Page 323 of Redeemed

Thankfully, Athelia is too focused on Wes to catch the worry in Cal’s tone. Wes is out again, but he’s still holding Athelia’s hand. Kellan and Cal are watching them both with concern.

“Hey,” Colton says as he walks up. “Is Wes stable?”

“Yeah,” Cal answers. He still has his fingers on Wes’s wrist to keep an eye on his pulse.

“Good. Not to rush this, but we have to keep moving. Lucas, you head back with Haven, Xander, and Wes. Cal and Kellan, too. I’ll drop everyone else off and then see you at home.”

“Can you take Rora back?” I call over to Julie, who’s sitting with Haven on the bench. “She needs to get home as soon as possible.”

“Agreed,” Theo responds, and he cuts Rora a scolding look when she starts to protest.

“Of course I can,” Julie says. “What about Athelia?”

“She stays with us,” Cal answers firmly.

“All right. Let’s go.”

Colton spins around and heads for Haven. He kneels in between her legs and takes both her hands in his. They’re too far away for me to hear what they’re saying, but when Haven desperately shakes her head, I get the picture. She doesn’t want us to be separated.

Gently, Colton tugs her in for a kiss. This has to be hard on him, but he’s head of the Glass Rooks now. That comes with more responsibility, and he’ll never take it lightly.

Haven grabs on to Colton when he picks her up and carries her to the van. “Please,” she begs as they get closer. “Colt—”

“I’ll see you soon, angel.”

When she turns to me, I can see the panic in her eyes, so I take her into my arms and pull her into my lap.

“It’s just for a few hours,” I tell her. “Then we’ll all be together again.”

His jaw clenched, Colton watches Haven for another second before turning away. Kellan closes the door and hops into the driver’s seat, and then we’re pulling away from everyone as they get into the truck.

“I don’t like this,” Haven whispers.

“Neither do I,” I admit, “but we’ll make it through.”

That doesn’t seem to help calm her down, and neither does Xander placing his free hand on her thigh for support. I run a hand down her arm in an attempt to soothe her, but when I look at her, I realize why she didn’t seem like herself earlier.

It wasn’t the dress. It was her hair.

“Hey.” I reach up to touch it, frowning when she shies away. “Where did the purple go?”

“Don’t want to talk about it,” she mumbles.

“Haven—”

“Don’t.Not tonight, Luc. Please.”

“Okay, okay. I’m sorry.”

She turns away from me to hide her face, but I gently grip her chin and guide her back to me.

“Hey,” I whisper. “We don’t have to talk about it, but don’t shut us out. Not when we just got you back.”

“I—I’m sorry, I just—” Her sentence breaks off with a sob, and she lets me pull her into my body.

“I know, little fawn. I know.”

“I want today to be over,” she manages.

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