Page 15 of Fractured Constellations
Chase is reading something on his tablet, no doubt it’s the Financial Times or something equally as boring. His shirt has the top two buttons undone, exposing some of his inked-up chest, and his sleeves are rolled up again, showing off corded forearms covered in ink that have no right being as hot as they are. His eyes flick up to me the moment I enter the space, staring, analyzing.
Blade is leaning against the counter, studying me with that cold calculation he’s perfected. He’s in his usual uniform of black everything, and I hate how fucking good it looks on him.
Thorn is in front of the kettle, a pot in front of him as he scoops some tea leaves into it. I’ve noticed he prefers loose tea, and by the smell, it’s one of the green tea blends he has, which are surprisingly good. My favorite is the cherry blossom one, not that I’ve told him or confessed that I’ve even had some. His gaze flits to me, his brows deeply furrowed, and something inside my chest tightens at the concern which seems to be in his green depths, dulling them from their usual brightness.
An uncomfortable silence washes over us as I take another step into the room, and another, walking over to the fridge to geta bottle of water and see if there is anything to eat. I ignore the way my hand trembles as I reach for the handle, but as I’m next to Blade, I catch the way he notices, his eyes narrowing.
Chase breaks the silence first. “Quite the performance last night. Care to explain?”
I force a dismissive laugh, shutting the fridge and turning to face him with a saccharine smile plastered on my face. The gall of this man. “I’m just not used to drinking spiked drinks. Sorry if I embarrassed you.”
“It wasn’t spiked. Not with alcohol anyway,” Blade cuts in.
Hearing his voice is so rare that I’m speechless for a moment. “It wasn’t alcohol. At least, I don’t think so, but I’m not sure what it was mixed with. Your blonde friend didn’t exactly tell me what drug she used.”
His brows drop. “Blonde friend?”
“Yeah, she was here the first night you guys got back. Big fake tits, fake tan, fake lips,” I sneer. There’s nothing wrong with taking care of yourself, and I’m a great believer in people can do whatever makes them feel good, but I don’t think turning yourself into something you were never meant to be is the way forward. And maybe this bitch should have spent less on her body and more on a personality transplant.
“Rachel?” Thorn asks, stepping away from his tea-making and towards me.
“I don’t know what her name is. She never introduced herself, though her brunette friend said it was a virgin cocktail, so maybe she spiked it. They said you told them to look after me,” I answer, and Thorn shakes his head.
“We didn’t say shit to them.” His voice is a low rumble, a growl that I’ve not heard before. Then he clears his throat, looking at me with a frown, and that concern is back, making the skin around his eyes tight. “Look, whatever was in that drink, you said last night it reacted with your meds, and if you’reon something… medications, whatever… we should know. For safety.”
I stiffen, my fear of them having seen my medication making me prickle all over. I don’t want them to know about what’s happening to me. Not only have they not earned the right, but I don’t want to be that girl again. The sick one. “I’m not an addict, if that’s what you’re implying.”
“Then why did I see all those bottles of pills on your dresser last night?” His voice is cold, critical, and cuts with accusation.
My heart thrashes inside my chest as I think of something to say to put them off. “You poked around in my room? Invasion of privacy much?” When in doubt, snark and anger for the win.
Blade steps closer, the warmth from his body both welcome and distracting. Wait, not welcome, nope. There’s nothing relieving about having any of them this close. “What you do affects this family now. Answer the question.”
I hold his gaze, ignoring the way it’s so dark, so intense, I almost get lost in it. “It’s for migraines. I get them chronically.” My voice is softer than I intended, and I fucking hate that any of them can affect me like this.
Thorn lets out a breath that almost sounds relieved, but Blade just keeps his gaze locked with mine. Assessing. Probing for answers I’m unwilling to give, and I can’t shake the feeling that he knows I’m lying.
My phone buzzes in my hand with an incoming call, startling me but breaking off the stare off with Blade. I take a couple of steps away from him, turning my back and only then looking at the screen, seeing it’s my mom.
“Hey, Mom. How’s the trip?” I ask quietly, ignoring the three pairs of eyes that burn into my skin like the sun through a magnifier.
“Hey, Luna love. It’s lovely, thank you. Dr. Tate called. Your first chemo session is next Wednesday, so I’ll be back to take you and will pick you up on Friday, okay?”
I can feel my face fall, no doubt draining of what little color it had as my new reality becomes that much more real. This is going to suck. Big hairy donkey balls suck.
“Oh, okay, that’s great,” I say, trying to make myself sound cheery even though I just want to curl into a ball and sob.
“Okay, Luna love. I’ll see you Tuesday. Love you.” Her voice sounds too cheerful for the news she just gave me, and before I’ve even managed to say anything back, the phone goes dead.
Taking a deep inhale, I plaster the biggest fake smile on my face.
“That was Mom. Well, it looks like I’ll be out of your hair for a few days come Wednesday.” All three of their brows lower.
“Why? Where are you going?” Chase questions, and it takes a lot to hold my anger in check. I know it’s justified, they’ve been first-class assholes, but also part of it is just fury at the situation I’m in. That I’m having to go through this shit again. Plus, why do they give a fuck? They’ve made it clear I don’t belong, so surely this is good news to them.
“That, dear stepbrother of mine, is none of your fucking business,” I say softly, walking over to the fridge and grabbing a bottle of protein shake that no doubt belongs to one of them, but I don’t give a fuck right now. I just want to get out of here.
“We’re not finished with this conversation, Goldilocks,” Blade rumbles from next to me, and I slam the fridge shut before turning to face him.
