Lucille
Chapter
Six
The first thing I did when I woke up wasn’t seeking out Ronen, despite my need to lay eyes on his body and inspect every inch.
I would know if something had happened to him.
Well, I’d at least know if he was dead. As for wounded, I wasn’t sure with the block on our bond.
I hoped MJ or Alexei would inform me. I also didn’t seek out Aspen.
Those two were the last people I wanted to see.
I couldn’t think, breathe, be around them without feeling—just too many things.
Alexei said I could be selfish. This was me prioritizing my own needs over theirs.
However, I think the most selfish thing I did in the morning wasn’t avoiding Ronen and Aspen or sending Rune away, but dodging my father.
I think he’d been bitten. I didn’t see the male’s teeth connect, but my father had bellowed as if they had.
I should be seeking him out. But what could I do?
I wouldn’t be able to help in any way. And the thought of losing another parent, no matter how big of an asshole he was to me last night, shut me down.
Between my pain and Aspen’s, I couldn’t cope with anything else.
I could barely think about it. So I didn’t.
I convinced myself Sam would help him. Then I went to the healers’ wing with a large platter of lemon bars and plopped myself down in a chair beside Oliver.
“You really need to wake up, Oli. I need your wisdom. Maybe your humor.” I slumped back in the chair, staring at the angels on the ceiling. “Or for you to tell me everything will be okay, because nothing feels okay anymore.”
I told him everything then. I didn’t sugarcoat or skim over anything—the disaster of my mother’s funeral, all my bottled-up feelings about Ronen and Aspen, my fears, my heartbreak.
All of it slipped off my tongue and into the ears of my unconscious best friend.
It felt… good. A piece of my grief lifted from my chest as I unburdened my heart to the only person I completely trusted.
“Do you want me to beat them up for you? Or would you rather we find some kind of repellent?”
The platter of lemon bars clattered to the floor as I shot up. “Oliver?”
“No,” he rasped, his eyes still closed. “Your other best friend waking up from a coma.”
I threw myself on top of him, unable to help myself, and squeezed him tight. My nose smooshed into his neck, and I didn’t even care that he smelled like musty feet, blood, and… fire?
He groaned. “You’re strangling me, Luce.”
“Suck it up.” I held him tighter.
Oliver laughed, then coughed, and I finally pulled back. He tilted his head, his moppy two-toned bangs shifting away from his beautiful, open green eyes. “If I’d known I was going to get that kind of welcome, I would’ve said something the moment you spoke.”
My mouth dropped open. “You were conscious the entire time?”
He smiled and lifted a shaky arm. Seeing how hard he struggled to move muddied my joy. After a moment, he brought his sleeve to my face, capturing my tears. “I promise you, everything will be okay, eventually.”
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.
“So, doc, what’s the verdict?”
I didn’t like Sam’s expression. It was as much of a frown as he’d express in front of his patient. “Your brain bleed has stopped, and although the swelling has gone down, you’re still healing.”
My brow furrowed. “Can’t you fix that?”
“When it comes to the brain, a Virtue’s power has a fifty-fifty chance of healing him or exacerbating his condition and sending him back into a coma. Do either of you want to take that risk?”
“No,” I said as Oliver replied, “Kind of.”
I shot him a glare. “So what happens now?” I directed at Sam.
“He stays here, eats, rests, and we monitor. If and when the swelling decreases to optimal levels, I’ll clear him. But until then, he’d better make himself at home.”
“Do you want to make a home with me?” Oliver winked.
“Any other questions?” Sam asked.
One sat on the tip of my tongue, but not about Oliver. Sam would tell me if I needed to be worried about my father, right? He’d tell me if he was infected. Or maybe not. He was professional. Maybe this wasn’t the time. Did I even want to know?
Yes. Or I’d go crazy.
“How’s my father?” I finally forced out.
Sam wrinkled his nose. “Health-wise, he appeared fine the last time I saw him.”
Some of the tightness in my chest loosened. “Okay, good.”
Sam frowned, opening his mouth.
“Lucy. Lucy,” Oliver interrupted, patting his body and pinching himself. “Did I die? Please tell me I didn’t die.”
“Why would you think…” I trailed off as I turned my head and found Alexei standing behind Sam—in leggings.
White spandex stretched across his muscular thighs and calves to the point that his golden skin peeked through the fabric, and I questioned if they’d rip.
My cheeks heated at the prominent bulge outlined beneath the fabric.
He was… large. Someone cleared their throat, and my flush spread as my gaze shot up to his matching shirt.
It hugged his pecs and abs, while the sleeves looked as if they were painfully squeezing his biceps.
Alexei stepped further into the room with a smug smile, showing off his bandaged wings that had Oliver’s name written all over them in black, bold letters.
He looked like a muscular piece of candy, and it made sense why so many females and males fawned at his feet.
Sam shook his head, his eyes flicking to the painted ceiling. “I work on children,” he grumbled before leaving.
Alexei tipped his head to Sam as he left, then smirked at me. “Can’t take your eyes off me, can you, beautiful?” He lifted his chin toward Oliver with a knowing twinkle in his blue eyes. “Except this wasn’t for you.”
“Uhh,” Oliver grunted in a strangled, speechless way.
“How did you know he was awake?”
“Ronen sensed it.”
Right. I supposed it didn’t take a genius to figure out why I’d be happy.
“Okay, so I’m not dead. I’m just living my fantasy dream right now. And not to sound ungrateful or anything, but why am I living it?” Oliver asked.
“Alexei and I made a deal of sorts,” I explained, and Alexei took it further than I’d ever expected.
He nodded, his attention darting from Alexei’s spandexed abs to the bulge I worked hard not to peek at. “I think I need to get hurt more often.”
I snatched a lemon bar from the floor and chucked it at him. Oliver glanced down at the yellow curd on his blanket, then back at Alexei. “Lucy, I’m gonna need you to lift his shirt and smear a lemon bar across his abs so I can lick it, please.”
“And that’s my cue.” Alexei shifted toward me. “Beautiful, General Ronen needs to speak with you before training.”
General Ronen?
“Training?”
We’d been back only three days, and Oliver had just woken up. I wasn’t training.
Alexei shrugged. “Our mission was unsanctioned, and the king wants us back in the sand pit.”
“Well, you can tell him—”
“I’m not telling whichever him you’re talking about anything, beautiful. Not when my balls are chafing and my ass cheeks are about to pop. Plus, it wasn’t a suggestion. It was an order from your general.”
“I really hope his ass cheeks pop,” Oliver murmured.
Alexei turned and left.
“Oh, yes.” Oliver sighed in rapture.
Not because the leggings popped, but because they stretched even tighter over Alexei’s muscular butt, and the light hit him just right so he appeared practically naked.
I slumped back in my chair, shaking my head. Sure, I was grateful Alexei kept his word. A part of me was even a little grateful Ronen sensed my emotions and mentioned something to him to give Oliver some joy. But Ronen couldn’t expect me to train today.