Chapter 41
Skye
“Mia!” I whisper-yelled. “My brother, Mia!?”
Mia’s cheeks were bright pink while Willow cackled like a hyena.
I brought my friends back to campus since they had a few errands to run before classes Monday.
Aiden and I agreed to come back later in the evening so we had a little more time with Zephyr.
They were supposed to be in the gym practicing some sparring right now.
“Listen, h-he’s different, okay?” Her hands shook as she watered some plants in the windowsill.
I laughed so hard I almost fell off their hot pink, Alaskan king bed.
“What?!” She ran her hands through her hair a little shakily. “He is! He’s so sweet and attentive a-and passionate–”
I fake-gagged even as I was glad to hear they had a good time.
“I thought you hated men!” I exclaimed.
“I do,” Mia said defensively. “I mean…I don’t hate men. Zephyr’s different, okay!?”
Willow and I howled with more laughter, and Mia grew impossibly pinker.
“Skye, I know he’s your brother, so I won’t give you all the deliciously long details,” Willow said, –I gagged for real and she continued– “but he wasn’t even trying to persuade her. He was just like, that’s cool, you can hangout, and went to town on me.”
I gagged for real again because ew, while Willow rolled around on the bed, barely breathing with laughter.
“Have you even been with a guy before?” I asked Mia.
“Not like him,” she said, then jumped, going pale like she just realized what she’d said.
Even through my nausea, I was happy for them. Zephyr had been interested in them before we even knew the connection to Wyatt, and Willow and Mia had both reacted positively to the image of Zephyr.
A thought struck me suddenly.
“Do you think–”
“No,” Willow said, taking big gulp of air. She sat up straighter, looking a little sad. “So, so bad I wished he was a Link, but…I didn’t feel anything. No connection.”
Mia nodded, her expression also a little pained.
“I don’t care, though.” Willow said brightly, her mood changing like a flip had switched. “Skye, get used to me. I’m never leaving that man alone. Especially not now that Mia likes him, too!”
Mia’s cheeks turned pink again. “Will,” she admonished softly.
“Now,” Willow said dreamily. “We just need to get Dani tested and we can be one big happy family Chain.”
“Dani?” I asked. I knew Willow had liked her, but I didn’t realize it was like that.
“Yeah,” Mia said shyly. “We’ve been…talking to her a lot. She’s um…stayed here a few times.”
I blinked several times.
Crazy. This was crazy.
Idiotic as Wyatt could be, I was happy to be connected to Willow and Mia through him. But now? If Zephyr was going to be a part of Willow’s Chain?
“I miss both of you,” I said suddenly. “I just realized I don’t know anything about your lives anymore now that we don’t live together.”
“Oh, Skyes!” Willow frowned. “We need to hang out more. If you didn’t have so many hunks of man surrounding you, I’d have you sleeping over all the time!”
Mia said something to Willow, probably admonishing her for the hunks of man comment, but phone buzzed again, and as I finally glanced down to see several messages from Aiden, my blood ran cold.
Aiden
Come home, baby
Everyone’s okay but something happened
I’m sorry I’m bothering you but its Wyatt
“You’re fucking joking,” I seethed.
I stared at my brother, standing in front of me with his arms crossed over his chest, his chin set defiantly as he stared down at me.
I’d gone from being so happy for and proud of him when talking to Willow and Mia, to now being so fuming mad, I didn’t know what to do with myself. My hair was floating, and I’d smacked Zephyr pretty hard when he’d jokingly tried to smooth it down.
We’d never been in a standoff like this before. I’d been annoyed with him, sure, but I’d never been quite so fucking furious as I was now.
“I’m not apologizing, he had it coming.” Zephyr said with a scowl. “We’re even, now.”
“Even?!” I hissed. “My honor is only worth a broken femur to you?!”
Zephyr’s eyes widened in disbelief. “No, of course not. But his immense pain and suffering is. He’s a dick to you, me, Willow and Mia, Levi–”
“Levi?!”
Zephyr pursed his lips, and my neck grew hot. “I’m not healing him.”
“What?!” My voice was high and shrill, sudden and loud enough that it startled me. My hands twitched toward my ears before I balled them into fists and dropped them to my sides.
Zephyr’s glare softened slightly, and he breathed out slowly. “He tried implying I wasn’t good enough for Willow, as if he knows anything about her anymore. I’m sorry I hurt you, but I’m not sorry I hurt him. He needed to be cut down a notch.”
I shook my head, tears welling in my eyes, not understanding what he said at all. Who told Wyatt about Zephyr and Willow? How did Zephyr know so much about Willow already? How had this little sparring match spiraled so badly?
“Heal him, Zephyr.”
“No,” Zephyr said firmly.
“Zeph,” my voice shook and I dropped my face to my hands. “Please.”
