I bit my lip hard, shoving back my emotions to stay strong for him. At first, I needed his strength. But after witnessing how he moved and noticing his glassy, unfocused expression, something still wasn’t right.
“Get your sweaty gown away from my face. I can wipe my own tears,” I chided, carefully swatting away his arm.
He laughed. “Such rudeness! I take it back. Maybe I should’ve stayed unconscious.”
“No.” I ruffled his moppy hair. “Just… no.”
We smiled at each other, and despite my concern, my chest felt lighter, my grief a little more bearable. Maybe I’d finally be able to sleep through the night.
Oli rested his hand on mine, averting his gaze. When his smile dropped and the energy in the room turned serious, I braced for whatever he said next.
“Luce?” He paused. “I’m sorry I wasn’t able to be there last night.”
The tension in my shoulders eased a fraction. “Me too.”
“Do you want to talk about your father?”
“Not yet. Do you want to talk about yours?”
He gave a short snort. “Not really. What about the others? Beating them up still stands.”
As if he could even get out of bed right now.
“I think space from them is a better idea.”
Oliver sighed. “And what if that’s not possible?”
“What do you mean?”
He lifted his hand as if he was about to scrub through his greasy hair, but his strength faded, and it flopped beside him. For a moment, pain stole some of the light from his eyes, and I couldn’t have that.
I reached out, running my fingers through his hair like I’d seen him do hundreds of times. “Better?”
His eyes fluttered closed as he leaned into it. “Actually feels pretty nice. This should be my payment for listening to all your drama.”
I scoffed. “You’re impossible.”
“And you love it.”
“I do.” Settling next to him, I finally asked, “So why can’t I avoid Aspen and Ronen forever?”
“Well, now that we know you’re Aspen’s guardian, the bond will most likely keep you close to him. Also, Ronen, Alexei, and MJ agreed to help me find my sister. And I need your help to get back to the Tenebrous Kingdom,” he said with a sheepish smile.
If he weren’t my best friend, hadn’t just woken from a coma, and I didn’t know his backstory with his sister, I would’ve straight-up slapped him. We just left that damned, forsaken kingdom. I lost so much there, and I wasn’t prepared to lose more. Not that I would, but we knew very little about the kingdom. Who was to say that, with Lilith dead, it wasn’t crawling with her leftover demons on a revenge spree? I didn’t want to go back. But I also owed Oliver this.
“Of—”
“You’re not going anywhere until I have officially cleared you to leave the healers’ wing,” Sam asserted, standing in the doorway with a stern expression. “Lucille, off.”
I scrambled back to my chair, crunching the shattered platter and slipping on lemon bars. Oliver smirked, and I wanted to laugh and dance. He was finally awake.
“This will hurt,” Sam warned, holding up a glowing hand as he clutched his amulet.
Oliver leaned back as if preparing for a massage. “Like it did when you fell from Heaven?”
Oh, Oli.His flirting was atrocious. If that was what it was.
Sam ignored him, ever the professional, then sent his healer’s energy into Oliver’s head. He grimaced, squeezing his covers so hard I could hear the whine of the fabric. Fortunately, the scan only lasted a minute.
