Chapter 30 Thayla
Thayla
My gasp rips free from my throat and I fling myself up. Sheets twist around my legs like restraints, and that’s all the time it takes for hands to latch onto me.
“Easy, little goddess.”
My breath catches. It takes a terrifyingly long heartbeat for my mind to place the familiar voice and for my body to register the touch.
Warm, gentle, firm, and a little rough.
Wait…that’s two different grips.
My head throbs as the realm shifts back to normal and a body crawls in front of me, blocking the sight of the fireplace.
“I—” My voice shakes.
“I know,” he says, tone softening in a way he’d never allow any other to hear. His hand cups my cheek, and his thumb brushes back and forth under my eye. “Look at me.”
Creed.
His blazing white eyes are real. His breath is real. Kyzen’s arm wrapping around my waist from behind me is real.
Their bodies. Familiar scents. Our living room bed.
No ropes of power. No platform. No green eyes.
“It was just a dream,” I breathe.
“Just a dream,” Creed confirms.
He nods as I continue to take deep breaths and my hands rub Kyzen’s forearm. My way of chasing some stability.
When did he come to bed?
Gods, my head is pounding.
“Lie back down and let’s go back to sleep.”
“No.” My bark is immediate and I flinch from the high pitch. “Sorry. My head is pounding. I just need to get some water.”
“I’ll get it and get some coffee going, gorgeous,” Kyzen says as he lays a kiss on my neck and pushes himself up.
“Go back to sleep. I didn’t mean to wake you,” I whisper to Creed when Amick twitches from the other side of where he was lying.
“I’m up now.”
My shoulders droop, and I lean into his palm.
“I’m sorry.”
His fingers slide into my hair until they’re cupping the back of my head. With one tug, I crash into his chest and his other arm wraps around my lower back.
His lips lock to mine quicker than I can take a breath.
I tense. Then melt.
My fingers splay out across his bare chest, and the heat of his skin intensifies the warmth spreading through my blood from his kiss.
His soul sends a soothing sensation down mine that has me inching as close to him as I can.
“Don’t ever apologize to me for something you can’t control,” he murmurs against my lips.
“It’s common courtesy.”
“I don’t want your common courtesy. I want you to know and understand that I’d rather wake up and comfort you after a nightmare than you deal with it on your own.”
I swallow as he pulls back and stares through my damn soul.
Gods, he’s so aggressive with his affection.
It’s so sweet.
“Thank you.”
He grumbles. “Don’t thank me either.”
“Let me say whatever the hell I want to say. How about that?”
My lips twitch at the small smirk that crosses his. I swear nothing in the realm makes this man happier than seeing me get riled up. He does it on purpose, and I’m pretty sure I feed into it on purpose as well.
A loud snore has me tackling him to the mattress. I’m not sure if I was trying to use my body as a shield for him or run his ass over to get out of harm’s way.
His strong grip holds me, protective in its own nature, and his chuckle, I think, is directed at me and Riven’s ass.
“I can’t believe he’s sleeping all peacefully after what he did.”
I shake my still throbbing head as I climb out of Creed’s lap and offer him my hand when I stand. He slowly drags his sneer from the noises continuing to come out of his brother.
“Well, I slipped him some sleeping powder, so he’ll be out for a while.”
I yank my arm back as soon as his fingers graze my palm.
“What the fuck is wrong with you two? It’s not normal to just drug people.”
“Maybe not normal, but sometimes a necessity, Mysenta.”
I grimace as Amick sits up, tosses the covers off him, and rolls his shoulders out.
“I didn’t mean to wake you up as well.”
“You didn’t. The dying oxid over there did.”
I stifle my snort, but my gaze whips to Kyzen’s chuckle.
“I was wondering how he was already asleep by the time I got home.”
A playful smile crosses his face as he grips the back of the couch and nods at Creed.
There’s something wrong with all of them.
They’re far too nonchalant about drugging people.
I stumble my way off our mattresses and squint my eyes against the kitchen light. Although it’s dim, it causes the thumping in my head to intensify and a wave of dizziness crashes through me.
“Shit. I need to sit down.”
My warning leaves my lips while I’m already lowering myself to the floor. I tilt my head back against the cabinet and breathe through the onslaught.
“What’s wrong?” Amick asks as he, Kyzen, and Creed kneel in front of me.
I graciously accept the glass of water Kyzen passes me and take a few slow sips. The burst of cold across my tongue soothes my dry mouth but not this raging headache.
“I had a nightmare. I think I may have jerked myself out of it too quickly. My head is pounding and I’m dizzy.”
