Chapter 7
Aiden
I blinked my eyes open, my head pounding like I’d just gone on a three day bender.
I groaned a gross sound as I covered my face, then rubbed my eyes so hard I could see stars.
“What happened?” I mumbled. My mouth was dry as hell, my body feeling like I’d been hit by a truck.
There was no way I’d been doing drugs again.
Unless–
I jack-knifed up, sucking in a ragged gasp. I tried to clamber off of what appeared to be a loveseat couch I didn’t recognize, which only added to my panic. Shit, where was I?
Suddenly, the fucking Prince was in front of me, pushing me back onto my back.
“Oh, thank God.” I coughed from how hard my heart was pounding. “Holy fuck, I thought I’d just hallucinated my entire relationship with Skye.”
Rafe gaped at me. “Jesus, Aiden. You need a therapist.”
I choked out a laugh, and then choked again in surprise when Rafe pulled me to his chest for a very not-manly hug. I hugged him back, locking my arms around him and…sort of, kind of, maybe snuggling into his shoulder. He might have…sort of, kind of, maybe snuggled back.
“What happened?” I asked shakily. “Where are we?”
“Long story,” Rafe said. “But Wyatt–”
“Aiden!”
Rafe let me go quickly, and I rocked back onto the cushions just as Skye vaulted over the back of the couch, landing on top of me and making the whole thing creak precariously. A cloud of dust went into the air, and Rafe coughed as he scrambled away.
“Fuck, Skyes. What happened?” I breathed her in, the comforting smell of her shampoo calming my racing heart.
Thank fuck, she was real. I hadn’t imagined her. I hadn’t gone on some wild bender and imagined everything we’d been through.
Skye pulled back, cupping my face in her hands. Her silver eyes darted back and forth between mine, and then she spoke. “Zephyr, check him.”
“Sure thing, your majesty.” Zephyr rolled his eyes as he leaned over the back of the couch to look at me. I heard a girlish giggle from somewhere in the room while Rafe glared at our Key’s older brother.
Zephyr looked the same as I remembered, so I couldn’t have been in a coma or something. He placed a hand on my forehead, then shrugged.
“He’s fine. I told you, he was just sleeping.”
“Holmes said the same, darling.” Rafe murmured.
Skye hugged me again, and I blinked at the Prince over her shoulder. Rafe had brought that old Healer here to see me, too? How long had I been out?
“They’re right. She could only knock people out.”
“Is that fucking Lana?” I jumped, then sat up quickly, squeezing Skye to my chest so she didn’t fall, and she squeaked in indignation as I squished her against the cushions so I could glance over the back of the couch.
Yeah. That was Lana Iykos. She’d been the one to giggle at Zephyr.
“What the fuck,” I muttered.
Then, my gaze moved to…
Oh.
Lena Iykos was dead on the floor, looking like a lemon that’d been squeezed too hard. My stomach rolled, and Skye tried to move back, but I tightened my grip on her, my arms trembling slightly.
Lana didn’t seem to care at all that her mother looked like an old tube of toothpaste on the ground, but Zephyr seemed a little worried about the pool of blood. That was probably gonna stain.
It’s been three days, Skye wheezed. We had to wait for Wyatt to…
Wyatt? What happened to Wyatt? I glanced at Rafe. It was odd Wyatt wasn’t here to snark at me. We’d reached a tentative truce, but the smug dick wouldn’t have been able to hold back from saying something shitty to me, especially if I’d just slept through some action.
Rafe grimaced. Wyatt’s also been asleep, but for a different reason.
I coughed again, and Skye jumped, flicking her wrist to bring me a glass of water. I shot a quick glance at Lana, who appeared unsurprised to see Skye’s affinities. Evidently, I’d missed a lot.
“We went to the Iykos Manor to find Lena,” Skye explained. “We stumbled upon Lana, and she’s…” Skye trailed off, giving me a grimace that Lana didn’t see.
“I no longer serve the Crusader,” Lana said proudly, standing tall…even though she was like, five-one. “I’m happy to serve Skye and her Chain, instead.” Her eyes darted to the hall where Zephyr had gone. “And her family.”
Ah. That would be the reason for the grimace.
