16
Lia
“Ow… ow…”
My head hurts. My nose hurts. My jaw hurts. My hair hurts.
Everything fucking hurts.
I blink open my eyes, the world a blur of colors and forms. Slowly, the fog eases, and I can see.
I’m in some sort of bedroom. I vaguely remember being here before. I remember being in bed with Logan. I remember him using my body, and wanting it. But now, I’m alone on the ground, my body hurts, and he’s not here.
No, he is. I can hear his voice. But he’s not looking at me.
“You’re going to be okay, Piper. Your shoulder’s injured, but it’s okay. It’s just a flesh wound. The doctor’s on his way and he’ll treat you. You’ll be as good as new in just a few days.”
“Mama…”
“She’s not your mother,” says another male voice.
“Quill.” Logan’s voice grows sharper. “Quill, you’d better fucking shut your mouth…”
“Papa, please…” murmurs Piper.
“It’s okay, sweetie. Everything’s okay. I should have protected you. It’s not your mother’s fault.”
“She’s not Piper’s mother.”
This time, Logan doesn’t answer. There’s a ring at the front door and he hurries out, followed by another pair of feet—Quill’s. I can hear a third male voice now. It must be the doctor’s.
I don’t understand why I can’t move, or why no one’s paying attention to me. A lump rises in my throat as I try to make sense of the world I’ve just awakened in.
Doesn’t he love me? Why does he ignore me?
What happened to my Aurora?
“No, you’re not staying here.” Logan’s voice drifts back to me through the closed door. “You’re coming with me.”
“Fuck that.”
“You and I have something to settle, Quill. Come on.”
“Papa, please…”
“I’ll be right back, cricket,” says Quill roughly. “He’s not your father. He’s just some fucking bastard. And she’s not your mother either; I’ll be right back.”
“Quill! Stop! Please!” Piper’s voice comes through the closed door. She must have been carried out to the other room.
The door opens again, and I hear the sound of something metallic. “You know I’m going to have to beat the fucking shit out of you,” growls Logan.
“You can always try.”
“I should kill you. But my daughter loves you and for a fucking psychopath, you do take good care of her. But you punched my girl, and I can’t let that go.”
“Well, you’re just gonna have to. I only let you kick me before because I didn’t care. But I’m pissed now. I’m fucking pissed.”
“You punched Lia,” repeats Logan, “and if you think…”
“I don’t have a problem with you. I will shoot you if you stand in my way, though. But there’s only one person dying tonight, and that’s the woman who shot Piper.”
There’s a very long pause, and I try to wrap my head around what I’m hearing.
At last, Logan speaks. “Lia didn’t mean…”
A loud sob interrupts them, and I realize it comes from me.
Moments later, I see Logan’s head appear over the bed.
“Baby. You’re awake. How are you doing?”
He smiles gently at me, a smile I can tell is forced. And he doesn’t do a thing to help me up. To free the arms and legs that I can’t seem to move, or lift me up from the hard floor.
“You’re okay,” he murmurs, pulling himself over the bed then crouching beside me. “Everything’s okay.”
“Everything’s not okay,” lashes out Quill, walking around the bed, and then I realize that the barrel of his gun is pointing at me.
Logan quickly grabs me, shielding me with his body. “Go ahead and shoot,” he growls. “You just fucking try it.”
Quill raises his arm, cocking his gun at both of us. I rest my head against Logan’s back, trying to understand what’s going on. By now I can feel the coldness around my wrists and ankles. I know why I can’t move; but I don’t understand the rest.
“I don’t want to do this,” mutters Quill. “But she shot my girl. You’d better move, Logan, or I’ll have to put a bullet in you too.”
“You know very well I’m not going to budge.”
“Yeah.” He pauses a beat. “Yeah, I guess I do. Alright.”
I shake against Logan, my mind thick with fog, trying to understand how my last memories were of Quill and Piper going sightseeing… and now I’m staring down the barrel of his gun, while she…
She’s been shot.
Oh, god, did I shoot her?
Frantically, I try to free myself, but it’s useless. “Did I shoot her, Logan? Did I really shoot her? My own baby?”
“Shh, Lia. It’s okay.”
Quill pauses, his gun still cocked.
“Oh god.” Logan’s words do nothing to stem the wave of terror crushing me. “Please, please tell me she’s okay. Please tell me I didn’t hurt her.”
