“We need to know if Nerezza is okay,” Levi says in his I-demand-you-to-answer-me tone.
Placing a hand on Moni’s shoulder, I gently guide her to the side so my bigger frame can take on the guys. Crossing my arms, I stare them down, making eye contact with each one of them. The question is, what do I say? I still don’t know what happened in Rez’s room and what was up with the Rebels hitting us. Do I confide in my pseudo-family that has taken me in since I was little, or hold what I know close to my chest until I know what is going on? I know I can trust Moni and I’ll fill her in later, but I’m not sure about the guys anymore.
“To answer your questions: no, I don’t know what happened. Of course, we felt the earthquake, and Rez is fine, but we can’t find Lynx. She’s sleeping right now and she will NOT be bothered.” I take my own stand, not to be messed with. I know how to handle them to an extent—show no hesitation and stand firm. A part of me is so torn though. I want to lean on them for help in figuring this all out, but I don’t know if I can confide in them now. But whatever happened with the Rebel killing and taking that guy tonight in her room, that’s not for these guys to get involved with yet.
Levi goes to reply, but I hold up a hand stopping him. “No, you need to listen. I love you all like brothers. Better yet, we are brothers. You took us in—” motioning between Moni and myself, “—and gave us a home and a family when we needed it the most. But that doesn’t give you the right to boss us around or demand things from us.” Dropping my gaze to the ground for a quick second, I prepare to say something I can’t take back if taken the wrong way!
“I don’t want to choose.” My voice comes out in a broken whisper. Looking back up, I meet each of their eyes as I hold my gaze for a brief moment before moving on to the next. Moni’s hand slips into mine, giving me a slight squeeze.‘I’m with you on this.’Her thoughts pass to me, and I squeeze back. We’ve mostly been on the same page as kids, and I don’t see that changing in serious situations. Yes, we fight like…well, siblings, but we’ll always have each other's back.
“Don’t make us choose. You kept secrets from us, even going as low as to make us think we were special and a part of the family. Ever since Matthew took us in, or Dean Caldron, or whatever we should call him now. Ever since then, we’ve been like family to each other, and I thought that’s why we received this room. But in reality, it was just a ploy to watch your ‘ward.’ Now what Knox said at lunch on the first day of classes makes sense. You emphasized you were designated to ‘helpher,’ but that wasn’t all of it, was it? You were planning on spying on her and reporting back and using me and Moni in your plans.” I sigh as the truth slams into me, making my breath hitch.No time to react right now, JP. Get through this and be strong.
Swallowing down the pain of their deception, I take a step back and Moni mimics my movement. “I’m not trying to be mean or pick sides here, but right now, Rez needs someone on her side. People who haven’t hurt her. We need to focus on her, but we can’t do that unless you back off and give her space. We need to respect her wishes, and until she’s ready, you should do the same. She asked you all to leave her alone and not to seek her out, so this needs to be a safe place for her until she’s ready. I—”
“But I love her,” Zeke cries out, his pain so clear upon his face that it hits me full force. “I can’t be without her,” he whispers, then drops to his knees, crying. I knew he was falling for her. Hell, he even mentioned he thought he was at the beach tonight, but to claim her in front of everyone is a big step for him. While I struggle to decide if I should rush to him and try to give comfort, Knox drops down and wraps his arms around Zeke, whispering so only he can hear. I am so torn between all of this that it takes Moni yanking on my hand to bring me back to my senses.
Levi, ever the calm and poised leader of our little group, is shocked speechless and actually lets his guard down, so his thoughts slip for the first time in years.
‘I’m so lost. For the first time, I don’t know what to do. I don’t know where to turn or how to make this better. Has my time with Rez come to an end before it even started?’
His use of her nickname jars me for a bit until his haunted hazel eyes meet mine. Making another judgment call, hoping I’m not stepping over ma chérie’s wishes, I tell the guys what the original plan was for tonight, or at least what we wanted to do.
