Chapter Twenty-Two Lyra
I shifted in bed, and Nova put another pillow behind my shoulders so I could prop up more, and then both my sisters crawled into bed on either side of me, cocooning me much like they had in the back seat of the car on our endless road trips as children.
“I told you I would stop calling you Sparklefarts.” Nova sniffed, dropping her head on my shoulder. “You didn’t need to go and get stabbed to get me to feel bad for you so I would stop.”
I chuckled and then winced. Henry and Raven had done a brilliant job with managing my pain, but they’d also told me they couldn’t take it all away or I’d do something stupid that could impede my healing process.
It wasn’t anywhere nearly as painful as it had been, but I was sore.
There was an odd tugging sensation in my side, likely the stitches, and a dull pain that Raven had told me would be the muscle knitting back together.
They’d used a spell to advance my healing, and I was told I should be right as rain in a matter of days, versus weeks with a normal healing process.
I still couldn’t believe what had happened.
“I can’t believe this happened,” Sloane said, echoing my thoughts.
“Now that things have calmed down a bit, would you mind running through it for me?” Broca asked.
She was curled into the chair by the bed, a blanket on her lap, with Ruth snuggled there.
My poor wee fluttermouse had returned from being somewhere else in the castle, worn out and needing a big rest. I was just grateful she’d somehow managed to remain unscathed despite the threat of the owls.
I gave everyone a play-by-play of what had happened, and to their credit, they listened without interrupting until I’d finished, and Sloane picked it up from there.
“I had pulled up in front of the bakery, and Ruth and Blue just began freaking out.” Sloane’s face creased with worry as she remembered.
“Ruth was demanding I open the window, so I did. She darted for the alley, so I pulled the car forward and couldn’t figure out what was happening.
I just saw you, like, crumpled over.” Sloane’s voice caught, and I realized she was dangerously close to crying.
Reaching over, I squeezed her knee, swallowing against the lump in my throat.
“It was scary,” I admitted. “I’m sure for you too. Since you didn’t know what was going on. Hell, I didn’t know what was going on.”
“Why the hell was Felicity carrying knives like that?” Broca wondered, shaking her head, making a small tsking noise. “That’s foolish, even for her.”
“It’s beyond foolish. It’s bloody stupid,” Nova seethed.
“I mean, I don’t know.” I shook my head and sighed. “I… I can’t fathom. I just… like, not something that sharp, not the way she had it. Every chef would know that. So it’s just—”
“She’s not a chef, though,” Nova said.
“Och, that’s the way of it, isn’t it?” I nodded, agreeing. “That’s part of the challenge of the show. Real people trying out baking challenges. Mandy would be the more experienced baker on her team.”
“I thought Felicity was always baking stuff for her kids and whatnot,” Broca said.
“I don’t know. I haven’t really had time to chat with them.” I sighed. “I finally got to speak with Mandy, and she basically called me a stalker and told me to leave her alone.”
“A stalker?” Sloane bolted up, and I grabbed my side.
“Jeez, Sloane, chill.”
“Sorry, sorry.” Sloane stood and paced in front of the bed, her hands shoved into the front pocket of her hoodie. “I’m just absolutely fed up with her nonsense this year. She is not a good coven member.”
“Sloane. It’s your job, as president, to keep the coven together.” Broca’s tone was mild as she stroked Ruth’s back.
“Like Mandy did?” Sloane whirled. “We never heard a word from the coven until we arrived here in Briarhaven. You were taking Zoom calls with them to hold our seats, and now I’m supposed to follow all the coven protocol?”
“You didn’t hear from them because you hadn’t stepped into your magick yet.”
“Yet Nova and Lyra could join before they got theirs.” Sloane held up her hands, taking a few deep breaths. “I’m sorry. I’m just heightened right now. Today was… a lot. And to find out Lyra’s been nothing but nice, trying to offer friendship to Mandy, and she treats her like that?”
A knock at the door was our only warning before pandemonium hit.
The door swung open, and Blue flew in, all smiles, his chunky body wobbling through the air.
Haggis rolled in behind him in his wheelchair, while Oswald streaked inside and bounded onto the back of the bed, an aggrieved look on his face.
Cat.
Ruth had awoken at the noise, and now she stood, sword raised, eyes on Oswald.
“I’m sorry.” Henry sighed from the doorway, hands spread out in apology. “I was coming to invite the lot of you to dinner in the library. Not you, Lyra. I’ve a tray coming your way. But food is on. And, well, it was impossible to keep the lads away. They wanted to see you, Lyra.”
