Chapter 18 ~ #3
“Drake.” I breathe. He hands it back to me and picks up his coffee, looking uncomfortable.
“It’s gorgeous,” I tell him. “I love it.”
I study the hilt a little more, running my finger absentmindedly over the indentations of the symbols.
Picking it up, I slowly slice the air with it. It’s light but deadly—obviously high quality based on the blade and design.
I gently place it down on the counter and jump down to fling my arms around Drake. He chuckles light, his arms encircling me.
“Thank you, Drake.” I smile into his jacket, the leather and spicy cologne tickling my nose.
Someone behind me clears their throat and I nearly jump out of my own skin.
“Dude, you really need a bell,” I tell Mason who just smirks.
“I got him one for Christmas,” Maverick announces, coming in after Mase. “He wouldn’t wear it.”
“It was a cat collar!” Mase throws his hands up.
I snicker and I see a faint smile on Drake’s otherwise blank face.
The guys file in looking unhappy. It kind of hurts that they seem uncomfortable in their own space.
Drake’s phone beeps and he pulls it from his pocket.
Drake throws back the rest of his coffee and puts the cup in the sink.
“I’ve gotta go, Hellfire.” He chastely kisses my cheek before he looks to the guys—specifically Luc.
“Watch out at the hearing. Hades’ lawyer’s got something up their sleeve. Look after Aurora,” Drake orders.
“Do you know what?” Luc steps forward.
Drake slowly shakes his head. “If I find out…I’ll get it to you.”
Finally looking at Drake with something other than hate, Luc nods. “I’d appreciate it.”
With that out of the way, Drake gives me one last look before he strides out the front door.
“Wait!”
Drake turns back around.
“How can I get in contact with you?” I question.
I don’t like when we don’t talk for a while. I never know if he’s okay or if he has people he can go to. As The Bloodhound—MC royalty—he’s always got someone coming after him. Most of the time it’s just him on his own and I hate that.
“There’s a swirl on the hilt. Push it in hard and it sends a signal to me with your location and I’ll find you. Emergencies only, Hel. It’s too dangerous to contact me right now,” Drake says sadly.
“Be safe,” I tell him seriously.
He salutes me with two fingers, his eyes lingering on me before he opens the door and steps out.
It’s silent as we listen to a bike start up and slowly get quieter as it gets further and further away.
I pick up my knife. I flick it over and my eyes fall on the raised swirl on the hilt. It looks a little like a fire wave. The rest of the symbols are dug into the leather but this one is raised above the hilt.
It’s hard not to just press it and make him come back.
Luc walks over and extends his hand, silently asking to look at the knife. Wordlessly, I hand it over. The guys gather around, peeking over our shoulders to look at it.
Maverick hugs me from behind, resting his chin on my head as he stares down at my knife.
“You okay?” He murmurs as Luc studies the knife more closely.
“Yeah,” I sigh. “I just wish I could help him.”
Luc doesn’t glance up from what he’s doing. “King can take care of himself, Butterfly.”
Irritation prickles at my senses. I take the knife back, burying my disappointment.
Luc looks up at me in surprise but I’m already retracting myself from Maverick’s arms.
I thought of all people Luc would understand. I was wrong.
“Where are you going?” Luc questions when I pass all of them.
“Back to bed.” I throw over my shoulder, unable to mask the clipping tone in my voice.
“Shit, Luc.” Someone grumbles.
“Fuck!” An object is thrown across the room, clattering loudly.
I close my door so I don’t have to listen to their not-so-quiet murmuring. It’s far too early to deal with this bullshit.
Part of me thinks I’m being unfair—they’re only trying to protect me.
The other part thinks that they’re being fucking hypocrites.
Hurt and anger at them not trusting me and not knowing if Drake’s safe has me blinking away frustrated tears as festering emotions get the better of me.
I crawl into bed, dragging the blankets up to my chin. I roll to face the wall, giving the door my back. The knife stays clutched in my hand as tears stream down my face.
Everything with Marcus was just icing on the cake, leading me straight down the road to break down mode.
. . .
Jace ~
I see the moment Rory starts stirring.
She cutely scrunches up her nose, her hand tightens briefly around mine.
Her head’s on my shoulder, my arm curled around her. Her hair’s like a waterfall on the pillow from where I’d been running my fingers through it.
Her body’s pressed up against mine. Our fingers interlocked rest on my chest.
I look up at the ceiling as I wait for Rory to wake up. The guys have stayed mostly quiet, letting Rory catch up on sleep. It was a late night doing assignments, Luc and Alec were going over Luc’s testimony for the case and then Drake pulled us all out of bed before dawn.
Rory’s been run down the last few days. I’m not sure if it’s stress or something else but she’s needed the extra hours of sleep.
It didn’t escape my attention when I came in that she’d been crying. Her eyes were red and puffy like she’d cried herself to sleep.
Fuck, what did Drake tell her?
Or was this because of us?
When I crawled into bed, she’d flinched away from me on her sleep. In the time that we’ve been back together, that hasn’t happened before.
Whatever Drake told Rory is serious.
Luc might not like Drake but even he can’t dispute that The Bloodhound seems to care for our Rory. Not in a romantic way, more like siblings or close friends. And Rory seems to care for him just as much. That’s not a surprise though. Rory always finds the best in people.
“J?” Ro mumbles, her eyes still closed. I smile faintly. Not even properly awake and she knows it’s me.