“This is a confusing mess; I’m with you on that. Which is why I’m going to tell you what we were going to talk about tonight. I talked to Zeke earlier.” I glance over and see him wiping the last of his tears away, slowly standing up along with Knox. Nodding his approval, I continue, “We both have feelings for Rez. I can only assume you all do as well, since you’re all standing here at our door asking about her and not including us in your concern.” When I see their look of embarrassment, I give them a small smile and wave off their attempts to correct their mistake. “The fact is, I’ve talked to Rez about how we date and she seemed open to it, as long as she didn’t have to guess who is single or not. I know for a fact before all of this drama unfolded she was interested in everyone in our group.”
Stepping back, I’m about to say goodbye when I decide to give them some type of hope. “You might not have blown what you’ve started with her, at least I hope not, but you’ve definitely damaged it. I would suggest backing off, getting your shit together, and then proving you’re worthy of her. Maybe help try and find Lynx, or at least keep an eye out for him. Until she’s ready, I would give her the space she asked for. Okay?”
“Can you at least keep us in the loop and let us know how she is?” Ryker asks, not making eye contact with me. Just the fact he’s asking confirms that our sex demon has his eyes on Rez.
“Of course we can,” Moni says, cutting off my reply. “Look, we promise we won’t treat you any differently, and I’m sure JP will update you all as long as it doesn’t betray Rez’s trust. I think she might just need time before we can get back on track. But can you give us a couple of days to figure out where she stands and come up with a game plan?” Reluctantly, they each agree and slowly turn and walk away, taking the stairs down to their apartment.
Turning back, we take in the darkness in front of us. “Wanna get the shades? I’m scared to make my way over there. I keep tripping on shit and well…you've got the—”
“The awesome sauce, I know.” She tries to joke, but I can hear the weariness in her voice.
“I was gonna say wings,” I deadpan.
“OH! Yeah, I can get that. Hold on.” She darts off, and a few seconds later, the shades retract, freezing me in shock.
Whatever happened in our room, it completely destroyed our main area. Chunks of the wall behind the fireplace are ripped out, the sofa is only recognizable by the color scattered around the room. Feathers, cloth, wood, and metal pieces are strewn throughout. The pictures that were hanging up are now destroyed in shambles around our trashed living room. It’s a miracle we didn’t shred our feet on broken glass. Our dining room lies in disarray, and part of our kitchen counter is missing, along with two bar stools.
What the fuck happened?
“Did the earthquake do all of this? I don’t remember hearing about them delivering this type of damage in PJ classes,” Moni says in wonder as she floats closer to me and takes in the fist size hole in the plaster next to my head.
“This isn’t damage from the earthquake. Whatever came through here also took out Knots. Know of anything that can disable an ancient Door Knight?”
“I didn’t think that was possible,” she admits, shaking her head.
“Yeah, me neither.” I run my fingers through my hair in frustration and look around.“How the fuck are we going to clean this up?”
“OH! I think I have a potion in my room to help clean this up. I’ll be right back,” she says as she flies down to her room.
I think we need more than a damn potion. We need a new room, but how can we afford it?
There! All done.
About two hours later our dorm room is spotless and completely empty of all the stuff I had originally picked out last week.Damn! It’s only been a week?A small pang of loss hits me as I look around and see our home, our sanctuary, turned into chaos. At least now it’s empty of the mess that happened. A part of me feels…violated. Someone, if those creatures from Rez’s memories are true, came into our home and destroyed it.Rebels.That’s what they were.
Taking one last look around the room, I look at Moni’s defeated form and pull her into a hug. “There’s nothing else we can do now. It’s late. I’ll call Dangles in the morning and see if we can get replacement furniture. Maybe I can play on Ms. Teal's generosity and good nature to have her help us out,” I say, holding and rocking Moni back and forth within my arms. I hear her muffled snort before she pulls away to speak.
