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Entering the bedroom, I found Cyn asleep face down in the middle of the bed, covers pulled up to his waist. “That was fast.”
“What?” Zeke entered behind me, stopping at the sight of Cyn clutching my pillow. “He’s already asleep? It hasn’t even been five minutes.”
I tore my gaze away from Cyn clutching my pillow, went to my dresser, and pulled out a clean pair of pajama pants and a tank top. “I’ll change in the bathroom. Do whatever you need to do. Just knock when you’re done and I’ll come out.”
After pulling my hair into a bun, I washed and moisturized my face, brushed my teeth, and changed into pajamas. When Zeke knocked, I exited the bathroom and found him sitting on the far side of the bed in a pair of navy-blue pajama pants and a snug white T-shirt.
I approached the bed, squinting when I noticed Cyn’s back. “Ash has the same scars,” I said, unable to take my eyes off the jagged scars on his shoulder blades.
Zeke sighed, lifting his hand to touch the markings on Cyn’s back. “We all have them.”
“What?”
“I don’t know what it means. Our wings don’t come out of our backs, but the placement…”
Ash once said their wings magically appeared instead of breaking through the skin.
Zeke explained how the magic that brought them to Earth stole their wings from them, and how Ezra tried to summon them and failed. The scars symbolized where they materialized.
“It’s not like we can’t survive without them, but we don’t know why it happened.”
“I’m so sorry,” I whispered.
Knowing that my blood brought them to Earth and forced them to sacrifice their wings in the process filled me with guilt. I never meant to hurt anyone.
He yawned again. “You’re a good person, Rae.” His beautiful blue eyes held mine for several beats before he broke eye contact and settled under the covers. He peered over at Cyn, who hadn’t moved an inch the entire time we’d talked.
Even in sleep, Cyn’s natural scowl made him appear grumpy, but his long black lashes against his cheek softened his striking features.
“Good thing I have two pillows,” I said, fluffing the pillow Cyn didn’t steal before looking at him again. He’d taken the middle, and I suspected the choice was strategic to keep Zeke and me apart.
I climbed into the bed, turning my back to them and pulling the covers up over my shoulder. When I reached for the lamp, Zeke mumbled a soft goodnight. I could tell he was already on the edge of sleep. “Goodnight, Zeke.”
30
NEVER AGAIN
RAE
Lightning brightened the room as the storm raged outside the window. I’d forgotten to close the blinds, so every time lightning flashed, the room illuminated, followed by a loud rumble of thunder.
Something had woken me, leaving me too wired to fall back asleep.
The closed door made the room stuffy. My extra layers and the bodies in my bed made the heat unbearable.
I shifted, pushing the covers from my shoulders, gasping when a heavy arm wrapped around my waist and yanked me back.
Cyn sniffed me and groaned against the back of my neck.
“What are you doing?”
He didn’t respond, and I realized he wasn’t awake.
When I tried to move away, he tightened his hold and pulled me closer until the hard line of his body pressed into my backside.
“Seriously, Cyn.”
“Shut up,” he murmured, tucking his face against my neck.
