Page 89 of Stolen Fate

I didn’t mind the things she had said to me so much. I knew they were the words of a deranged person, and Jace confirmed my suspicion when he said she had been using. But I hated that she had said those things in front of Elliot. And the hateful way she had said it had made him cling to me tighter and tighter the louder she spoke. I had wanted nothing more than to get him out of there, but every time I made a move to leave, Camila was there, blocking my path. If I didn’t have Elliot in my arms then, I would have pushed her out of the way.

But she didn’t look like she cared if she put Elliot in harm’s way, and I didn’t want to take that risk.

I laid in my bed in the dark and looked up at the ceiling, focusing my gaze on the shadow of the ceiling fan. I didn’t think I would be able to sleep so early, but the alternative was not going to bed and thinking about the day.

Thinking about the way Elliot’s lips had trembled, as if he was trying to keep the tears at bay, and thinking about the detached look in Jace’s eyes when he came back after talking to the police. The man that had kissed me in his office just this morning was no longer present, and in his place was a stranger I didn’t know how to get through to.

A noise outside my bedroom startled me out of my thoughts. I sat up in bed and looked to the door as the doorknob started turning. Half of me had expected Jace to come to me, and I realized then that I wouldn’t have kicked him out of my room had that been the case, but it wasn’t Jace—it was Elliot.

“Evelyn?” he asked softly. He had one tiny fist at his eye, rubbing away some of his sleep, and his unruly hair was even more wild than usual. In his arms was a stuffed teddy bear I didn’t see him carry often.

It had sat on top of his bookshelf since I moved here, and I wondered if he grabbed it tonight because he needed some comfort.

“Elliot, are you okay?”

“Can I sleep with you tonight?”

I paused, but only for a brief second, before I said, “Of course, sweetie. Come here.”

Elliot didn’t wait for me to say any more. He ran over to the bed and climbed in. I pulled the covers over us, and wrapped him tightly in my arms, trying to keep away all that was bad in the world. Trying to protect him from any hurt he might experience, now and in the future.

Jace might not approve of it, but at this moment, I couldn’t bring myself to care.

Elliot needed the comfort of an adult who loved him right now, and I knew Jace could give him all of those things and so much more, but I didn’t have it in me to turn him away when he had come to me.

I would deal with whatever the repercussions might be in the morning.

Elliot hugged his teddy bear, and I hugged Elliot, and it wasn’t long after that we both fell into a deep sleep.

I briefly heard my door open in the middle of the night, but I was too out of it by then to pay much mind to it. I assumed it was Jace checking to see where Elliot was, but I fell back to sleep without confirming.

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