“He can heal himself, or do it the old fashioned way. I’m not doing it.” Zephyr said, turning on his heel and storming away.
“Zephyr!” I shouted after him. “Come on!”
“No,” he called firmly.
“Willow will be–”
He cut me off. “No she won’t!”
“Fuck,” I whined, roughly rubbing the tears from my eyes.
“Skye?”
I sniffled, then turned to face my other two Links.
Aiden looked scared, which I needed to address immediately, because there was no way he had anything to fear from me, but Rafe looked guilty.
“You,” I said.
Rafe’s eyebrows hit his hairline. “Me?”
“You have some explaining to do,” I said, then I turned to Aiden.
“Baby,” he started.
“What happened?!” I cried, throwing myself into his chest.
“Baby, I’m so sorry. We were sparring, they started talking shit, they wanted to fight, I-I didn’t know what to do.” Aiden babbled even as he held me, and Rafe was nervously chewing his lip like he was actually afraid of what I was going to do to him.
Skye, I’m sorry. Please don’t be mad, Aiden sounded even more frightened through our minds.
I cupped his face. This isn’t your fault. It’s okay.
Aiden breathed a sigh of relief as he buried his face in my neck.
I didn’t like how scared he was.
“Is Zephyr coming back?” Rafe asked carefully.
I shook my head from around Aiden. “He’s not going to heal him.”
Rafe snorted. “Okay. Well we can take him to the Palace, the Healers there will look at him.”
“He can’t do it himself?” Aiden asked as he pulled back.
“Not unconnected,” Rafe said quietly. “That’s a thick bone to heal on his own. He’d probably use too much of his energy and risk Exhaust.”
Aiden’s eyes widened.
“Fucking hell,” Rafe muttered, staring at his phone. “Raaz says our best Healer is out.”
“Out? Like for dinner?” I sneered.
Rafe’s eyes flashed as he looked back up at me. “Out, as in, she’s busy Healing survivors of a tsunami off the coast of Alaska.”
I bit my lip. “Oh.”
Zephyr had mentioned the wave to me. The Healer was still there? How many people had been injured?
Rafe nodded tightly. “Hugo had texted about it, I just ignore all his texts so I hadn’t seen it.” He blew out a breath, then ran his hands through his hair.
“Is that all that’s bothering you?” I asked, taking a step forward.
Rafe looked at Aiden for a second, then back at me.
“I’m upset about Wyatt.”
“Obviously.” I took another step toward him. “That’s all?”
Aiden gave us his back, watching Wyatt through the exam window. Wyatt was currently arguing with the nurse at his bedside, refusing some sort of medication she was trying to give him. Stubborn ass.
“I need to be there,” Rafe nearly whispered.
“But…I need to be here, too.” I raised my eyebrows.
That was an unexpected response, but I could tell he was serious.
He’d never participated in Royal duties before, but something had been changing in him since the attack.
There was a growing sense of responsibility in him, for both his new job and our budding Chain.
“Then let’s go,” I said.
Aiden whipped around to face us. “Go? What, like now?”
“Not now,” I replied. “Let’s get Wyatt’s stubborn ass fixed and then we’ll go. All of us.”
Rafe’s expression changed into something I’d never seen from him before. He moved toward me, cupping my face in his hands, and I suddenly felt really small.
“You are a breath of fresh air,” he murmured. “I hope one day I will be worthy of you.”
I only blinked, a little dumbstruck.
“Zephyr, too?” Aiden asked, ignoring the life-altering moment. “He’s a Healer.”
“He’s extremely untrained,” I replied breathily. Rafe’s gaze dropped to my lips. “And that’s not to mention he and Wyatt are sworn enemies now.”
Fucking fuck, I still couldn’t believe Zephyr had hooked up with Willow and Mia and then taunted Wyatt about it.
Actually…that was perfectly on brand for my brother. Of course he was going to taunt Wyatt about it.
I knew my brother, so I knew he hadn’t gone after Willow with the intention of hurting Wyatt, and that was the only reason I hadn’t kicked his ass for the taunt.
Zephyr had been attracted to Willow and Mia from the first time I’d shown them to him, before either of us knew of their connection to Wyatt, back when he was still just my mystery asshole from the café.
Things had changed so much.
“I actually think they’ll be over themselves pretty soon,” Rafe offered, his gaze still on my lips.
He kissed me suddenly, in that passionate way of his that always caught me off guard. I melted against him, and then he gently pressed me back against the wall before pulling back.
“They’re both being stubborn, and it may not make sense to you, but Wyatt will respect Zephyr for actually hurting him and then refusing to heal him.
” Rafe said, and it took way too long for my brain to catch up with the fact that he was continuing our conversation as if he hadn’t just set my skin on fire.