Page 120 of Delirium
“Oh, Maya,” I whispered, taking her hand in mine. “I had a lot of friends. I was just an idiot that couldn’t see it at first.”
“Well, you were always a stubborn little motherfucker.” She laughed. “Come on,” she said. “I really need alcohol tonight.”
“Trouble in paradise?” I grinned, leading her toward the living room, where Atlas already went with Cillian and Kieran.
“Don’t even start, Phee. Trust me, I’m better with knives now than I was before.”
My resonating laughter followed us all the way to the living room, where the guys already took their seats on the couch, still uncomfortable with each other. Felix kept eyeing Kieran and Cillian as if they would suddenly jump and start shooting at the rest of us, while Atlas scrolled through his phone, completely ignoring the others.
The front door opened behind us and the sound of paws hitting the marble floor had me turning around, just as Kaiser barreled toward me, his tongue lolling out, and what I liked to think was a smile, wide on his face. He slowed down as he came closer to me. I’d noticed that ever since I became pregnant, he was less rough with me, even when we were playing, as if he truly knew what was happening.
“Is that your dog?” Maya asked just as I crouched down, sitting on my knees, scratching behind his ears as he closed his eyes, oblivious to all the other people around him.
“He is.” I smiled. “This is Kaiser, Maya,” I said as I looked at her. “Come,” I beckoned. “He’s friendly.”
“Yeah, he only tried to chew me when he first met me,” Indigo smarted, looking at Maya with confusion on his face. “I’m Indigo.” He extended his hand. “And you are?”
“Maya.” She smirked, taking his hand. “Maya Aster.”
“Oh fuck.” Indigo paled, looking at me. “There are two of you? Fuck,” he murmured. I couldn’t contain my laughter anymore, and his fear-stricken face made it impossible to stay serious. “Stop laughing at me,” he protested. “It was enough having to deal with you and your murderous tendencies.” He looked at Maya then. “Now there are two of you.”
“I promise you, Indigo,” Maya said, laughing along with me. “No one will die tonight.”
“Tonight!” he all but squealed. Kaiser walked to him, pushing at his knees with his head. “Atlas!” Indigo bellowed. “Did you know there were two of them?”
“I sure did,” Atlas replied, still looking down at his phone. “The more the merrier.”
“Of course you would say that.” Indigo rolled his eyes, scratching Kaiser’s head. “Are there any more of you I should know of?”
“No.” I shook my head and stood up from the floor. “I killed the third one, and the fourth one.” I smiled. “You’re stuck with only the two of us.”
“Fourth one?” Maya asked, looking at me. “Who was the fourth one?”
I wrapped my arm around her shoulders and led her toward the still empty couch, opposite of where Kieran and Cillian sat, watching us like hawks. “I’ll tell you all about it, but I need to sit. My back is killing me.”
As we sat down, as my eyes traveled over my people, even over Indigo who sat close to Atlas who kept ignoring him, I released a content sigh, knowing everyone was safe and at the same place for the first time in my life.
All was going to be well.
It had to.
24
STORM
I couldn’t keepmy eyes off of her. Ophelia kept smiling throughout dinner, talking with Maya, joking with Kieran, even with Indigo, and for the first time in forever, I felt myself relaxing, truly enjoying the evening.
The food was long gone, with everyone lounging around with their bellies full and content smiles on their faces. Kieran kept looking at Maya whenever she wasn’t watching, and I would’ve laughed at the expression on his face if I didn’t wear the same one every time I looked at Ophelia.
We all moved from the dining room to the living room as soon as the dinner finished, and it didn’t take us long to enter into a familiar conversation of the Alliance that Casimir mentioned. Ophelia’s head was on my shoulder as she talked pros and cons with Kieran. I loved seeing her in her element.
She changed, that much was obvious, but deep down she was still a fierce warrior, an assassin who knew more of this world than most of the people we encountered.
“Can we trust him?” Kieran asked what all of us thought, his eyes moving from Ophelia to Cillian, who kept quiet throughout the night, silently observing all of us. I hated seeing him like that. Not because I had some long-lost respect for the Nightingale brothers, but because Ophelia loved him. I had to admit—the two of them weren’t all that bad when you removed all the shit their father made them do.
Felix and Zoe spoke in hushed voices, with her constantly shaking her head and glaring at him. It was obvious that she wasn’t buying whatever he was trying to sell. My hand splayed over Ophelia’s belly, that feeling of happiness expanding in my chest with each passing moment. I never thought I would be able to sit like this, in the same room with the two men I considered enemies not so long ago, with the woman I loved and our kids safely tucked inside her belly.
“I don’t know,” Cillian replied as Kieran kept glaring at him. “Casimir has connections we don’t, that’s for sure.”