“We’re in my childhood home,” Skye explained softly. Zephyr emerged from the small kitchen carrying another glass of water and a couple painkillers. I recoiled hard, never wanting to touch another pill again, especially since I’d just nearly had a panic attack.
“I’m good,” I said waving them away. Zephyr thrust the glass of water toward me more forcefully so I would take it, then headed toward what seemed to be a set of stairs.
“Why’d we come here?” I asked.
“I…” Skye swallowed thickly, her eyes darting to Lana.
“Let’s go see Wyatt,” Rafe suggested lowly, following Skye’s gaze.
“Uh…can we trust…” I looked to Lana. Sure, she seemed like she was on our side right now, but Lena was her mother.
Even I’d had a hard time separating from my mother, and she was much worse to me than Lena was to Lana.
At least…that’s what I thought. I’d never actually seen Lena interact with her daughter, she’d always favored Landon even though he’d been a dumbass.
I scratched the back of my neck. It felt weird to insult someone who was dead.
“She’s not going anywhere,” Lana said confidently.
I almost laughed.
“Come on,” Skye murmured. A few shadows helped me to stand, and we made our way over to the stairs, where Rafe was waiting for us.
Upstairs, Skye led us down a short hallway and into a bedroom. It was clearly the owner’s suite, with a large Chain bed in the center of the main wall.
My jaw dropped.
A very bruised Wyatt was laying in the bed.
“Holy fuck,” I breathed. My feet moved me toward him quickly. I even reached out like I was going to…touch him? I don’t know. My brain couldn’t catch up with why he looked so awful. I settled for placing my hand on his ankle.
“I panicked,” Skye explained quickly, like she couldn’t keep the words in any longer, going on to explain how she’d brought Rafe here when he passed out from shock, and then went back for Wyatt.
“The building was coming down,” she rushed out. “I was holding it, I was able to keep three walls off of us. I moved them away, but another fell too quickly, and Wyatt fucking–” She cut off abruptly, glaring down at him with glassy eyes.
“He grabbed you,” I filled in for her. I sighed. “What an idiot.”
“I told him to have some faith in me, and he just…”
“It’s okay, baby. His dumbass is alive and well, right? Or he should be…soon?” I asked, glancing at Rafe.
“Yeah, he’ll be fine. I had to go fetch Holmes from the Palace and my mother almost attacked me.”
My eyes widened.
“Oh,” I said, because that made no sense at all.
“Yep. That’s where we’re at.” Rafe said gravely.
“Wyatt should be waking up in the next day or so,” Skye said, surprisingly tear-free. “And after I kick his ass, we’ll all get on the same page.”
“Are you hungry, Lana? I can make you something.”
I stared into the kitchen, watching Zephyr bounce up and down while he waited for Lana’s reply.
“Oh, um, no. I’m fine, thanks.” Lana’s cheeks were bright red.
Zephyr looked like a lightbulb that’d just dimmed. “Okay. Yeah. Thirsty? Can I make you coffee?”
“I don’t really drink coffee,” Lana started, and Zephyr gasped dramatically.
“You don’t drink coffee?” He gaped at her.
“N-no, it…caffeine messes with my meds, so–”
“That’s the biggest lie I’ve ever heard in my life,” Zephyr cried. “Aiden can you believe that?”
I snorted. “Maybe she’s right. Caffeine was always great for me coming down off a high.”
“Wow, Carrots. You’re the worst wingman ever,” Zephyr said, blinking rapidly.
“Wingman?” Lana and I choked at the same time.
“I’ll make you some decaf, how does that sound?” Zephyr began clattering around in the kitchen, pulling out way too much for a simple cup of coffee. “I used to give it to Skye all the time and she never noticed.”
“What the hell?” Skye’s voice came from the stairs, where she’d just emerged with Rafe.
Lana’s face brightened immediately upon seeing Skye.
“Hey, so…um. Skye. What should I do? Where should I go?” Lana asked, practically twiddling her thumbs.
“Nowhere?” Zephyr answered loudly. “Why would you leave? No one’s sending you away. Skye? You’re not sending her away, right?”
“Zeph, she came with us because her mother was about to sell her to the Crusader for an affinity she doesn’t have.” Skye said flatly, glancing at the giant rust-colored stain in the hardwood. “She can’t hang out here forever.”
He practically pouted. “Why not?”
Skye ignored him. “I could take you back to the academy?”
