Chapter 15
Chapter Fifteen
Izzy
When Wilder’s eyes flutter closed, fear jolts my heart.
“Wilder?” I demand. I drop the towel into the blood-tinged bowl of water and lean forward over him, my heart racing. “Noah, are you okay?”
He comes to life suddenly, his hands brushing over my waist as his eyes open. His lips graze mine.
It’s the most tentative, tender touch. His gaze is soft, and before I know it, I’m kissing him back. His hands wrap around my hips, and he groans softly under his breath when I shift closer.
I freeze as common sense floods back to me. He’s been beaten half to death.
I pull away. “I thought you were…”
He tries to sit up, but then falls back with a groan, as if he’s in too much pain. He touches the split corner of his mouth absently.
“I’m sorry,” he says. “I fell asleep. Dream. I didn’t mean to…”
He met my gaze a second ago with those gorgeous eyes of his, but now he doesn’t look at me.
“What were you dreaming about?” I study his face. Even bruised and swollen and beaten, he’s magnetic to me; I’m drawn to the angles of his cheekbones, his straight nose, his strong jaw.
“That day we played spin the bottle in Van’s basement.” His voice is hoarse. “Remember that?”
It was the first time I kissed Wilder.
It was one of the last times we were all together, the way we used to be.
“It’s a good memory,” I say, even though pain stabs my chest when I think about how close we were once. That day, laughing hard and trading tentative kisses with my best friends, I never imagined I’d lose them.
“It’s a pretty decent dream too,” he said, and I have a funny feeling that maybe he’s dreamed about that night before.
Before I can ask, Reid and Van burst in. Behind them is the tattooed witch. She’s frowning, and that frown deepens when she sees Wilder.
“They can’t just leave you alone until you know your damn class schedule, can they?” she mutters to herself. She looks to me, then snaps, “Well, if you aren’t going to help him, can you move?”
I start to jump to one side, but Wilder’s hand reaches out and catches my wrist. He gives me a look that I can’t quite read, but I know he doesn’t want me to leave. I smile at him as I gently pull my arm away, then move to the other side of the bed.
“How can I help him?” I ask.
But even though she said that as if she was sure I could help him, she doesn’t answer me. She runs her wrinkled hands over Wilder’s body, and he groans.
“Don’t be such a baby,” she says. She catches one of his hands and draws it up before her gaze. “You broke your knuckles open. Did you hurt them?”
“I had to get away.”
‘I’ll take that as a yes,” she says. “Good.”
“They would’ve killed me.”
“Most don’t want you here,” she says, her tone nonchalant.
How can she be so callous after what they did to Noah? It’s like she expected this to happen and they didn’t even care enough to warn us.
“Why are they doing this?” I explode, my anger rising. First the way they went after Reid and me, now Wilder. “We haven’t done anything to them.”
“Yet,” she adds cryptically.
Yet? What the hell does that mean?
“We don’t want any trouble,” Reid says so sincerely that she has to believe him.
“Ah, but do the gods within you want trouble?” she demands. “Are you strong enough to hold them?”
This time when she runs her hands over Wilder’s body, she mutters to herself, and golden light glows under her fingertips. She stands that way for a long time, running her hands along his body, the golden light moving over his skin.
Some of his bruises lighten and his cuts seem as if they’ve begun to heal together, but maybe it’s just my wishful thinking. When she steps back, she looks exhausted, her eyes sunken as if she’s been up all night.
“I’ve healed the worst of the damage,” she says, her voice weary. “That’s all I can do tonight.”
Yet he still looks like he’s in pain.
“How do I help him?” I ask again.
She gives me a long look. “What am I, your mentor?”
The ice in her tone irritates me. “You are a teacher here, and we are students.”
She smirks, then turns and heads for the door. Over her shoulder, she calls, “I never said I wanted you here myself.”
I throw my hands up in the air in frustration. “And we didn’t ask to be brought here!”
But she doesn’t even hesitate as she strides away down the hall. It’s like everyone here thinks we came here just to make their lives harder.
Wilder moves and another pained sound slips past his lips. My gaze snaps back to him, and some of my anger dies away as it’s replaced by worry. I hate seeing Wilder hurt, but at least now he manages to sit up successfully, leaning against the headboard.
“Are you okay, man?” Van asks. He looks as cold and haughty and perfect as usual, but there’s a flicker of something in his gaze that reminds me of the boy he used to be.
“I’ll be fine,” Wilder promises. He still sounds hoarse, off, but his voice is stronger.
Reid nods to me. “It’s been a long day. You guys mind if we head to bed?”
Wilder shifts and winces. “No use in us all being a mess for school tomorrow.”
Reid claps Van’s shoulder. “All you have to do is call and we’ll be here.”
Wilder gives a pained smile. “I know.”
Then Reid and Van slip out of the room, leaving us behind.
I hesitate. I don’t want to leave Noah on his own. Our rooms are so big and the hall is long; I’m worried that he’ll need something tonight or he’ll be in pain and I won’t hear him. But I’m not sure what to do.
“Do you mind if I sleep on the couch?” I point to the couch in the corner of his room. “In case you need me?”
He meets my gaze evenly. “Yeah, I mind.”
My heart drops. “Okay.”
“It’s a king bed. You can sleep on the other side if you’re going to insist on looking out for me.” There’s a teasing edge in his voice when he says, “Even though it’s more than I deserve.”
“Wilder—”
“We both know it,” he says. He picks up one of the pillows from the other side and throws it at me half-heartedly. I can’t tell if he’s too weak to launch it with his usual athleticism or if he’s having an uncharacteristically uncertain moment. “Thanks for looking after me.”
“Of course.” We might not be friends like we used to be, but the guys and I will always have each other’s backs, won’t we? “I’ll be right back.”
I slip down the hall to my room and brush my teeth and dress for bed.
My heart is beating too quickly, just from the thought of being so close to Wilder all night.
When I glance at myself in the mirror before I leave my room, I’m surprised all over again by my face.
My golden brown curls fall softly around my face, almost reminding me of a halo.
My lashes look longer, thicker, and darker, framing my eyes.
I still look like myself… just a photoshopped, perfected version of myself.
Is it just a side effect of being a god, or something I should worry about?
I study myself in the mirror for a second, but there’s no sign of Loki. Still, I feel uncertain as I turn away from my reflection.
When I come back to Noah’s room, he’s already asleep. Relief floods my chest along with a rise of disappointment. It’s hard to figure out how to act around the guys sometimes.
I don’t know if I can ever trust these men again after losing them as boys.
But when I saw Wilder stumble and fall, one of my walls went down with him.
We only have each other. I want to be there for them.
I turn out the light on the nightstand and slip into the cool, clean-scented sheets next to him. In the quiet of the room, I study his face for a second, then lie down to sleep far on my own side.
When I wake up in the night, I’m warm and cozy. My cheek is pressed against warm skin and hard muscle, and suddenly I wake up all the way with a jolt.
I’m curled up against Wilder. My head is on his shoulder, and his chest rises and falls steadily. The moonlight that seeps in this room through the window lights his handsome face.
I’m scared I’ll hurt him, laying against him like this, even though it feels so good to be close to him. I start to shift away, but his arm catches me, pulling me close to him.
“Where are you going, Iz?” he murmurs, and he sounds half-asleep. “Finally got you right where you belong.”
He falls asleep again right away, but I stay awake.
I can’t stop thinking about what he just said.
No one wants us here, but when I’m close to Wilder, I do feel like I’m where I belong.