For the first time in ages, I rest peacefully. At least, I do after I ask my dad to stop waking me up and checking to be sure I still want Caleb with me. He relented and allowed me to fall into a deep, happy sleep. With Caleb beside me, I don’t want to move as I slowly wake sometime later, but my bladder protests. I finally drag myself to the bathroom.
When I come back, Caleb sits up in my bed and yawns. “Sleep well?”
“Better than I have in a long time,” I admit with a long stretch.
Caleb’s eyes roam over my body as my arms raise above my head, and my shirt rises. Heat dances in his gaze, and it causes fire to ignite in my belly. The meeting with the gods and goddesses creeps into my thoughts, and I consider talking to Caleb about it now. It’s either talk to him about it or kiss him senseless. It’s a toss-up which idea will win.
Unfortunately, a quiet knock on my door interrupts my plans.
“Yeah?” Caleb calls out, disappointment clear in his expression.
I bite my lip to hide my silent laughter. He didn’t want to be interrupted any more than I did. Cassie strolls through my bedroom door, completely oblivious to Caleb’s pout and my amusement.
“She lives!” Cassie cries dramatically. “How are you, sleeping beauty?”
I roll my eyes at her theatrics. “I’m fine. How long was I asleep?”
Cassie checks her watch and silently calculates. “About twenty-four hours.”
“What?” My eyes pop wide, and I look from Cassie to Caleb. “Why didn’t anyone wake me up?”
“Because you needed the sleep.” Caleb slides off the bed and strides over to me. He takes my hands in his. “You haven’t slept in a long time, baby. You needed rest and a lot of it, especially after what happened with Samael.” He narrows his eyes where Samael hit my cheek. I know he’s staring at the same deep bruise I saw in the mirror when I washed my hands.
I cringe at the reminder of Samael’s visit. I’d happily pushed his little visit from my mind for the moment. “I guess we all have some things to talk about.”
“Mark has been losing his mind all day. He’s taken turns sending us up to check on you. You have no idea how funny it was when you banished him from checking on you. Leanne said it’s likely because he has the subtlety of an elephant. I was sent this time to be sure you’re okay.” Cassie gestures toward her brother. “He doesn’t trust Caleb with you, even though you said you wanted to have him in here.”
“Caleb mentioned that when we talked at the park. He said my dad thinks I’m afraid of Caleb.” My brow creases. Cassie leads the way out of my room with Caleb and me following close behind her. “Why does he think that?”
“Because you told him Caleb hurt you.” Cassie glances at me over her shoulder and arches her brow. “I was there, I heard you say it.”
I freeze in shock. “Caleb never hurt me,” I assure her, my voice high in shock. “I thought my father misheard something else. Are you sure you heard me say it, too? It doesn’t make any sense.”
She shakes her head and sighs. “Let’s talk about this downstairs. Everyone is down there waiting for you to wake up.”
Knowing everyone is gathered, anxiously awaiting my arrival makes me uneasy, but I agree. The three of us silently make our way downstairs to find Jaxon, Dad, and Leanne seated around the living room. The second Dad catches sight of me, he jumps to his feet and rushes around the couch.
He pulls me away from Caleb and into a hug. “Hey, kiddo. Are you okay? I’ve been worried about you. Do you need anything? Are you feeling okay? How did you get that bruise on your cheek?” His eyes dart to Caleb and back to my cheek, then he zeroes in on Caleb with a narrowed glare. If looks could kill, Caleb would be a goner.
I wrap my arms around my father, hugging him back in hopes of comforting him. He’s stressed, and he doesn’t need to be. “I’m fine, Dad. We have some stuff to talk about, though.”
“Do you want us all here?” Even though the question is for me, his gaze remains fixed on Caleb. “Whatever you need, just tell me.”
“I need to know what happened at the hospital.” I pull away from him and shuffle around the living room to sit on the couch. Caleb follows me and sinks down next to me, taking my hand in his. Dad sits on the ottoman in front of me while Cassie situates herself next to Jaxon on the opposite side of the sectional. Leanne remains seated in the middle.
“Which part do you want to know?” Dad’s brow furrows with concern. “Do you remember anything from your time there?”
“I remember all of it, I think,” I hesitate, unsure if that’s true. If he and Cassie heard me say I wanted Caleb to stay away, then maybe I don’t remember it at all. “Except, I don’t remember ever saying I wanted Caleb to be kept away from me. He and I talked, and he said he only stayed away from me because you made him after I told you he hurt me.”
