She waves me off. “I’ve still got you beat. We can all be broken together; a little collection of misfit toys.”
Atlas interjects, sounding mildly offended. “Hey, what’s wrong with me?”
He makes a valid point. Of all of us, he’s the most normal. He may have a depressing past, but nothing like what the rest of us went through. The worst thing he has going for him is selling himself like a slave to Lucien, but it’s not like he forked over his literal soul.
Cambria tilts her head up to look at him condescendingly. “You’re a jobless bum, my good sir. But don’t worry, I won’t hold it against you.”
He snorts. “And hopelessly head over heels for a girl whose heart belongs to two other men.”
She closes her eyes, hiding from his words, but forces herself not to shut down. It’s messy and complicated, but this only works if we all put in a little effort when and where we can.
“Well, we all know I’m as greedy as I am high maintenance. Loving the three of you isn’t as hard as you make it sound; especially compared to all of the impossible things we have to deal with.” She keeps her eyes closed as she rests back against his chest, tense and refusing to look at us, but still.
She said it.
Atlas’ thumb strokes over her hip possessively, a small smile lighting up his face that she can’t see. He doesn’t push for more, taking what she has to offer and being as amazed as I am that she has so much to give after all that’s been taken from her.
“You’re right,” he states flippantly. “I’m scarred for life because of it. I should stay.”
She relaxes at his deflection, holding her free hand up and examining the mark like it’s a diamond ring she finds lacking. “I mean, I guess I can keep you around for a while.”
He chuckles and gently smacks her ass to get us moving again, walking out of the alley and back towards the house. I keep her hand captured in mine, letting her be my tether to sanity and falling more in love with her with each passing moment spent in her company.
The atmosphere has shifted dramatically in just the last half hour and it’s something that I’ll need to remember the next time I’m having a moment. With a fae guardian in our lives, we need to be prepared for emotional whiplash, a hell of a lot of chaos, and loving so deeply it leaves you raw and aching.
Cambria’s phone goes off, breaking up the debate she and Atlas are in over who lost the bet since we ducked out before seeing the score. “Hey, Luce, what’s wrong?”
Her frown matches the rest of ours. Lucien isn’t typically one to just call without a reason, especially while he’s at work.
“Where are you?” he barks, loud enough I’m able to hear easily.
My muted anger latches onto his tone like a beacon, anything to give it a sense of direction rather than eating me up inside. It doesn’t consume me like before, now that it’s been replaced by something stronger. I’m able to just be angry without being in a PTSD rage episode.
Where the fuck does he get off talking to her that way? He knows damn well by now to treat her better than that. He loves her, and she deserves a fuck ton better than brush offs or snapping.
She glances at the nearest intersection and he just utters a sharp command to ‘stay there’ and hangs up. Atlas’ jaw is clenched as tightly as mine, so I know it isn’t just me being irrational. We’re indebted to him, but that doesn’t give him a free pass. He can treat the two of us that way, not that he usually does, but her? Fuck no. She has the ability to love all of us, and we’re in a unique position to cultivate that, but it doesn’t equate into her having to by any means. Luce needs some sense knocked into him before he takes her for granted and she ends up dumping his ass.
A few minutes later, all the while I’m stewing in silence while Cambria and Atlas start mulling over potential theories, Lucien’s car flies around the corner and comes to a screeching halt. He climbs out, striding right for us and wraps a hand around her wrist, tugging her closer. Atlas’ shouts die on his lips as Lucien’s other hand palms the back of her head, capturing her in a bruising kiss, right in the middle of the sidewalk in broad daylight.
She’s stiff for a moment before melting into him and the shock of it is enough to curb my hostile tangent before it can gain traction. There may not be many people around, but it isn’t deserted. Up until this point, all of his affection, and thusly his weakness, has been kept private so that no one would get the wrong idea of the stoic man or exploit the ones he cares about.
When he pulls back, his eyes are wild, looking like a feral animal. Heradiatesaggression, like he’s barely holding himself in check and one small step will send him into a frenzy of violence that would put mine to shame. He still hasn’t released her wrist, but her free hand reaches up to cup his jaw, her thumb stroking over his cheek rhythmically.
“What happened?” she reiterates, soft yet firm.
His gaze darts away from her long enough to check over the rest of us before promptly returning to her face. He acts like if he were to look away for more than a brief second, she’d simply disappear.
“The house,” he grates out, his voice rough. “It’s as good as gone.”
“What are you talking about,” Atlas demands, an edge of anger to his voice from being on the outside looking in with little to no information.
Lucien pulls Cambria against him, wrapping an arm around her to plaster her there. I catch her eye, just as stunned as I am, but pleased. And hell, I’m happy to be wrong time and time again if it means Lucien is finally waking up and getting his priorities straight.
“There was an explosion. They’re claiming a gas line, but I don’t buy it, not with everything we’re mixed up in. Belinda showed me the clip on the live news report, and the car was still in the driveway. I,” he trails off, his grip on Cambria so tight I’m sure she’ll have bruises on her hip.
“And you thought we were still inside.”
He jerks his head in a terse nod. This is the most freaked out I think I have ever seen the man. I was with him as he dealt with the loss of his brother, by his side as he committed his first murder, yet never before has he been this twitchy and agitated. He honestly thought we died and left him alone.
