Page 14 of Redemption

I have to admit that I probably slept better than I thought I was going to last night, and by this morning, Luc was obviously happy that I was okay because he let me sleep for a bit longer and didn’t wake me up every hour like he was insisting on doing throughout the night.

Atlas woke up every single time that Luc woke me up to check that I was okay, and it was super cute. It definitely made it easier since we were all awake and I got extra kisses and snuggles.

The extra time in bed meant that I got to wake up slowly this morning, which doesn’t happen very often, and apart from feeling a little bit sore, I feel okay.

So much better than I thought I would be feeling.

My first thought was to go and check on Tank. Of course, I checked the cameras as soon as I woke up properly, but I needed to check him over properly and see for my own eyes that he’s okay and that he didn’t hurt himself when he spooked yesterday.

When I got up there, he was incredibly happy to see me, and once he calmed down, it was obvious that he was absolutely fine, and I could finally breathe a sigh of relief. He was reluctant to head into his paddock, so I spent a bit longer with him and caught up with Zemi.

“Good morning,” Cash greets me as I come through the back door. “Been to check on Tank? How are you feeling?”

I move up onto my tiptoes to kiss him. “Yeah, I just wanted to see for myself that he was okay. I needed to feed him anyway and turn him out. The weather is lovely out there now, you would never know that there was such a horrible storm. Apart from all the debris everywhere, I suppose.”

Cash smiles. “Good. How are you feeling?”

“Much better. I have a slight headache, but that’s it. I was talking to Zemi this morning, and she wanted to know if we wanted to go up to their place today.”

“Are you up for that?” Riot asks me as he walks out of the kitchen and hands me a cup of coffee.

“Love you,” I mutter, taking a huge gulp.

Riot’s lips tilt up into a smirk. “Me or the coffee?”

I shrug, trying to hide my smile as I reply, “The coffee.” Cash immediately bursts out laughing as Riot’s eyebrows hit his hairline. I immediately apologize, “I’m sorry, I couldn’t help it. Obviously, I meant you.”

“Uh huh, sure you did,” Riot teases, amusement coloring his features. “You didn’t answer my question.”

“Oh, yeah. I’m definitely up for going to see Zemi. We haven’t seen them properly for a while, so we’re due for a catch-up, and I know how much of a big deal it is that they invited us to their private home. Plus, who knows when we’re going to get the chance to go if we wait. We’re going to end up going after Hunt soon.”

“I thought you told them that we couldn’t go up to them anymore because of everything that we’ve got going on?” Cash asks with a slight frown.

“I did, sort of. I apologized for not being able to go up, but we were talking this morning, and I said that we had a little bit of time while we were waiting for Alaric to sort some stuff out, and she suggested that we come up today,” I explain.

“Ah, okay, that makes more sense,” Cash says as the others start to file in from the kitchen.

“What makes more sense?” Atlas asks curiously.

“Ever wants to go to Zemi’s today,” Cash explains as he takes a seat.

“I’d completely forgotten that they invited us up at some point,” Rage replies, and then looks at me with concern. “Are you up for that?”

I smile. “Yeah, I’m feeling much better, just a little sore and a little tired from needing to be woken up so often, but I did warn Zemi about that when she suggested that we come up today, and she said she’s happy to just chill. She hadn’t planned much anyway, she’s just excited that we’re coming because they never have guests.”

Chapter Five

Ever

“Okay, well I’m definitely up for that, so long as you’re sure,” Luc says. “It’ll be nice to hang out with them.”

“Awesome,” I grin. “Let’s eat and then head off. What’s Pete up to today? Did he tell anyone?”

“He said that he needed to get some things done at his place today, but he wanted us to tell you to call him when you woke up anyway,” Atlas says.

I nod. “Okay. I’ll finish up and then call him before we go to see if he wants to come too. Shall we talk about the note from Isabelle and the fact that it was Liam’s number all along?”

Atlas’s expression tenses slightly, and then he takes a deep breath. “I don’t really know what to say. I thought I had him figured out. He’s the villain, right? He always has been, but then I find out something new, and it makes me question things. It’s a bit of a mind fuck, to be honest.”