“That’s right,” Dad confirms. His eyes harden on Caleb, but when he turns back to me, he softens considerably. “You ran from the hospital, Riley. When I found you,” he stops and swallows hard, “You weren’t in a good place. I didn’t know what the hell happened, none of us did.”
“Caleb said he’d freaked out, but he didn’t think you’d run away just because he upset you,” Jaxon adds quietly. “We didn’t understand what the hell happened, and all of us were on edge because of the attack.”
“Mark called me and said he’d found you. I was already a few miles away on foot,” Caleb admits as he scrubs his hand over his face as if trying to scrub away the memory. “I thought you might be trying to get home, so that’s the way I went. Jaxon was searching the hospital while Cassie drove around the area, and Leanne stayed behind in your room to wait for you in case you came back. We were panicked.” He squeezes my hand as if to reassure himself that I’m here. “I came straight back, but when I got to your room, Mark told me to give you a little time. I waited in the hall outside your door, waiting for him to let me in. I knew I’d upset you, baby, but I swear I had no idea what you were thinking... how badly I’d really fucked up.”
Dad clears his throat several times and continues where Caleb left off, “You finally calmed down and went to sleep. I stayed with you, but since you’d been sleeping so well, I figured the next day I could run to the bathroom. I never should have left you alone, even for a few minutes.”
“I was on my way back after getting a cup of coffee when I heard the staff yelling about a burst pipe. I knew something wasn’t right.” Cassie’s tone is quiet and serious—two things I hate to hear when Cassie speaks. She’s never quiet and never serious, and I hate when she isn’t her normal bubbly self. “Mark and I crossed paths in the hallway and ran to your room together. I worked to get the water under control, and your dad nearly ripped that stupid doctor in half. He’d given you a sedative. You were kind of out of it, but you were totally freaking out.”
“We weren’t sure what had you in such a panic.” Dad’s voice is full of sorrow and frustration as he relives the memory. “You kept trying to tell me something. You said don’t let him in, you said he hurt you. You weren’t making a lot of sense, but when I asked who hurt you, you told me it was Caleb.”
Caleb tenses beside me, my dad fixing a scowl his way. “I kept him away from you after that. I promised you I would, and I did.”
Memories of the hospital race through my mind in fast-forward. I try to grasp a single one at a time, but they jumble together. I struggle to make sense of them. “It was all so crazy, and I did my best to push everything that happened out of my mind.”
“Why don’t you try to walk us through what you do remember, honey,” Leanne suggests.
I nod, but I don’t bother starting from the beginning. “Everything you guys said sounds close to what I remember. Except for the reason I left...” I drop my head, unable to look at any of them. My behavior was selfish, and I’m embarrassed by it. “Caleb and I had a misunderstanding. I was upset, and I just needed to get away. I didn’t mean to scare anyone, but I wasn’t thinking straight. It was a huge mess.”
“We get it, sis,” Jaxon says gently. “Don’t worry about that, okay?”
With a deep breath, I nod and continue to relive those few days. “At one point, I woke up, and I was alone. I thought everyone left me, and I was upset. A doctor came in and said he wanted to check me over, but then...” I gasp when the memory hits me like a ton of bricks. “The nurse!” I whisper.
“Nurse?” Dad asks as he searches around the room, wondering if anyone else may understand me. “What nurse?”
“Th-there was a-a—” I can’t finish my thought. My body shakes, and my head spins. I remember what happened now. I know who hurt me.
Caleb wraps his arm around me and tugs me to his side. “Baby, you’re safe now. Remember that. No matter what happened, you’re here with me, with us, and we won’t let you get hurt.”
“Take your time, kiddo.” Dad pats my knee, his brow drawn together. “Just work on deep breaths and go slow. We aren’t in any rush.”
I do as he suggests, pulling in deep breaths and letting them out slowly. I remind myself over and over that I’m not in the hospital anymore and the nurse isn’t here. I’m safe with my family. I’m safe with Caleb. After several moments of focusing on my breathing, I’m able to explain everything. “There was a nurse who came in when the doctor did. He was...wrong.”
“What do you mean, wrong?” Cassie asks.
I shiver as I remember the evil he emitted. “He was a Fallen. I’m not sure how I knew, but he felt evil. My skin crawled when he came closer to me. It was like every part of me wanted to run away from him.”
“Shit.” Jaxon’s whispered curse draws my attention. “What did the fucker do, Riley? Is he the one who hurt you?”
