Page 40 of Fighting Shadows

“No, you don’t answer to anyone, Kelvin, do you?”

Movement from the side of my eye happens so fast that none of us ever had the chance to stop him as he sinks his knife into Kelvin's side. Kelvin grunts, clasping his hands around the knife as he looks up at Dominic with fearful eyes. His mouth opens and closes like a fish gasping for air.

“You left her!” Dominic screams, his fist swinging toward Kelvin's face.

I could stop it, and any one of us could, but I take immense satisfaction in the crunch that follows as his fist connects with Kelvin's face.

Autumn is silent, and when I turn, she’s just staring at us all. Her face is blank, and it terrifies me.

It’s Doc who stops everything, his voice firm as he orders Dominic to step back. Doc shakes his head, dragging Kelvin from the room roughly without care that he has a knife protruding from his side. Dominic stalks back to the wall by Autumn's bedside, avoiding eye contact with everyone, including her.

“Are you okay, Princess?” I ask Autumn, looking her over for any signs of distress. She’s still blank. The only sign of any reaction is the death grip she has Tobias’s hand in.

“I don’t want to go back to his home.”

“You want to stay with me, Princess?” I ask her.

Praying, she said yes; I didn’t tell her that there was already a bedroom set up for her there with a bed big enough for sleepovers with more than one of us. It’s been there since I realized I loved her and didn’t ever want her to not feel at home with me. The loft above my gym has been a work in progress for years, making it a home for myself with enough space for the guys if they wanted to stay with me.

Then she came into the mix, and I couldn’t resist the urge to make her her own space with me, buying things I would see in the store that I knew she would love. Of course, she had no clue,but it became a way for me to show my love for her without overloading her with my feelings.

I’m bordering on Dominic-level obsession, and I don’t want to scare her. One of us is bad enough, but Dominic and I? She’d be overwhelmed by us in all the best ways.

If she says yes, then she’ll see it, and I’m equal parts excited and terrified.

“Can I?” she asks, looking up at me with so much hope. Her eyes are red-rimmed, unshed tears glistening as she stares up at me.

“Can we?” Dominic pipes up, a glimpse of the old him peeking through as he looks at me expectantly. “I mean, it’s not like you don’t have the room.”

“You know you have a room there, idiot. You all do,” I say, looking at Autumn to make sure she knows I’m talking about her.

Autumn releases a deep sigh, her body sinking into the bed. Her head tips back against her pillow, and she starts to count under her breath.

“Is she ok?” Noah asks, startling us all.

Shit, I forgot he was here.

“Why are you still here?” Sebastian snarks at him, “She doesn’t even know you.”

“You’re really hurting my feelings here, man.” Noah laughs, but his tone is hollow. “I told you I wanted to talk to you all about Charlie. I was hoping to talk to Strange Girl alone, but I can see you are her family, and you’ll find out anyway.”

I don’t love the nickname he’s given her. I go to run my hands through my hair, a nervous tick I’ve developed since Autumn was taken. It helps soothe my anxiety, but when my fingers snag against the bun, I blow out a breath of frustration.

“What do you want to talk about?” Autumn asks. She’s still leaning back against her pillow, but thankfully, her voice is strong as she looks over at him.

“Charlie is my biological dad. I didn’t know him my whole life, but my mum took me to Ireland when I was one year old.”

“Sounds familiar,” Autumn murmurs, her voice low, but we all catch it. We all chuckle at her answer except Noah, who looks confused.

I love that she can make jokes even after everything, but that could be because she doesn’t remember anything.

“Well, I know him. I know what he’s like, and I know he wants Autumn more than anything else in this world. He was willing to kill his son to keep her, and I don’t like throwing out words like obsessed or psycho, but he is,” Noah tells us all.

“Nothing wrong with being an obsessed psycho sometimes,” Dominic mutters under his breath, winking at Autumn when she looks at him.

She rewards him with a blinding smile, and I swear we all melt.

“I want to be involved in helping you all catch him. I can lure him somewhere; tell him I have Autumn, and you can be there to ambush him. The whole time, Strange Girl can be at home,safe.”

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