playing poker with Atlas instead that day, because I would have literally lost the shirt off my back to Luce and his poker face.
“What do you want, Rickon?” I ask, more frustrated and tired of everything than I ever have been before.
Maybe it’s just a fool’s dream, but he doesn’t seem as imposing as he used to. After being under the intense scrutiny of the three men behind me, it doesn’t matter that they don’t have any special abilities. They are far from powerless; they have quickly consumed my entire world, chewed it up, and spit it back out.
His jaw is tight as he holds out an envelope, and my vision blackens around the edges. If it wasn’t for Luce’s grasp on my shoulder, I would have sunk to my knees. The royal seal pressed into the wax, glaring at me, mocking me and any semblance of freedom I could ever feel.
“It was an accident,” I breathe on a whisper, dread wrapping around me like a weighted blanket.