I nod, my eyes burning with tears. “The doctor left to get medicine, and the nurse grabbed me. He held my face so I couldn’t move, but I still tried to call for help. He said he’d kill me if I tried, so I shut up. He was sent by Samael to let me know they’d be paying me a lot of visits from now on. The doctor came back and wanted to give me the sedative before he could say anything else. I tried to refuse it, but he wouldn’t listen. I was so desperate to get them both away from me, I burst the pipe to distract them. It didn’t work, though.”
“He must have slipped out and gone the opposite way,” Cassie growls. “We would have sensed a Fallen if we’d passed him in the hall on the way to your room. Stupid scum sucking ass-clown.”
Jaxon snorts. “You have such a way with words, darling.”
“I know, right!” Cassie smirks over her shoulder at him.
Dad ignores the two of them and keeps his attention on me. “One thing still doesn’t make sense. If it wasn’t Caleb who hurt you, then why did you tell me to keep him away?”
“I didn’t.” I emphasize my words with a vigorous shake of my head. “I heard him.”
Dad frowns, but Caleb voices their combined confusion. “Heard who?”
I turn and blink up at Caleb. “I heard you. You called for me. At first, I thought you’d come back for me. I called back to you, but then I realized it was probably my imagination or the medication. I wasn’t telling my dad you’d hurt me. I was calling for you.”
“Well, hell,” Dad huffs and leans back. “That wasn’t your imagination, kiddo. Caleb did call for you. He’d stepped away to call his parents and give them an update. When he came back, there was chaos all around. He was trying to push his way through the doctors and nurses to get to you. Then you told me he hurt you, or I thought that’s what you were saying.”
“Your dad was a little pissed off at my brother.” Cassie cringes. The look she sends Caleb is full of guilt. “I was kind of pissed off, too. We wouldn’t let him back into your room.”
“That didn’t stop him from staying the whole time,” Jaxon teases.
Caleb kicks at him with his foot. “Shut it, Jax.”
Jaxon catches my confused frown and chuckles. “Caleb was updating his parents during the whole pipe bursting incident when Cassie and Dad thought you were hurt by Caleb, Dad kicked Caleb out and told him not to come back. Caleb technically listened, but not really... He sat on the floor outside your room for the majority of your stay. He only left when we told him you’d been discharged. He actually waited in his truck and followed us home.”
“I didn’t see him,” I admit quietly, side-eyeing Caleb. “I thought you were keeping your distance on purpose.”
“Never, baby.” The strength behind his words warms me all over. “I sat in my truck for a long time after you got home, waiting for your dad to call me and tell me that you’d forgiven me.”
Leanne leans forward and rubs my dad’s shoulder as he hangs his head. “We talked about it for a while. We knew you’d have withdrawals from Caleb and how bad they’d be if we kept him away from you.”
Dad nods. “I decided to let you make the decision. I told Caleb he could come talk to you, but he had to respect your wishes. I didn’t know what else to do. I thought he hurt my daughter, yet I knew it would hurt you to be apart from him. It was an impossible decision to make.”
“At the time, I thought he was done with me. I was sure he came back because he wanted me to be friends with him and keep the peace between the two of us for the sake of Cassie and Jaxon.” I let out a sigh of relief. “Caleb and I talked, though. It was a really big, really bad misunderstanding.”
“I’m so glad you finally talked,” Leanne says. “It was horrible watching the two of you suffer like that. You’re our little girl, Riley, and we never want you to be in that sort of pain.”
Knowing Caleb suffered as much as I did hurts, but I can’t let it get to me. It’s over and done with. We’ve cleared everything up, and we can move on. At least, I hope that’s what happens.
Caleb hugs me to his side, and I snuggle closer to him, breathing in his fiery scent. He kisses the top of my head, and I bury my face into his side with a big smile. If I could, I’d stay in this same spot for the rest of forever, but unfortunately, there’s more to discuss with everyone.
I let out a groan, already wishing I could go back to bed. I slept for an entire day, but I’m still run down. I haven’t been nice to my body for the last month, and now, I’m paying for it.
“What’s wrong, Ri?” Cassie asks.
I huff into Caleb’s side, and he squirms around. I pull away from him and raise a brow in question. He wiggles around again, this time with embarrassment. “That tickled.”
Interesting. I didn’t know Caleb was ticklish. I’ll have to remember that in the future.
“Ri?” Cassie calls to me again.
“Oh, I’m just tired,” I admit with a shrug. “I slept a long time, but it’s like I don’t have any energy.”
