Page 82 of Crucible
It’s only once, but it’s enough to knock him off me.
I don’t realize Seth’s unconscious until I draw in a desperate breath. I start coughing to expel the excess air when my lungs overfill, so I roll onto my side and see Seth knocked out on the floor.
A lock of his hair suddenly falls over his forehead, and that small movement is enough to send me scrambling to get away in case he wakes up. I fall off the footlocker in my haste, and Khalil grabs me under my arms and lifts me like I weigh nothing. When he turns me around to face him, it’s all I can do not to slap the shit out of him when I see his expression.
Khalil’s glaring at me like this wasmyfault.
“What the fuck were you doing to him?” he demands, confirming my suspicion.
“Doing…tohim?” I pant. I’m still trying to catch my breath. My voice cracks and grates my abused throat, so I rub it while I regard Khalil. “He was…screaming…in his…sleep.” I swallow and exhale one last time. “I was trying to wake him up!”
“He was dreaming,” Khalil explains as if I should have known. “Seth gets really bad nightmares sometimes, and the dark scares him. He didn’t know it was you he was hurting.”
“I don’t give a shit!” I scream. “You knew this could happen and didn’t bother to warn me?”
Khalil’s jaw locks. “It was none of your damn business.”
“None of my business? He just tried to kill me!”
“But did you die? No. So stop fucking whining and join the club.”
I do hit him, then, but a slap is much too easy for this bastard, so I punch him in the throat as hard as I can.
Let’s see how he likes it.
“That’sfor taking your sweet fucking time,” I say with a growl as Khalil gags and coughs.
Recovering quicker than I did, he grabs my hair and shakes me around like a rag doll before sticking his face in mine and roaring, “Why do you always have to be such a fucking bitch?”
“Fuck you!”
Khalil’s only response is to toss my ass on the couch like I’m a sack of flour. I huff and sit up quickly because it’s on and fucking popping now. Snatching that useless fucking lamp from the table, I raise it in the air.
“Aurelia, don’t you fucking dare,” Khalil warns right before I send it sailing toward his head. He ducks, and it hits the wall behind him before shattering into several large pieces. Khalil looks at the destroyed lamp before his unamused gaze travels to me. “You’re a fucking psycho, you know that?”
“I’m just getting started, Khalil.”
He sighs and rubs his eyes but stays where he is. “I’m too fucking tired for this shit, baby. You can have this one. Next time Seth has a nightmare, come get Thorin or me. Don’t touch him.”
My lips curl despite the butterflies in my tummy at hearing him call me baby. It’s sick how right it sounds. “Don’t worry,” I assure him. “I wouldn’t dream of touching that animal again.”
“Donotcall him that.” Khalil takes a warning step forward. “You have no idea what’s he been through!”
“Oh, boo-hoo,” I mock.
A moan comes from Seth’s direction, and I flinch, thinking he might be coming to.
It doesn’t go unnoticed by Khalil.
“Aurelia…” He sighs again. “Go sleep upstairs.”
“I don’t want to share a bed with Thorin.”
“He wouldn’t let you if you tried. We have another couch, in case you forgot.”
Relieved, I take my blanket because it’s super soft and did a great job of keeping me warm. I start for the stairs, peering over my shoulder as I go to see Khalil hauling an unconscious Seth into his room.
When I reach the mini landing midway up the stairs and turn, I see Thorin standing at the top with his hands in his pockets. He’s shrouded in the darkness looming behind him, but I know it’s him. He looks me over and, seeing me still in one piece, turns to head to his room without a word.
