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He nods slowly, and we fall silent again. I sense him looking at me – keenly, as if he’s searching me for some answer or wants to say something that’s weighing on his mind.
“Can you pass on my thanks to Noah for bringing me here? That can’t have been an easy decision for him.”
“He didn’t hesitate for a moment,” I correct him, and Ayden just nods.
“I’ve been questioned already,” I go on, after silence descends on us again.
“That was inevitable.”
“I stuck to the story we agreed on.”
“They can’t disprove it, and they won’t try. The Fabricis have other problems right now.”
Silence reigns again, and I can’t help but notice that the mood between us is a little strange. How could it not be? Ayden almost died. I’ve spent days worrying about him, not knowing whether he was going to survive. And now he’s sitting here in front of me almost as if nothing ever happened. At the same time, part of me longs for him, wants to lie in his arms again – and this so soon after Noah broke up with me. And I’m struggling with that because I still really care about Noah.
“Have you been here the whole time?” Ayden asks suddenly. His voice is incredibly soft.
My heart beats faster, and I nod. “Yeah, I couldn’t leave you alone.”
“Thanks,” he says. He pauses and then extends his arms toward me.
I only hesitate a moment before going to him and letting him hug me. I instinctively nestle up to him, giving myself over to these feelings of yearning and comfort. Yes, I’ll allow myself to enjoy this moment. Maybe as recompense for the last couple of awful days. I soak up the warmth of his skin and savor the closeness like a drowning person who knows she’ll soon have to get off her life-saving raft. But right now, I’m allowed to enjoy it, allowed to pretend that everything’s fine between us.
“Thank you for being here for me all this time,” he murmurs.
His voice vibrates in his chest. I lap up its tone, its hum, resting my head against his collarbone.
“It means a lot to me.”
I wish he’d say more. But he’s silent, and all I can do is live in this moment and lock it away deep in my heart.
Chapter 3
Every muscle in my body hurts, and I’m tired and utterly drained. But training this afternoon did me good. It took my mind off things for a while.
It’s been two days since Ayden woke up. I’ve only paid him one brief visit since then. The mood between us was still kind of tense. Neither of us seemed to know what to say or do. We only exchanged a few superficial words. But I don’t even know what I feel right now. Part of me longs for him, but I know deep down that we have to try to get over each other. Then there’s the breakup with Noah, which gnaws at me, and on top of that, everything else that’s happened.
But at least Ayden seems to be on the way to recovery. The doctors were surprised, but it seems Snow is still helping him heal, which also explains why he was in such good shape when he woke up.
“Are you thinking about Ayden?” Kate asks, snapping me out of my reverie. We’re on our way to my room to spend the rest of the day there together.
“I’m thinking about a lot of things right now,” I admit. “So much has happened.”
She nods. “Yeah, and I still can’t believe I was part of it.” Her face takes on a worried expression. “I can’t even remember going to the Fabrici house, let alone what I said to you guys. It’s all gone. The first thing I remember is standing near the school with you and Noah.”
I put my arm around her and try to comfort her, although I know I can’t take away her fears.
“I get how stressful it must be. Being totally at the mercy of your gift.” I consider keeping the next comment to myself, but I’m probably only expressing something that she’s already considered. “Do you maybe want to go to the heads of school and tell them about your gift? I’m sure they’d offer you the same kind of support that they offered me.”
She looks at me for a moment and then shakes her head vehemently. “No, I can’t. I don’t why, but something tells me I need to tackle this on my own. You know how incompetent I was when I first started training with Gray. I need to figure this out for myself too. Then maybe I’ll talk to someone.”
“I totally get it,” I say.
“Do you think it’s true?” she asks with a probing look. “Do you believe what I said in my last prophecy? That Noah and Ayden are brothers?”
“I don’t know.” I’ve actually been wrestling with this idea a lot. Is it possible? I mean, they both have an unusual past that leaves some room for doubt around their parentage. But then how did things turn out this way? Are Noah’s parents hiding something from him? “They’d have to be twins. It would explain a few things – like the fact that they both have wolf spirits with the element of fire. Then again, for something like this to be possible, there would have to be a major conspiracy involving both sides – the Tempes and the Noctu. Why would they do that?”
“Maybe I was wrong this time. Who knows how often my premonitions are correct?”
