Chapter 28
ISAAC
It took twelve hours, including a four-hour nap, for me to finally get my strength back from the early afternoon sun streaming into my bedroom.
It was Saturday again.
I’d cried myself to sleep after taking two doses of Condition Removal potion, and undergoing several checks and tests conducted by the Brambles. My powers were back, a blood test giving me the all clear.
My wounds were already healed due to the perks of my sacred nature. Still, I wondered if whatever Tony gave me gave my naturally tough constitution a boost.
Hmmm.
Fuck thinking about my ex. I needed to get out of this room and heal Ollie like I said I would when we arrived back at the mansion—he’d been discharged at his insistence shortly after I’d been found. But those tests wore me out, my body giving in to fatigue.
Now I knocked on his door, stomach grumbling with hunger.
Heal him, get food. All good.
Kill Tony later…
By Hecate, I couldn’t even begin to formulate any theories on his schemes. Not without locking him in a room and slapping him around.
Scratch that. He’d enjoy the slaps, and I couldn’t be having the fucker deriving any pleasure from me.
But next time I saw the fae hag, I’d be grilling her like fucking chicken. She’d seen or sensed what he’d been up to. She had answers, and I’d get them from her somehow.
“Who is it?” Ollie called from behind the door.
“It’s me.”
“Come in.” The sound of his voice brought a lump to my throat for some reason. An effect of still being raw from everything, I guess. From Tony, to Daniel, to the rest of the shit in-between.
My dad had disappeared, Drake was unable to find him. Which meant he might be where the Kingwoods were hiding, swallowed by their cloaking magic or whatever.
Darn it.
Ollie’s room wasn’t decorated in the gold flower patterns on white walls like mine. Instead, the walls were plain baby blue, the carpet navy, and the ceiling white.
“And I thought my carpet was bouncy,” I said, feet welcoming the plushness with cozy glee.
He laughed.
I approached his bed. “Hey.”
“Hi,” he said from where he sat watching the TV on mute. Some cartoon with a pink octopus and a cat. The poor guy’s head was bandaged, and he looked on the peaky side, tucked into a midnight blue duvet.
The butterflies were back to join my cocktail of emotions. My frenetic nerves were getting the better of me, making it hard to look at him. So I did a quick scan of the room.
His blue curtains were open, letting the sunshine in. I absorbed it, soaking in its energy like a bubble bath. There were two floor-to-ceiling bookshelves. One stuffed to the brim with books, the other with boardgames.
“You like boardgames?” I asked, feeling like I’d just stated the super obvious.
“My dad did. Those are his. I’m more into football and horror novels.”
“Everyone needs a hobby,” I answered. “Give me yoga and The Spice Girls any day.”
“Explains why you sing them a lot in those karaoke sessions with Riley,” he responded.
“Badly,” I added.
He laughed, wincing from his pain.
“What team do you support?”
“Manchester City,” he answered.
“Cool. I don’t follow it myself.”
He sucked in air through gritted teeth.
Conscious of his injuries, I dropped the small talk.
“How are you doing?” he asked.
He sure sounded husky. Didn’t everyone sound sexier when they had a cold? But Ollie didn’t have a cold, and what the fuck was I doing pondering this as if there weren’t bigger things to worry about?
I rolled my eyes.
“What’s wrong?” he added.
“Nothing. Just rolled my eyes at myself.”
He chortled and the sound warmed me to the tips of my toes.
“Let’s get you healed,” I said, hoping my face didn’t look too much like a lobster.
“Thank you,” he responded, voice tight.
I got down to business, not having to expend too much energy on him. It took all of twenty seconds for his wound to vanish and for his complexion to lose its peaky sheen.
I did let off a yawn though, forced to sit down on his bed. “Phew. That’s always a doozy.”
“Thanks so much,” he said. I felt him move, the bed bouncing slightly, and then he appeared by my side, his big thigh almost pressed against mine.
Why did he have to wear a white vest and gray sweatpants to tempt my naughty eyes?
I kept them dead ahead.
“You’re welcome.” A slight hint of fatigue lurked around my fringes, but I’d be okay after some coffee and food.
I stood up. “I’m off to feed myself.”
He grabbed my arm, his touch sending shockwaves through my body.
Slowly, I turned my head, his stare making my breath hitch.
“I’m sorry.” The softness in his voice weakened my knees.
I twisted myself around to face him, his fingers still curled around my left wrist. “For what?”
He didn’t break eye contact as he spoke. “For failing you.”
A surprise. “How did you fail me?”
He sighed heavily. “Got myself hurt, allowed that dickhead to take you and then bite you. What was that about?”
“On my arse,” I threw in. “He bit me on the arse.” I smiled, not making light of it per se, but the whole thing was ridiculous.
He chuckled. “How is it?”
“My booty? As perky as ever.”
“Good.” He laughed some more, shaking his head.
Your hand is still on me, honey, I wanted to say.
His expression turned serious again. “I’ll do better. I won’t let anything like this happen again.”
“Hey, hey, hey.” I sat down beside him, his hand finally slipping off my wrist. “Don’t do that to yourself.
The whole thing went from zero to a hundred so quickly.
” I snapped my fingers to illustrate my point.
“Chaos isn’t exactly the easiest thing to navigate.
And look at me? I got myself kidnapped.”
“Because you were hurt and poisoned.”
I shrugged. “Maybe.”
“A fact, not a maybe.”
I felt my lips curl into a snarl, thinking about the murky shit again. I killed it quickly. Done. I just wanted a quiet moment, and to sate my belly’s hungry rumbling.
However, I checked my phone just to stress myself out some more. There were an alarming amount of calls and messages, some from press people I knew.
Darn it. This was a bigger mess than my brain could comprehend.
No messages or calls from Helen, though.
I’d reached out to her during my tests, getting nothing.
Now it was her turn to ignore my calls and messages.
How could I blame her? She’d been brought up like the rest of us to reject House Aurora.
If I wasn’t The Sun, I wouldn’t be loving the idea of a failed dynasty making its return.
Well, maybe I would. I wasn’t sure and it didn’t matter.
What were people saying? What would become of us?
Not now!
I put my phone away, rolling my shoulders. “Are you hungry?”
“I could go for something,” Ollie answered.
“Care to join me downstairs for a refuel?”
“Yep. That’ll be nice.”
Nice, eh? Ollie thought it would be nice to hang out with me to eat?
Miracles did happen.
But I hesitated, resistant to moving, to being out there where I’d have to deal with things. Yes, I wanted to see my brother to discuss Daniel, but not yet. My head craved some moments in the sand.
Ollie picked up on my unease. “You can stay here if you want.”
“What?” I licked my lips, scratching at my neck.
Why was it so hot all of a sudden?
“I’ll go and grab some stuff. If you’re not up to leaving this room.”
Happy glowing in my tummy. “What are you, psychic?”
“Perceptive. Sometimes. Let me shower and change and I’ll sort us out.”
“Thank you.” Whoa, did I tingle all over from his kindness.
I tingled harder when he returned from his shower in faded blue jeans and a white vest.
Something about his vests just got me all sticky between the legs.
By Hecate, he was the most beautiful man I’d ever clapped eyes on.
And I couldn’t have him.
But at least we could be friends.
Right?