“You were tossing and turning a good bit,” Kyzen says with a tight smile as I hand him my glass back.
“I’m sure I was.”
“What was it about?”
“Amick,” Creed and Kyzen both scold.
“No, it’s okay. I…”
I take a deep breath and let my eyes drift shut.
“I’m not exactly sure how to explain it. It was like two bad situations collided and merged into one.”
My fingers tangle into the hem of my shirt. None of them rush me. I don’t have to open my eyes to know their gazes stay steady on me.
I feel it.
“When we were in Seductions and Sab—she—had me wrapped in her power, she kept spouting off a crazy, half-assed plan for me. I swear she lost clarity because her mind was moving faster than her mouth. One second, she was saying she was going to keep me, train me, and your father was going to share me with her. Then the next, she was planning to give me to someone.”
“You didn’t tell us about this before. Who?” Creed’s low question sends chill bumps down my legs.
“Stop. Let her finish,” Kyzen says far more calmly than his brother. “Go ahead, Thayla.”
My head slowly shifts back and forth.
“I don’t know who anyway. That’s when…Mellcom tackled her. It happened the same way in my nightmare. Except they didn’t disappear in a starshoot. They both stood up and looked at me. Then it was…”
A heavy breath tumbles out of my mouth, and I rub my hand down my face. My throat burns with the desire to keep talking and to stop.
“It was just him. We stared at one another. Then it switched again to their eyes swirling around me. No matter where I turned, their eyes followed me. I realize now, in that room, I was bouncing from fear to trauma to fear. It was one thing after another then another.”
I force my eyes to blink open.
Creed does not a thing to hide his fury and Kyzen’s attempting to but failing. Amick’s a mix of contemplative and murderous.
My hand reaches for my cup, and I notice the tremors passing through Kyzen as he gives it to me, but I don’t draw any attention to it. My sigh causes the water to ripple, then I inhale heavily.
“I guess tonight my mind decided to throw them both at me in my sleep. I do fear her. I fear the bizarre shit she wanted to do with me. And…it isn’t fear I still feel toward Mellcom, but he definitely haunts me.”
The pounding in my temples fades the longer the silence stretches on. It isn’t a weird or tense kind of quiet, though. I’m pretty sure they know I’m just trying to fight off the nightmare and nausea. I know for a fact they’re attempting to combat their fury before speaking.
I’m not the least bit shocked when it’s Kyzen who clears his throat first.
“I—we—need to be honest with you about something, Thayla.”
My head slumps to the side and I grunt.
“I don’t like the sound of that.”
“It’s not bad. Well, it is but isn’t.” He tightens his lips and peers at his brothers.
They look a little confused, so he resorts to rolling his eyes and focusing back on me.
“When you were locked in that room, we shared with each other everything we know of that’s happened to you.”
“Why…oh. You all were trying to prepare yourselves for what I might go through.” He nods and I glance up at the ceiling.
My harsh breath echoes around us.
I honestly can’t imagine what it felt like for them in those hours. When Riven was gone, I kept creating scenarios based on my assumptions and ability to create some fucked-up shit in my mind.
They…gods, they had already gone through it, so they knew what was going to happen to me once they shared my past with each other.
I don’t know which would’ve been harder for me in their shoes.
Fabricating or knowing.
“I can’t tell if you’re upset with us or not,” Amick says and I grin at Kyzen’s scolding whisper.
“She isn’t upset. She’s relieved.”
“Stay out of my soul, you nosy ass.”
Creed shrugs when his brothers glare at him. “Am I wrong?”
“No,” I huff.
“I was always going to be honest with you about that, but I brought it up just now because I want you to know, he doesn’t have to haunt you anymore. Him or that other fucker. When you’re ready, you give us the word. Do you understand me, little goddess?”
I’m not sure what’s more intimidatingly sexy.
The fact he said that so gently and without a trace of tremor in his tone or fury in his eye. Or the strength behind the devotion pounding down my soul.
“I understand.”
Valories.
That smile could kill it’s so stunning.
“Do you think you can stand or do you want one of us to move you to a chair?”
“I think I got it, but a hand up would be nice.”
I smirk when all three of them stand and stretch their palms toward me. I’m not choosing who helps, so I hold my hands out and whoever gets there, gets there.
Kyzen, the forever generous, secedes to his brothers and lets them pull me up. I blink a few times and let my blood rush to my feet before I take a step.
Luckily, the dizziness is gone, and I make it to the table all on my own.
The three of them join with mugs of coffee and we all chuckle at the background noise of snores vibrating lightly through the house.
“What time did you get back from Yemi’s? When I fell asleep, you still weren’t back.”