“Go rest, kiddo,” Dad suggests with a pat to my knee. “You’ve had a long month. You’re allowed to rest.”
“Actually, we have more to talk about.” I drop my head onto Caleb’s shoulder and yawn. “I’d rather get it out of the way now before I forget anything important.”
Leanne gets to her feet and stretches. “We should all have something to eat, especially Riley. I don’t know the last time I saw you eat more than a couple bites of anything.”
“I’m not sure I’m that hungry,” I protest while Caleb gets to his feet and pulls me with him.
Caleb narrows his eyes at me and frowns. “You need to eat, baby. You’re making yourself sick.”
“That’s the problem,” I protest softly. “Lately, when I eat, I feel sick. I can’t stomach a real meal.”
“That’s the withdrawal from Caleb,” Cassie explains as she passes us on her way to the kitchen. “He had a hard time with it, too. All the crappy feelings have been from that. The sleepless nights, no appetite, aches and pains—all of it is from the emotional and physical distance between you and Caleb. Imagine if you two were physically attached, then something or someone grabbed you from either side and ripped you apart. That’s basically what happened to your souls. Not fun.”
“Yeah, I was told about that.” Caleb leads me into the kitchen after his sister. He points wordlessly to the stool at the bar and waits for me to take a seat. “Does it just go away instantly? Because I’m still not feeling the best.”
“It’ll take a bit of time, but the more time you spend with each other, the better you’ll feel.” Leanne works on making chicken salad sandwiches while she explains further, “Until you’re fully bonded, being away from each other will be more difficult, though. It’s like your souls are afraid to be apart. At least, that’s what they say. We’ve been lucky and never had to spend time away from our soulmates before we were fully bonded.”
“Who are they?” I ask.
“It’s actually an entire class each Elemental takes in high school,” Jaxon answers for Leanne. “Remember how I told you there are schools for Elementals?”
“Vaguely.” I nod. “There was a lot of information to take in, but I do remember something about a school.”
Jaxon chuckles. “We skimmed over that one. You had other things to learn first.”
“So, how are the schools hidden?” Leanne sets a sandwich in front of me with a quiet smile, and I send her a thankful one in return. With food in front of me, I expect my stomach to revolt. It’s a little uneasy, but not nearly as terrible as it has been lately, which is a pleasant surprise.
“They’re considered private schools to the rest of the world.” Dad grabs his plate and kisses Leanne on the cheek before he slides onto the stool at the end of the bar. “There are some human private schools, but when you hear people talking about the ones that are difficult to get their kids into, that’s generally a school for Elementals only.”
“Everyone else just thinks it’s a fancy elite school,” Cassie adds around a big bite of her sandwich. “They’re really just like regular schools, but with extra classes about our affinities, the Fallen, the gods and goddesses, and other crap you’ve been learning about.”
Caleb grimaces as he watches Cassie talk with her mouth full. “You’re such a fucking lady, Cassie.” She opens her mouth wide and shows him her half-chewed food. He makes a sound of disgust and turns away. “Really cute.”
“Cassie, chew with your mouth closed. Don’t make me call your mother,” Leanne playfully scolds.
A sudden thought occurs to me, and my mouth moves before I consciously make the decision to ask the question. “Do your parents hate me after what happened?”
Looks are exchanged around the room, but no one speaks at first. My heart thunders in my chest as the silence stretches on. I was supposed to meet them a month ago. Instead, everything went wrong, and I don’t know what their thoughts are about it. They might think I’m nothing but a troublemaker.
Caleb catches me shifting uncomfortably in my seat and takes my hand in his. “They don’t hate you, baby. No one hates you. They’re worried and desperate to meet you, though. They’ve been bugging everyone about it for the last month. They keep trying to make up reasons to come over and meet you, but we all knew you weren’t in a place to meet them yet. They’re terrible at waiting or being patient, but they respect that you weren’t ready.” He kisses the back of my hand, causing sparks to shoot up my arm and into my chest. When I draw in a sharp breath, he smirks as if he knows what his kiss just did to me.
“Oh.” I clear my throat and turn away from him. All I want to do is jump on Caleb and kiss him senseless, but it isn’t the best time. “So, erm, they’ll be here for Thanksgiving next week, then?”
“We haven’t given them an answer yet. You asked for time to think, and they understand that, baby. Don’t feel rushed.” Caleb’s consideration of my feelings makes me feel cherished and cared about.
I want to tell him that I’m fine with his parents coming for Thanksgiving, but I just don’t know if I could handle it yet.