“You did hurt her,” growls Quill. “That’s why I’m going to shoot.”
“No. No, no, no.” I try to stand up, but Logan holds me to him firmly. “Please tell me I didn’t do that… please, Logan…”
Loud, guttural sobs are ripped from my throat. I try again to struggle out of his grasp, to face Quill alone.
“Please… please tell me she’s okay, Logan…”
“She’s okay.”
“She’s not okay. She’s shot. She’s bleeding. Logan, you’d better step away from Lia, because I’m going to shoot. I swear to god, I’m going to shoot.”
I’m exhausting myself trying to wrestle out of Logan’s grip, but he’s holding me so hard I can barely breathe, and I’m pretty much helpless anyway with my arms and feet firmly tied.
“Do it, Quill,” growls Logan. “Go ahead and do it.”
“Three… two…”
“Quill! No!”
I sag against Logan’s back as Piper erupts into the room, her arm bandaged. She latches onto Quill’s neck, squeezing him to her.
“Please, Quill. Please, don’t shoot. You weren’t going to shoot, were you, Quill?”
At once, he drops the weapon. “Of course not, cricket.”
“Papa, he wasn’t going to hurt you? Please tell me… mama!”
Piper lets go of Quill’s neck to try to run toward me, but Quill grabs her by the middle, holding her to him. “They’re not your parents. We’re leaving.”
“No. Stop that!” She whips around, glaring at him, but he seems entirely unaffected. “You can’t make me leave, Quill.”
“Yes, I can. I can do a lot more than make you leave.”
“You can’t,” she insists, stomping her foot. “Not if I don’t want to! This is the 21st century, Quill, and…”
“And I’m stronger than you.” He lifts her up over his shoulder, then cocks his gun at us again. But I can tell the danger has passed.
“I’ll let you live,” he grunts. “But if you ever go near Piper again…”
“Quill! Stop!” Piper tries desperately to get out of Quill’s grip, but he resolutely ignores her, and her struggles don’t have the least effect on him.
“Quill, they’re my parents, and if you don’t let me down…
if you don’t let me stay with them, I swear, I’ll never forgive you. I’ll be so angry at you…”
“Okay, cricket.” He speaks in a way that’s clearly meant to be soothing. “I understand. I don’t want you to be angry at me, but it’s okay if you are.”
“Quill.” This time, Logan’s the one speaking, as I stare on in a daze, struggling to follow along with everything.
I feel sick to my stomach, but I can’t understand it.
My mind can’t even begin to grasp the situation.
“Quill,” repeats Logan, “you’re going to take my daughter home.
You have my word that we won’t go near Piper again, not as long as Lia isn’t fixed.
But I will fix her. And then I’ll find you, and we’ll… continue what we’ve started.”
He speaks calmly, but I can hear the threat in his voice. So does Piper, and she thrashes again on Quill’s shoulder.
“No, papa. No. Please, he only did what he did to protect me…”
“It’s okay, sweetie. Everything will be fine.”
Quill shakes his head in disbelief. “Yeah, everything will be fine. Just as long as we never see you again.”
Then, ignoring Piper’s protests, he slams the door shut behind him, and moments later, I hear the sound of another door shutting—the front door.
I squeeze my eyes shut.
“I’ve lost her. I’ve lost my daughter…”
“Shh, Lia,” Logan says for what must be the thousandth time. “It’s okay.”
He draws me into his lap, shushing me and rocking me like a baby. But nothing can possibly soothe me. I’ve lost her. I’ve lost my Aurora.
Eighteen years of absence. I thought I’d found her at last… but she’s been ripped from me again.
I bury my head against Logan’s shoulder, even as I try to understand how he can possibly still want me after what I’ve done.
But maybe he doesn’t want me. Maybe he wishes he’d never found me. He knows I’m sick, and I guess he’d feel guilty about deserting a sick person. But he should desert me. In fact, he should have killed me that first day on the cliff. Everything would be easier if he had.
I bury myself against him, desperate words leaving my lips.
“I’ve lost my baby… My Piper… I’ve hurt her, and now, I’ve lost her… Just like I lost her. My daughters. Piper and Jane… Jane and Piper…”
I’m so lost in my grief I don’t notice it at first when Logan stops rocking me. Then he pulls me back and stares at me.
“What did you say?”