Since my revival from the dead, I hadn’t spent any quality time with my brother. He appeared to be avoiding me and, not wanting the emotional drama, I hadn’t bothered to care. I’d had enough of my own emotional breakdowns.
At least the last few nights I hadn’t being dragged awake by my own screams. I continued to dream of my own grisly death, sometimes stabbed again; in others it was a broken neck, and Olden was always the murderer. Thankfully, the image of the dead guard, my knife in his throat, was fading. Though my last confrontation with Chrissie never seemed to disappear. Lucy thought all of the girls from the compound had scattered from the warehouse. By the time they got me into a doorway to First World, none had been around.
Lucy again distracted me from my dark thoughts, her lovely smile spreading across her face. It’d been absent too long. I missed my usual snarky friend, but she was getting her groove back.
“Honestly, he’s wonderful ... awesome ... and too sexy for his own good. I would never have made it through my kidnapping without him.”
The scars crisscrossing Lucy’s back had not faded much. She wouldn’t talk about it, but I knew she’d been tortured for information, on more than one occasion.
Then she surprised me. “You know whenever Olden took me away, Sam would fight through his bars to stop her. And then when I came back into the room, worse for wear, he talked to me for hours. His voice, his stories, they allowed me to escape for a time.”
I hated it when her blue eyes held that empty horror.
“I’m pretty sure his stories and lovely husky accent got us all through the day.”
One of the few things Lucy had confided was the reason for Samuel’s unique husky tones. His vocal cords had been damaged during his year of imprisonment and torture.
“I still can’t believe I dreamed of those cells and then ended up there, Abbs. Sometimes I’m afraid to fall asleep, afraid I’ll dream a new catastrophe.”
I laid a hand on her arm for comfort, but I couldn’t contain my own worry. I’d had my own weird dreams that night, and really wasn’t keen for them to come to life. I knew it was to punish us that Olden deliberately targeted Lucy for the worst of the treatment. A familiar white flash of anger threaded through me. Olden was dead, and a person could only be killed once, but sometimes I wished that wasn’t the case.
“Luce, there is no doubt a true bond exists between you and Samuel.”
The type of unbreakable bond forged in battle.
She smiled, the sheen of happy memories in her eyes. I pushed down my brief flashes of jealousy.
I hadn’t seen Quarn or Brace since arriving back on First World. Quarn had gone back to his home. He wanted some time with Hallow’s things – which Lallielle had stored for him – and to mourn properly. I’d given up questioning Brace’s absence. There had been no word from him since we’d returned. Sometimes the ache in my chest was from more than a big-ass knife wound.
I had a sudden thought. “Did I tell you Brace has seen me naked?”
We both needed some light-hearted relief. My blunt statement had its desired effect. Lucy whipped her head around so fast that she fell off the bed.
Climbing back up, her face was a mask of disbelief. “You and Brace ... what? Had sex?” Her mouth parted in shock.
I laughed, one hand holding my chest to ease the pain.
“Of course not. What type of girl do you think I am?”
Lucy shrugged. “One that takes advantage of all the hotness that is Brace.”
I shook my head, and before she could create any other elaborate scenarios, I explained what had happened that day. As expected, she got a good laugh out of the entire scenario.
Lucy changed the subject as she rolled back onto the bed. “You know, Lalli’s finished my room. She let me pick the wall color.”
I rolled my eyes. “Bet she regretted that decision.”
Her laughter sprang forth. “It’s amazing. Turquoise with chocolate brown accessories. Just how I always pictured my first room.”
Tired again, I rested against my pillows, ignoring the familiar need to escape.
Leaning down, I sniffed a few times. I really needed a shower; when the smell starts to bother your own nose, you know it’s time.
“Lalli said, when you’re up to it, I can go clothes shopping.”
I nodded, closing my eyes. “Sounds great, Luce. You know how much I love to shop.”
Despite my sarcasm, I was happy she was there and loving everything. It went a long way to soften the memories of her time with Olden.
She’d gushed to me for hours about how gorgeous the house was, and her room and Samuel. She was happy.
My door opened. Lallielle and Josian crowded into the room.
I smiled at my parents. My relationship with Josian was wonderful. He was huge and intimidating and passionate, but I already loved him. Maybe it was genetic, but I didn’t care.