SUGAR HIGH
"I feel like a glitter cloud," I announced proudly.
The boys just stared at me.
Lucien caught me by the waist again when I nearly tripped over absolutely nothing. "Sweetheart," he said gently, "you're going to float right off the floor if you keep spinning like that."
"I'm not spinning!" I insisted.
"You just did three pirouettes and tried to kiss the banister," Caeden muttered, pinching the bridge of his nose.
"It looked sad!" I argued. "Like it needed love!"
Theron snorted. "Oh, she's gone. She's full sparkles and no thoughts right now, isn't she?"
"Rude," I mumbled, pointing a wobbly finger at him.
Evander crouched in front of me, titling his head like a wolf circling prey. "D'you even know how pretty you look right now, little thing? All flushed and soft and dizzy like this?"
"I look sparkly," I declared.
He grinned. "You look fuckable."
I gasped, scandalized. "Evander! You can't say 'fuckable' in the hallway!"
Lucien just chuckled darkly behind me, and I felt his hand tighten on my waist.
"Language, baby girl," he murmured.
I blinked up at him, swaying a little. "But he said it first—"
"Now you're tattling?" Theron drawled. "You really are a bratty little doll today."
"I'm not bratty!" I pouted. "I'm soft!"
"You're both," Lysander said under his breath, stepping in just close enough to trail his fingers along my arm. "That's the problem."
"I don't want to be a problem," I whispered. My voice wobbled. The room wasn't spinning anymore. It was tilting. My eyes were too hot. My chest too full. I didn't like this part.
"Lani?" Aeryn's voice was suddenly softer. "Come here."
I didn't even fight it when he pulled me into his arms, scooping me up like I weighed nothing. "I think I'm gonna cry," I admitted, burying my face against his chest.
"It's just the comedown, little one," he murmured, running his fingers through my hair. "It's alright. You're safe."
Lucien pressed a hand to my back. "You had your fun. Now we take care of you."
"I don't feel sparkly anymore," I sniffled.
"No," Theron said, brushing a kiss against my temple. "Now you're just our baby again."
"Do I still look pretty?"
"You always do," Evander said roughly. "Even when you're a fucked-up little mess."
Lysander brushed my hair off my face. "Especially then."
They brought me to the bathroom like I was something precious. Lucien carried me, and the others followed. I couldn't stop snuggling into his chest. It smelled like pine and old magic and something darker underneath—something that felt like home.
"I can walk, y'know," I mumbled sleepily, even though I didn't mean it.
"No, you can't," Lucien said firmly.
"Yes I can," I argued into his collarbone.
"You just tried to kiss a banister," Caeden deadpanned again from behind us.
I huffed but stayed right where I was, limbs limp, eyes fluttering open only when the bathroom door closed behind us and the warm scent of lavender reached my nose.
Theron already had the water running. He was shirtless—why was he shirtless?—and crouched beside the tub, his tattooed hand swirling through the steamy water like it was an ancient ritual.
"She likes it warm," he murmured without looking up. "Not too hot. She gets dizzy."
"You've been paying attention," Aeryn murmured.
"I always pay attention," Theron said, his tone smug.
Lucien set me down on the velvet stool beside the tub and started undoing the buttons of my dress. "Hands up, little one."
I blinked at him. "Are we gonna fight?"
"No, baby girl," he said with a low laugh. "We're going to bathe you. Now be good."
My cheeks burned, but my arms lifted like they had a mind of their own. My dress slid down my body in soft layers. Caeden draped a plush towel around my shoulders, and Evander bent to press a kiss to my bare shoulder.
"Still so soft," he muttered. "Even when you're stoned and needy."
"Still yours," I whispered before I could think. I clapped a hand over my mouth.
Every one of them froze.
Theron's eyes went black. "Say that again."
I shook my head. "I didn't mean to say that."
"You did," Lucien said gently, but his voice was low and tight. "And we heard you."
"I don't wanna talk about it," I mumbled.
"Okay," he said, kissing the top of my head. "We don't have to talk. We'll take care of you."
·
The bath was warm and slow and dreamlike.
They didn't leave. They didn't let me do anything on my own, either.
Lucien held me upright, pressed to his chest in the water.
Aeryn washed my hair in slow strokes, his fingers massaging my scalp with reverence.
Caeden trailed a soap cloth down my arms, my back, my thighs.
I was too sleep to be embarrassed. Too calm.
Every time I whimpered or sighed, one of them praised me softly.
"Good girl."
"Sweet little thing. Just let go."
"That's it, baby. Let us handle everything."
I felt like a doll—cleaned, dried, carried.
They dried me in soft towels and rubbed lotion into my skin like it was a ritual. My body tingled, not just from touch but from something deeper. Something shifting under my skin. I didn't say anything.
I didn't have to.
·
Lucien tucked me into bed in his room—no one even asked me whose room I wanted tonight. The others lingered, brushing hair from my face, kissing my forehead, whispering things I couldn't hold on to. Eventually, only Aeryn and Theron stayed behind.
"Want company?" Aeryn murmured, tucking the blankets around me.
I nodded. "Can you... lie with me? Just for a minute?"
He slid into the bed beside me without hesitation, one hand curling protectively around my waist.
Theron knelt beside the bed, brushing his knuckles along my cheek. "Want Daddy to stay too?"
I flushed. I nodded again.
"Then scoot, princess."
He climbed in behind me, sandwiching me between them, and everything inside me went still.
"M sleepy," I whispered.
"I know, baby girl," Theron murmured against my head. "Go ahead."
I floated again.
But this time, it wasn't smoke or laughter. It was power.
It hummed in my chest like music. My skin buzzed. My fingertips glowed faintly with silvery shimmer. My hair... shifted. Flowed.
I felt Theron stir beside me. Aeryn sat up sharply.
"...Lani?"
The air in the room shimmered—just for a moment. The magic in me pulsed once, twice, and then settled like it was listening.
And in the hallways.
Something moved.
Something watched.
But when Aeryn opened the door, the corridor was empty.
·