Chapter 10 Aiden
Aiden
I woke up knowing something was wrong.
Anxiety washed through me, though I could feel it wasn’t mine. I’d gotten used to the little sparks of emotion that came from Skye. She was always resting at some level of anxiety that I probably needed to talk to her about, but right now? This was an overload.
My arms were already glowing, my body reacting to the palpable tension in the room before I was even fully conscious. My gaze fell to Skye as my eyes adjusted to the darkness. She was up and out of bed, standing close to the door, head tilted as if she were listening for something.
“Baby?” I barely breathed. Her silver eyes flashed toward me.
Someone’s in the apartment, Skye replied into my mind.
Fuck.
I jumped to my feet. Skye grabbed a t-shirt from the floor, pulling it over her head quickly before moving back to the door. I pulled on a pair of sweatpants from the laundry basket of clean clothes Zephyr had given me.
My arms lit up some of the dark room, though I didn’t feel the usual static rolling down my body. Skye eyed my arms for a moment.
You’re not going to blow up my house, are you?
I grinned. I don’t even know what the affinity is. I can’t use it accidentally.
I’m sure you’d find a way, Skye replied dryly, then pulled open the bedroom door. She disappeared into the hall like a ghost, completely fearless. I scrambled after her, like a puppy nipping at her heels.
I had a moment of slight panic, wondering what the fuck we were walking into while feeling a little afraid I was about to watch Skye kill someone again.
A little afraid and…a little turned on?
There had to be an actual, licensed therapist on this island. I was going to find them and see them before returning to school.
Although…would I be returning to school? Mother thought I was dead. It’d be easy enough for me to disappear into hiding, especially after the attack. There were probably dozens of missing students. My mom couldn’t have planned her attack on me any better.
My feet faltered.
The plan was a little too perfect, even for Lucille Brandt.
She knew something. She’d been involved, somehow.
That, and the fact that Skye’s father had not only known my parents, but was insistent that my mother wasn’t Key to the family Chain?
Something was wrong. If Skye wasn’t here, I’d be spiraling.
You okay? Skye asked, pausing in front of me since she’d sensed my momentary freak out.
It can wait, I replied. Skye looked me over quickly, then nodded.
This was something I needed to think about on a deeper level later, when I wasn’t about to confront a threat.
We turned the corner, and Skye stopped so abruptly that I almost barreled over her.
She quickly shifted so that she stood in front of me protectively, which was so fucking cute my heart could have burst, and then I saw who was here, and my shoulders dropped.
In…relief? Disappointment? I wasn’t immediately sure.
“What the fuck are you doing here?” Skye said at full volume, her voice shattering the quiet of the night and startling both Rafe and Wyatt.
Both men jumped, Wyatt more than Rafe, and they spun around to face us.
They stood in the living room, Rafe close to the coffee table like he’d been reaching for the book Skye had been reading before bed, with Wyatt closer to the kitchen door.
It was a good thing they hadn’t made it further down the hall toward the utility room.
Wyatt opened his mouth to speak, and then his jaw snapped closed as he went rigid. Rafe froze in place as well, though he looked less shocked than Wyatt. Their eyes darted back and forth frantically, and I almost laughed when I realized Skye was the one holding them still.
“I didn’t know you could do that,” I said as I tightened the string on Zephyr’s sweats around my waist. His frame was bulkier than mine, though we were matched in height.
“You should have seen my mom’s face the first time I did it to Zephyr,” Skye replied.
“We could have a lot of fun with that,” I said lightly, knowing the comment would ruffle Skye’s feathers a bit, and maybe piss off the other men.
It worked.
Well, on Wyatt at least. Even while frozen, his jaw ticked.
A jolt of excitement went through me as his hazel eyes zeroed in on Skye, taking in my t-shirt she was wearing, her bare legs and–
Oh, shit. Her bare legs.
I leaned forward and tugged on the hem of my t-shirt Skye wore, trying and failing to hide a little more of her skin from my Link-mates, who were now both staring hungrily at Skye’s legs.
Seeing the dark look on Wyatt’s face had me acting stupid. After pulling the hem down further, I ran my hand over the back of her thigh, barely dipping between her legs for just a second before moving away.
Skye tensed, then slowly turned her head toward me, giving me a look of are you fucking serious?
I grinned. If I was a dog, my tongue would be lolling while I panted. That’s how I felt, anyway.
The look Skye gave me was hard to read. Her eyes slid down my body again, and I felt a little like…prey? I shivered.
“What the fuck is going on?” Zephyr’s voice was deep from sleep as it echoed down the hallway. Skye and I blinked and the strange moment between us was gone. She looked past me to her brother, then turned back to her other Links, still frozen.