Lana chewed her lip, then gave Skye a brittle smile. “I don’t know if that’s a good place, either. There’s cult members all over the school, even–” She sucked in a sharp breath, pressing a hand to her temple.
“What happened? Are you okay? Is she okay?” Zephyr came around the kitchen island, looking panicked.
“Aren’t you the Healer?” Rafe muttered. I almost jumped. I hadn’t noticed the Prince in the shadows of the doorway.
“I’m fine,” Lana croaked. “Just a headache. I didn’t take my medicine to the–” She paused, her pale green eyes darting back and forth between us before landing on the stain.
Her expression sharpened, and then she jutted out her chin.
“When I left the compound, I didn’t take my medicine with me. I was in a rush.”
“What medicine? We can get more for you. I’m a Healer, actually, let me see if I can fix it.” Zephyr moved toward Lana with his hand outstretched, only stopping when a shadow grabbed him around the knee. He glared at Rafe. “What?”
Rafe widened his eyes, trying to communicate silently with Zephyr like he did with Wyatt, but of course it didn’t work. Skye was the only person Zephyr could have a freaky eye conversation with.
“You’re acting weird, lay off.” Skye snapped.
“I’m acting weird?” Zephyr touched his palm to his chest. “You’re crazy.”
Lana giggled a bit nervously, and Zephyr shot her a grin.
Skye only stared at them, one of her eyes twitching slightly.
“She can stay at the apartment until things settle down,” Zephyr said. “How does that sound?”
“Zeph,” Skye said in a low voice, a warning.
“Lana?” Zephyr looked to Lana, who blinked several times as her cheeks tinted pink.
“I um…Skye? I don’t know…”
“Skye, come on.”
“Zephyr, lay off!” Rafe snapped suddenly, shocking all of us. He turned to Skye. “Darling, as annoying as he’s being, he brings up a good point. It may be best for her to lay low until we can assess the situation at the academy. If it’s safe there, we can bring her back with us later.”
Skye nodded, her shoulders slowly lowering as she relaxed.
Zephyr still looked shocked he’d let the Prince yell at him, and then he shook his head. “We have an extra room,” he explained to Lana. “I’ll make sure everything is stocked. I run a coffee shop, though, so you’re about to get introduced to caffeine.”
“Zephyr, stop being weird,” Skye groaned.
“Weird? Me?!” Zephyr touched his chest again. “You’re much weirder than me.”
Skye scoffed. “You’re planning a funeral-themed birthday party for yourself next year when you turn thirty.”
Lana stifled a giggle.
“Oh, yeah?” Zephyr raised his eyebrows up and down. “At least I celebrate my birthday. You’re the one who hides it from everyone.”
I furrowed my brow, and Rafe and I made eye contact over Skye’s head.
“Wait a minute,” Rafe barked. “When is your birthday?!”
Skye’s jaw hung open as she looked back and forth between all of us.
“Uh…I…I…”
“She’s a Libra,” Zephyr said with a shitty grin.
“A Libra?!” I gasped. “Wait, we were already together when…oh, my God. Why didn’t you tell me it was your birthday?!”
Rafe was angrily tapping away at his phone, probably trying to figure out how he’d missed Skye’s birthday while stalking her. Come to think of it, why hadn’t Wyatt mentioned a birthday, either?
I pulled Skye into a tight hug. “You’re older than me?!”
Skye didn’t like that. She shoved away from me using a bit of her affinity, thoroughly freaked out by the idea.
“Stop, you’re making me sound old.”
“You’re not old,” Zephyr said with a shitty grin. “Just…older than Aiden.”
Skye moaned miserably, and I tightened my hug with a chuckle.
Rafe appeared beside us, nestling into the group hug with ease while Zephyr went back to babbling to Lana, happy he’d imploded Skye’s day.
“You’re in so much trouble, darling.” Rafe purred.
Skye shivered, and for a moment I thought she’d shove us away. Instead, her arm snaked behind my back, joining us all together. Rafe and I looked at each other for about two seconds, and then he shrugged before lifting his free arm and wrapping it around me. I did the same to him.
“I love you,” Skye whispered. “I don’t know what’s going on, but I love y’all. I need Wyatt to wake up.”
“He will, my love. I promise.” Rafe said, then kissed her hair.