“Hey, sleepy head.” I brush her cheek with my fingers.
“When’d you get here?” Her words muffle as she presses her face into my shirt.
“Pillow talk—I didn’t know you felt that way about me.” I tease. A small smile graces Ro’s face.
“A little while after you must have fallen asleep,” I tell her.
Her smile slowly fades. She shifts, arching her back as she stretches. She grimaces like she’s uncomfortable.
Rory retracts her hand from mine. I smile as she slides her hand up under my shirt, resting it on my chest.
“S-cold,” she slurs. My grin fades. It’s midday—the morning sun warmed the room hours ago. I was just contemplating turning the fan on.
I rest my hand on her forehead. She’s burning up.
“Ro, are you cold?” I ask her.
She nods, moving closer to me like she needs my body heat. Careful not to gostle her too much, I lean down, my fingers curling around the sheets I’d kicked off hours ago and pull them over her.
“That’s better,” Ro snuggles into me under a sheet and the doona. Shit. I’m no Alec but she must be getting sick.
“Rory, how are you feeling?” I gently rub her back.
It takes her a moment to answer me. “I’m really tired, J. My limbs are all heavy.” She yawns. “It hurts to move them.”
Fuck, that’s not good.
“Okay, Ro. Do you want to go back to sleep?” I say quietly.
If she’s got the flu, the best thing is probably for her to sleep it off. Sleep helps right? Mum always made me sleep when I was sick.
Rory doesn’t answer so I figure she must be out again.
I stretch above my head and fumble around for my phone on the bedhead.
Looking down to make sure I’m not about to wake my girl, I press ring.
“Hey,” I whisper when they answer. “Come to Rory’s room.”
Approximately twenty seconds later, Alec pokes his head in, phone in hand.
I lift one finger to my mouth, telling him to be quiet and I point to sleeping beauty. He frowns and makes his way over.
“She’s still sleeping?” He questions once he’s settled on the other side of her.
“I think she’s sick, dude. She woke up before saying she was cold. She slept this whole time and she said it hurts to move—like her arms and legs were heavy,” I tell him, hoping that it all made sense.
Alec reaches over and feels Rory’s forehead and cheeks.
“That’s the first thing I did, dude. She’s got a temperature.” I can’t hide the worry in my voice.
Alec puts his hand on my shoulder. “J, chill. It’s probably just the flu or some sort of virus. She’ll most likely have hot and cold flushes and it’ll be uncomfortable to move. If need be, we can give her something to keep her comfortable.” He retracts his hand.
“Okay.” I exhale, trying to shake off my worry. “Thanks, bro.”
“The stress of her assignments and then this morning probably weakened her immune system.” Alec looks more like he’s talking to himself than me as he mutters quietly.
He disappears for a bit and comes back with a wet washer, a packet of Nurofen and his laptop.
“I can look after her if you’ve got stuff to do,” he tells me.
I look down at Rory, sleeping soundly on my chest and shake my head. “Nah, it’s fine.”
It’s silent for a while. Alec taps away on his computer while Rory sleeps.
I think about how fucking lucky I am Rory’s back in my life. Not even just mine but how seamlessly she fits into the guys' lives too.
I don’t think she’s realised that regardless of whether she formally accepted our proposal…she’s our girl.
The jury’s still out on whether Alec and Dom can patch things up but there’s no denying that they’re both just as invested in Rory as the rest of us. I really don’t get what their issue is. They very clearly like each other but for some reason, they won’t make it official.
And I know more than anyone that if you don’t show someone how much you care for them…you might not get that chance.
When I finally broke down three years ago and admitted to Rory that I loved her, not just as friends, and found out she felt the same way, I told her we should wait.
I needed to find the right time to tell Declan and explain to him that this wasn’t a spur of the moment thing.
Rory didn’t agree but she let me do it my way.
Then he was gone. Rory was gone. I’d waited too long and I lost them both.
So I drank—trying to blur out the pain and anger at myself. I’d lost my best friends but it didn’t stop me from trying to push away the guys when they came along.
They sparred with me when I was riled up. Hid any booze I managed to get my hands on or poured it down the sink. They pulled me out of fights I started and they never held it against me.
But I did. I do. One day I’ll make it up to them. They don’t deserve the hell I put them through.
“They want to check on her.” Alec breaks me out of my thoughts.
“When she wakes up,” I tell him, quietly. “I don’t want to stress her out.”
Alec’s quiet as he responds to whoever texted him.
“Did she seem upset when you came in?”
I glance up at Alec and see him focused entirely on Rory.
“She was asleep,” I admit. “Her hand curled around that knife like a fucking vice. It looked like she’d been crying.”
“Shit.”
I look up at Alec in surprise. The guy never swears. I’m not sure if it’s just his thing or he doesn’t like doing it but it’s got something to do with his dickhead of a father.
“Mason heard what Drake told her.” Alec shuts his laptop and leans back against the bedhead.
“What?” I ask immediately.
Alec shakes his head. “He wouldn’t tell us. He said Rory will tell us when she’s ready.”
Fuck, my brother’s loyalty is infuriating. I’d forgotten about his super hearing. We have to turn on the tap in the bathroom whenever he’s in the house so he can’t hear you piss. Unlucky dude.
We resume silence. Rory gets hot, kicking off the blankets a few times only to want them back a few minutes later.
Knowing I won’t be able to focus on anything else, I just lay with my girl in my arms.
My girl.
Now that sounds fucking right.