“Soren will be mad,” I agree. “But he will be alive enough to be mad. That’s the point.”
“I hate that she makes sense,” Caine admits with a huff.
“I usually do.” I laugh.
“No, you usually threaten people and then make sense by accident.”
“It still counts.” I shrug.
For the first time since before Soren was taken, Vaughn smiles. It’s small and sad, but it’s real. He glances over at Dad for a moment before returning his gaze to me. “You’re a lot like him, ya know?”
“My father?”
“No, Soren,” he corrects. That does something strange to my chest, and I don’t know how to respond for a moment.
“Insulting or romantic?” I ask.
“Yes,” Laurent laughs. I pick up a grape from my bowl and throw it at him, but he catches it in his mouth. Of course, he does.
“Show-off,” I mutter.
“Jealous?” Laurent asks.
“Oh, yes, Laurent. My dream has always been to become a slutty immortal grape trap,” I say sarcastically, making Diego choke out a laugh. Vaughn laughs heartily, and even Caine rubs his hand down his face while his shoulders shake.
For a brief second, the house feels whole again. Not completely without Soren, but alive. I cling to that feeling because soon, I’m going back to hell. I’ll have to become quiet. Obedient. Useful. Broken. But right now in this kitchen, wearing Soren’s shirt, with my hair braided by Diego and a plate full of food they’ve forced on me, I get to be something else. I get to be loved.
Vaughn’s laughter fades, and his eyes meet mine, and something unspoken passes between us. He knows, and maybe they all do, but this is the last peaceful moment I’ll get for a while.
“For the record,” Vaughn finally says. “If Soren asks, I fought hard against this.”
“You folded like wet cardboard,” I tease.
“I object to that,” he smirks.
“Fine. You folded like damp, emotionally constipated cardboard.”
“Better,” he says with a nod, making me smile.
“We need weapons,” Caine says.
“Finally,” I say. “A family activity I can join in on.”
“I’ll tell you what I know about Henry’s hotels,” Dad says.
“And the witch bitch?” I ask.
“Yes,” he says with a sad tone. I’m just realizing that they were mates. They’re still mates… but he chose me. Over and over again, he’s put me before everything. I have a lot to learn about my father.
Vaughn pushes off the counter and drops a kiss to the top of my head before he walks away. It’s quick, and maybe brotherly, but probably not. I don’t have time to examine it. “Eat the rest,” he says as he is walking away.
“Bossy,” I mutter. He stops and turns to me. His smile is gone.
“Alive women get to be bossy,” he says, and it’s the closest thing to a plea for me to make it back alive. Not for Soren, but for him. The fear of Soren is still very real, but there is also fear rooted in losing me, and that’s an unfamiliar position for me to be in.
I pick up my fork because he’s right. Alive women get to be difficult, and I plan to be his fucking nightmare.
Chapter Twenty Four
