Page 74 of Twilight of Embers
Five sets of eyes waited expectantly for an answer. I took a mental inventory. I felt like I’d been caught in a riptide and banged against a few rocks.
“Okay,” I croaked but winced at the single word.
“Liar,” Cillian accused.
I grimaced. “Head and face hurt.”
“I’ll get an ice pack,” Cáel said, quickly leaving the room, a murderous expression on his face.
“Where are the fucking pain meds?” Easton snapped.
Maddox shook his head. “She needs to eat a little something first. If she takes them on an empty stomach, she’ll just be sick.”
A muscle fluttered in Easton’s cheek. “Then get her something to goddamned eat.”
My brows pulled together, the action making the pain in my face flare.
Easton seemed to register the discomfort because he grabbed some sort of ceramic object and hurled it at the wall.
Maddox was in his face in a flash. “Pull it together. Now. This is the last thing Hayden needs.”
Easton snapped his rage-filled eyes in my direction. There was so much fury there, as if it were my fault that I’d been attacked. His jaw hardened to granite, and he stalked out of the room.
I watched him go, trying to understand his reaction. “I thought he didn’t even like me.”
Knox released his hold on my hand and pushed to his feet, sorrow filling his expression. “He likes you too much. That’s the problem.”
37
CÁEL
The rage swirling inside me fed my beast. He pushed against my skin, demanding freedom, demanding to hunt the ones who had hurt our mate. I tried everything I could to calm him, telling him that they were dead and that Hayden was safe. But none of it was of any use.
Because we both knew that while the immediate threat was over, a far greater one loomed.
My jaw cracked as I tried to loosen it, but the tension wouldn’t leave. I gathered an ice pack and a snack that I thought would be easy on Hayden’s stomach.
Pain dug its vicious claws into my chest as I pictured her bruised face and confused expression. She had no idea what she’d gotten herself into, what she’d been born into. But I couldn’t be sorry that we’d found her. Or maybe it was more accurate to say that she’d found us.
She soothed my beast in a way that I’d never experienced. My brothers had noticed the change, too. I wasn’t flying off the handle as much. Not until someone had been a threat to her…
My dragon surged, demanding we get back to Hayden. I didn’t fight him on the request because I needed to be back in her presence, too. I needed to assure myself that she was okay, breathing.
A door slammed at the front of the house, and I strode into the foyer just as Knox descended the stairs, a pained expression on his face.
“What happened?” I demanded.
He shook his head. “Easton. He’s…not handling this well.”
I muttered a curse as I glanced toward the closed front door. We all had our baggage. None of us had come out of our childhoods or young adulthoods unscathed. But East and I…we dealt with it similarly. I got him. But I also wasn’t the best at talking about it.
“Do you want me to talk to him?” I asked.
Knox swallowed. “No. It’s gotta be me.”
And I knew what a sacrifice that was for him. Knox liked to see the world as glass half full all the time. For him, that meant ignoring what had happened to his family. He didn’t like to go there. The only one he’d likely do it for was Easton.
I reached out and clamped a hand on Knox’s shoulder. It was awkward and unpracticed. I wasn’t used to touching people. But I wanted Knox to know I had his back. “Just call if you need me.”
