40 AURORA
I need to open my eyelids, but they’re so heavy.
Come on, Rory. You can do this.
OK, Finally. I blink against the light of a bedside lamp.
Where the fuck am I?
The ceiling above me is low, crisscrossed with dark timber beams and patches of old, water-stained plaster.
Not Quo.
A soft, rhythmic breath draws my attention.
Sky.
She’s curled up into a tight ball beside me, buried beneath a heavy patchwork quilt. One bandaged hand peeks from beneath the covers, dried blood crusting the white gauze.
Fuck.
It all comes back in a flash.
The forest.
The grave.
Her not breathing.
I still don’t know where we are, but if Sky and I are tucked together in this warm bed, then it must be OK.
Safe.
I lean over slightly, my body feeling stiff and achy, and press a soft kiss against her temple.
Wump-wump.
Wump-wump.
Huh.
The familiar stutter of my heartbeat isn’t there.
“Kitten?”
A shadow detaches itself from the foot of the bed, and London crawls up the mattress towards me. He’s wearing a new change of clothes, and his skin is washed clean of mud and blood.
How long have I been unconscious?
“Hey.”
He carefully curls his body around mine so I’m now in the center of him and Sky. His warm skin presses close, soothing all the tension I’m holding.
I roll over so we’re face to face, and his green eyes lock onto mine. “Hello, little lovey. Welcome back. I missed you.”
“London,” I croak, moving my arms around his neck and tangling my fingers into his long, damp curls. “Where are we?”
“At Burt’s mum and dad’s place. You’ve missed all kinds of hoo-ha.”
“But we got Sky.”
“That we did. Nearly lost you in the process though, which I’m not at all chuffed about, but Burt’s mum came up trumps, turned herself into a fancy chicken and flew away with all your heart problems.”
Huh? Tally’s mom helped my heart? Is that why it’s not stuttering?
I’ve learned that even though London mostly seems to be speaking random thoughts, they're usually an accurate, if slightly strange, retelling of events. “What about Francois? Tally? Oh, shit…Basil?”
“All present, and not terribly correct, apart from Shane of course, who has a stick up his bum.”
My mouth pulls into a smile, but London still looks weird. “What’s wrong? What else has happened?”
He looks down at the blanket then back up again. “My mind has been on the saddest journey of thoughts, I think it nearly got lost completely when you stopped breathing.” Despite his quivery smile, a tear slips out the corner of his eye.
I lean closer to him, pressing my lips against his. As I do, a warm fizzing takes over my veins, filling me with life, energy.
It’s a meeting of souls concentrated into just our mouths. London makes a whining sound in his throat, and though the kiss is innocent, kinda chaste, the heat in my veins grows deeper, traveling down to my core.
From the moment our eyes met on that prison transport, it was like I’ve spent my whole life waiting for London.
He’s broken, I’m broken, but our parts fit together beautifully.
Reluctantly, I draw back a little. Tears are streaming down London’s face now. “You OK?”
He nods. “I’m just so happy I saved all my kisses for you. That was the one thing I’d never give them. So now it’s the one piece of me I can tie with a bow and put under your Christmas tree. I’m sorry it’s not all of me that’s pure and good.”
Wump-wump.
I stroke his face. “I’m not quite sure what you mean by that, but I do know one thing, emphatically.
There is not a single molecule in your make up that isn’t perfectly how it’s supposed to be.
” I kiss away the tears on his cheek. “At some point we need to get to the bottom of all this, but right now, can you just believe me, London? That you’re my beautiful English faun, with heavenly lips and a wonderful, original mind. ”
He flutters his eyelids, looking so young for a moment.
“And a steaming hot body on top of all that,” I add.
That brings the grin back to his face. “Did you know we’re in Burt’s bedroom? Can you imagine a little Burly in here?”
Tally’s bedroom? My eyes move around the plain room. There’s a long shelf full of books, a few photos, but nothing that screams ‘Taliesin’.
My wolf.
I need to see him and Francois. See with my own eyes that they’re both whole. Gently displacing the bedcovers, I try not to disturb Sky, but she wakes anyway.
Her eyes snap open, wide and panicked. “Rory?” she croaks, her voice raspy and thin.
She tries to push herself up onto her elbows, but winces as her bandaged fingers touch the mattress.
“Easy, babe,” I murmur, tucking the covers around her shoulders. “Don't rush. You're completely safe. Apparently, we're at Tally's parents' home.”
For a moment, she relaxes, letting out a long, shaky breath, but then her brow creases into a frantic frown. “Immy! Rory, you got out, did you bring Imran too? Is he here?”
Oh fuck.
My heart drops straight into my stomach. I can feel London’s hand freeze on my back.
“Rory?” Sky’s voice trembles, tears welling in her bloodshot eyes as she reads our faces. “What’s going on?”
I pull her into my arms. “Sky… Imran made it out of Quo with us, but he was so sick. So weak. But he got to experience freedom under the stars. He felt magic in his veins.” My throat goes hot and tight.
She just stares at me.
“Immy shifted, Sky. It was so beautiful, we watched him fly as a gorgeous owl. He was magnificent.”
“Was?” Tears start to run silently down her cheeks. “He’s dead?”
“I’m so sorry, honey.” I try to hug her closer but she wriggles away, rolling over and turning her back on me.
“Sky?”
“Leave me alone, Rory. I don’t want to talk about it.”
Shit. I wish I had the right words, but maybe there are never any ‘right’ words for someone who has lost a loved one.
London stands, reaching out a hand to me. “Let her be, Kitten. She needs time.”
Time isn’t going to change the facts.
Fuck. I hate this. I hate it all.
But, following my faun’s advice, I slowly get to my feet. “I’ll come check on you in a while,” I murmur. “I love you, Sky.”
She doesn’t reply.
I feel absolutely terrible as London supports me down the narrow corridor and into the warm kitchen.
Everyone looks up as I enter, but the first thing I hear?
My brother’s voice.