Page 139 of Enchanted

“That’s the healing.” Rami turned off the shower and wrapped a towel around my shoulders. “Another unexpected benefit of the bond.”

“But I had your healing before, right? I definitely felt sore last time.”

“We were marked, not bonded,” he reminded me. “You had access to my healing, but not the full range of it. Now, you’ll heal almost as fast as I do.”

“Is that what healed my cancer? Your mark on me?”

Rami blew out a long breath. “No, baby. I healed you.”

“But you seemed genuinely shocked when I told you about my diagnosis.”

He inclined his head. “I was. I honestly had no idea that’s what you’d been through.”

I was so confused. “So why did you heal me if you didn’t know about it? And why can’t I remember it?”

He opened his mouth to answer, but just then, I faintly heard a door open somewhere else on our floor.

“Shit,” he muttered, tucking a towel around his own waist. “The others are back. I don’t think they’d be idiotic enough to disturb us, but maybe we should get dressed for this conversation, just in case.”

A memory swam in my mind. A promise I’d made. I grabbed Rami’s bicep, tugging him to a stop. “Actually, as much as I want to have this conversation, there’s somewhere I need to be. Can you take me there?”

I could feel Rami’s confusion in the bond, but he just smiled. “Sure, Eth.”

Chapter 38

Rami

Ididn’t question Ethan as we silently dressed, or when he told me to take him home. Just did as he asked before following him silently up the stairs.

He went into his room first, emerging with his duvet and a pillow in his hands. “Can you pop to the shop and grab as many boxes of cereal as you can carry, please?”

Affection rushed through me as I realised exactly what Ethan was planning. “Of course, baby.”

When I returned, I walked straight past Ethan’s room to the one next door. I tapped lightly on the wood, then waited until I was given permission to enter.

Before today, I would’ve said finding Ethan snuggled up in bed with another male was my worst nightmare. That discovering it would break my heart.

Instead, it doubled in size.

“Hey, Quill,” I said, keeping my voice low as I crouched down beside his bed. “How are you doing?”

Quill jerked a shoulder, like that was as much as he was capable of. The duvet was pulled up to his chin, but the little skin on show was pale, his gaze hollow. He’d obviously showered after leaving the warehouse, and I had to wonder if one of his housemates had forced him under the spray. His hair was still knotted and dripping.

Ethan shot me a look, the concern there mirrored in the bond. He was under his own duvet, his shoulder pressed against Quill’s. “Did you get us some cereal?”

“I sure did.” I pulled out the various boxes and lined them up on Quill’s chest of drawers so they could see the options. “Got twelve pints of milk too. Should keep you going for a little while.”

Ethan’s eyes bugged wide. “When I told you to get as many as you could carry, I didn’t mean every single option.”

“It’s not my fault I can carry a lot. You should’ve been more specific.”

A ghost of a smile crossed Quill’s lips.

“I’ll go get some bowls,” I said, straightening up.

I dashed downstairs to find Dahlia, Darius, Jeremiah, and Nox all sat around the kitchen table. From the bottle of Adamanthea in the centre and the glasses each of them clutched, I knew Ethan and I weren’t the only ones worried about Quill.

“How is he?” Nox asked anxiously as I entered. “He won’t let any of us into his room.”