“Whoa,” Ben says, holding his hands up at the door, his eyes going wide when he sees the vicious expressions on his friends’ faces. “Guys, calm down. Obviously, you know I’m not going to hurt her.”With a concentrated effort, Rafe reels in his protective instinct and swallows. “I’m sorry,” he says t
“I’ll get the kitchen to send the strawberry ice cream she likes,” Ben murmurs, feeling utterly useless but thinking that it’s better than nothing. He strides for the dumbwaiter.Rafe doesn’t follow. Instead, he just collects the gauze that Jesse dropped and continues dabbing at the wound on Ariel’s
“Yeah,” Luca snarls, coughing and glaring up at Jacks, his words wheezing out under the pressure of Jackson’s weight pressed tight against his chest. “I marked her – but she’s your fucking mate, you asshole. Yours! She fucking picked you, Jacks! So go and get your fucking girl and leave me the hell
“Ari! Ari Clark!” Ella hisses from inside the helicopter.“Cadet Ari Clark!” Cora says, lifting her chin and regally pretending the mistake didn’t happen. “Appear immediately! With, um, my kid! Jesse! And my other nephew! Rafe!”“Wh-what?” the staff member says, staring at her, baffled.“Oh, will yo
I’m honestly not aware of much as we fly to…wherever the hell we’re going. I mostly just concentrate on my mom’s warm presence at my side, and the soft murmuring things she says to me, even if I don’t know what they mean. Still, something about them dulls the gnawing ache in my heart.An ache which
“Oh, you keep it,” she says, holding up a hand. “It’s good to see you drink something.”I nod and look around for a minute, continuing to sip from the cup. “Where is Mittens?” I whisper, intuiting that he’s a secret.“He’s been hiding,” Daphne says, unable to keep the little smile from her lips as s
Mom’s confidence boosts me, even though it is hard to even think about what happened.“I’m not sure I’m okay,” I say, dropping my head to look down at my glass of wine. “I’m not sure I’ll ever be…who I was. Or I’ll never not…want things to be different.” My hand drifts higher now, my palm cupping th
As if he knows we’re talking about him – and, considering his attention-loving source of existence, that’s probably true – Mittens climbs up over the back of the couch, meowing and parading back and forth with his tail high.Mom and Cora’s mouths drop open as they stare first at the shadow cat, and