“Intruders,” I explained.
Zephyr was not alarmed in the slightest, a testament to how deeply he trusted his sister and her affinity.
He sleepily stumbled into the hall opening, wearing only a t-shirt with some sleep shorts, and his hair tucked under a bright blue silk bonnet.
He ran a hand down his face and then froze when his eyes landed on Wyatt and Rafe.
Wyatt blinked several times at the sight of him, and Rafe’s only seemed to widen.
“Oh, fuck me,” Zephyr grumbled. “What the hell is this douchebag doing here?”
I wasn’t sure which man he was referring to. It could have been either of them.
Although…Skye and Rafe had interacted just fine before the attack at the academy. I’d even seen her blush a few times when he grinned at her, so maybe it wasn’t Rafe. The Prince was a good looking dude, though. I’d probably blush if he grinned at me, too.
I looked to the Prince for a moment, freezing when I noticed his dark eyes on me. They dragged down my body once, then snapped back to my face, where I just knew my fucking cheeks were flaming.
“Can they talk?” I croaked, desperate to get the attention off of me.
“Rafe can,” Skye replied.
Rafe rolled his neck suddenly, though the rest of his body remained locked in place. His face broke into a beaming smile. “Skye,” he said brightly. “You look absolutely breathtaking. Is that your favorite band?”
Zephyr snorted next to me. Skye blinked at Rafe before glancing down at my t-shirt she wore. I almost laughed. She didn’t know that band at all, she’d just pulled the shirt on so she didn’t run out into the hall naked.
That thought sent a jolt of anxiety through me, and I pulled at the hem of the shirt again.
Fucking hell, she didn’t have panties on.
Neither of these losers deserved to catch a flash of her if she made the wrong move.
Skye ignored my fussing, then crossed her arms, which only pulled the shirt up higher along her legs.
“Did you seriously break in?” she asked them. “Why didn’t you just knock on the door?”
Rafe blew out a breath. “I know it looks bad, but I need you to know this was Wyatt’s idea.”
Wyatt tried his best to shoot Rafe an angry glare. Zephyr chuckled while Skye sighed.
“So you just follow Wyatt everywhere?” Skye asked. “If he jumped off a bridge, you would, too?”
“Obviously,” Rafe replied without missing a beat. “Someone has to save his dumbass.”
Zephyr chuckled again, and even my lips twitched slightly. Skye remained stoic.
“He’s kind of funny,” Zephyr said. He narrowed his eyes at the clock, then sighed. “I guess I should just get started early.”
Skye wrinkled her nose. “Can I go back to bed?”
“Were you doing much sleeping?” Zephyr fired back, eyeing us suspiciously. My stomach dipped slightly, but then I caught the twitching of his lips and I fought back a grin.
“You mean in the last hour, or…?”
Zephyr made a fake-gagging sound and I laughed.
“We were actually sleeping,” Skye said dryly.
Rafe and Wyatt were silent, making eye contact that seemed to convey a lot without words.
“I guess we’d better just get ready,” Skye muttered.
“I’ll do breakfast if you do the café,” Zephyr said, giving Skye a pointed look.
“What do we do with them?” I asked, nodding toward the intruders.
“I’d be happy to help with either breakfast or the café,” Rafe said, his voice bright. He grinned at Skye. “I know you’re an equal parts sweet and savory type of girl for breakfast.”
Skye stared at him with wide eyes.
“Do I have to kick both their asses?” Zephyr asked, confused.
Wyatt’s eyes flared in challenge, and I snickered.
“Shut up, Zephyr.” Skye groaned.
“Zephyr? Pleasure to meet you,” Rafe drawled. “I’d shake your hand if I was allowed. I’m Rafe, known by my official title–”
“I know who you are,” Zephyr said as he rubbed his eyes.
“Well, thank you for allowing me to continue living even after I broke into your home,” Rafe continued smoothly, ignoring the lack of deference.
“Anyway, I’m sure you’re aware that Skye is my Key and Aiden my Link-mate, and as such, I needed to see for myself that they were safe and unharmed after what happened at the academy. ”
“Don’t pretend you give a shit about me,” I snorted.
“I don’t have to pretend,” Rafe replied without hesitation, his brow furrowing like I’d said something crazy. “I give a lot of shits about you.”
I swallowed thickly as Skye’s hand rubbed down my back soothingly.
“What do you want?” Skye asked quietly.
“I wanted to make sure you were both okay,” Rafe said, lowering his voice slightly. “I feel like there’s some things we need to talk about. We’re all in this Chain together, like it or not, and the rejection–”