Page 27 of Mantle

“We’re here,” Kai said, urgency spilling from him as he came to my bed and stood right in front of me, looking me over studiously and with a lot of worry.

“Talk to us, Halo. We’ve got you,” Nyx added, settling right beside me in a cross-legged position.

I frowned out at them. “I’m fine. Why do you look so concerned?”

“You wanted space but it’s been a couple of hours and you haven’t reached.” Nyx said. “And with what happened, we couldn’t just—damn, I can’t. I can’t just look pastthis.”He gestured at my clothing.

I looked down at myself in my pajamas—a full-length onesie, plush and puffy all in soft pink. I had the hood up, complete with round ears perched on top.

“What about it?”

“You look like you’ve been wrapped up in a pink cloud. Like a fluffy pink marshmallow,” Nyx said, chuckling.

“Battle-hardened-badass-turned-pink-cozy-princess vibe,” Kai spoke.

Nyx cocked an eyebrow at him. “And, yet, you don’t seem surprised, even though it’s far from her usual get-up.” He thought for a moment, then determined, “Ah, the holoscreen. You already saw.”

“Holoscreen?” I questioned Kai.

He held up his hands. “Just to ensure you were okay. I waited until you were out of the shower and—”

“What? When I could have given you a sexy, dripping wet show?”

Kai arched an eyebrow. “Really?”

I burst out laughing.

“She’s screwing around,” Nyx said.

He joined me with the laughter, and then Kai fell into it as well, once my giggling started up. I’d noticed that it always got him going.

When we finally came down and took a breath or two, I told Nyx, “Kai has already seen these pajamas. Back during our early Coven days.”

“Damn, I can’t believe I missed all that.”

I grasped his hand. “You’re here now and, believe me, count yourself lucky that you missed the early stuff.”

“It wasn’t all bad,” Kai said, winking at me.

“I wasn’t myself, though.”

“Yeah,” he murmured, a heavy moment passing between us. “You really weren’t.” He stroked the strands of my hair escaping my pajama hood, staring at me with reverence. “How times have changed of late, hmm, sweetheart?”

I turned into his touch, an involuntary moan of contentment escaping me.

Nyx nuzzled against me and asked softly, “How are you really doing, Halo? What happened back in that forest was a lot.”

Yeah, I hadn’t said much about it.

Anything, really.

I’d passed out for a couple of hours and then I’d woken up in my childhood bedroom surrounded by Kai, Nyx, and Vorzyr basically sitting vigil.

After what they’d seen—first a being like Ketheron showing up and the heaviness that came along with it, and then me being poisoned through his blood ingestion—they’d been reeling. Angry, afraid for me, for us as a foursome. And as soon as I’d woken up, they’d let loose so many questions, none of which I’d been in a state to answer.

So, I’d asked them for space and I’d taken a shower and some time to absorb it all, to try to begin processing it.

I’d been so desperate to do that and I’d neglected to realize what asking for that space might have come across as.

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