Haggis’s wet nose pushed onto the bed. Leaning over, I scratched his scraggly fur at his ears.
You’re hurt.
I loved that I could hear him now.
“I was. But I’m better now. Henry healed me all up.”
Henry’s the best. He gives me scratchies.
“Yup, and he’s awesome with healing. I’m okay.”
Is there a mouse in here? Oswald’s head was up, and he was swiveling it.
“Aye, there’s a fluttermouse, Oswald. She’s highly armed and will cut you if you cross her,” I warned, turning to tap my finger on Oswald’s head. “She’s mine, and I’ll be furious if you make any attempt to hurt her.”
Hurt her? Why would I hurt her?
“Because you’re a cat, and historically they hunt mice.”
Ew. Oswald shuddered and prodded along the back of the bed until his head bumped into the tassel from the curtain tied on the four posters of the bed. He stiffened and then crouched.
“Nae, boy. You’ll not ruin another…”
Oswald pounced, dragging his claws through the fringed end of the cord, and rolled on his back to battle it.
“Bloody hell. Every time.” Henry sighed and crossed the room to untangle Oswald from the cord.
I have it under control. Oswald hissed.
“The first step in getting help is admitting you have a problem,” Henry lectured the cat and took him out of the room.
“Right, Lyra, will you be fine with a tray on your own? Or we can stay.”
Rab appeared in the doorway, a tray in his hand.
“Never mind,” Sloane said, and before I could say a word, my family had hustled from the room, taking Haggis, Blue, and Ruth with them.
“That’s quite a menagerie.” Rab grinned, looking over his shoulder as Haggis raced down the hallway with Blue and Ruth flying over his head.
“Rolling deep.” I laughed. Butterflies flitted through my stomach at the look in Rab’s eyes. He carefully placed the tray of food on a table near the bed, closed the door behind him, and then went to stoke the fire.
The silence drew out between us.
All I could think about was how I’d come to, having been in and out from the shock, and he’d been sitting by me on the bed, my hand clasped in his.
Had he known he was tracing a heart on my hand?
It was all I could think about, the touch of his finger burning against the back of my hand as he’d traced a heart, over and over, and I was half convinced if I looked down now, I would see a tattoo of it lingering on my skin.
He’d kept my focus away from the injury and on him, and whether that had been intentional or not, I was grateful for it.
“Thank you,” I finally said, breaking the silence.
I pulled myself farther up the bed, grateful that my sisters had brought me a pair of sleep pants and a buttery-soft jumper to change into.
At least I was no longer splayed out, half naked and covered in blood, and was beginning to feel a touch more human again.
There was something incredibly humbling about being a victim. Or a patient, I guess. It made me feel vulnerable in ways that I didn’t like.
“For what?” Rab asked. He crossed to the side of the bed but didn’t sit. He just stood, staring down at me, his fists clenched. His face was a mask. Did I misread his concern? If he doesn’t want to be here, why bring the tray? Why close the door?
“For helping me. During the healing. It made a difference.”
The silence dragged out and on instinct, I patted the space next to me with my hand.
“No, you should eat. Let me help you up?” Rab asked instead. My heart fell a bit, and I realized that what I’d really wanted from him was a wee cuddle.
Which was a huge shift in how I’d been feeling about him since we returned to Briarhaven last year.
Had the kiss last night changed something for me?
Or had it been working together through the catastrophic challenge?
Laughing and being silly with each other was something we had once done so well, and it had been ages since I’d felt this comfortable with someone.
Maybe it was time for me to face what had happened between us, to ask him why he’d given up on us so quickly.
Why he’d told his parents that I’d only been a pretty face with no substance…
That still stung. Could he have been a scared kid, just like I’d been, trying to make big adult decisions without a support system to do so?
I didn’t know, but maybe it was time to get some answers.
I scooched myself to the side of the bed, and Rab was there, lifting me up and then steadying me as a wave of dizziness washed over me.
“Should I get a lap tray instead?” Rab asked, worry sounding in his voice.
“No, just need a second.” I took a deep breath and the dizziness washed away. I hadn’t eaten since that morning, so that also likely played a part. “I really should eat.”
“Henry has prepared enough food for twenty,” Rab said as he led me to the table and chairs tucked by the fire. Once I was settled in, he took the top off the tray and I laughed.