Broken Curse

26

Honor interjected. Why don’t Ada and I sleep in the same room as her? With two of us there, she won’t be able to take us out at the same time, and worst case, we holler for help.

That’s a good idea. Ada stood on my other side and took in the room. There’s plenty of room for us to cram in here. We can bring the air mattress in and move the bed to the side.

The rooms here were decent-sized. It would be a tight fit, but it could work. We can move the bed against the far left wall. It’ll be away from the door and window. She’d have to pass by two shifters to get to either exit.

Fine, let’s be easy on her. Gabby rolled her eyes, informing us of how she really felt.

It’s not about being easy on her. Aidan placed a hand on my arm for support. It’s about not ruining our relationship with her. We have to give her a reason to trust us.

Let her go, I commanded. We can’t do this. It’s not right.

“I’ll go get the air mattress.” Logan tossed the keys to the handcuffs to Gabby. “I can’t take much more of this.” He pushed past Aidan, heading to the living room.

“Do we have to?” Gabby’s shoulders deflated as she twirled the keys around her finger.

“Yes, we do.” I couldn’t argue too much; the girl had tried to kill me.

Gabby slowly made her way back to the bed.

“What’s going on?” Fear filled Endora’s face, and her bottom lip trembled. She jerked, but her handcuffs restrained her.

“I’m letting you out,” Gabby complained. “They want me to.”

Endora’s brows furrowed. “Really?”

“Don’t worry.” If she thought she could try to kill me again, she was about to get a surprise. “Honor and Ada are going to sleep in the room with you.”

Gabby unlocked the handcuffs, and Endora rubbed her wrists and ankles where she’d been restrained.

“Where will they sleep?” Endora asked.

“Logan is getting their air mattress.” Aidan headed over to the bed and grabbed an edge.

She crawled to the other side. “What are you doing?”

“I wouldn’t get that close to the end,” I warned as he pushed the bed against the wall. “We have to make room for their bed.”

Endora shivered. “I don’t want to share a room. Can’t I have this one to myself?”

“Not after you tried to kill Emma.” Amethyst’s hard tone caught me off guard. “Privileges are stripped when you try to hurt one of your own.”

“I’m not one of you,” Endora spat, spattering Aidan’s face with spittle.

“Well, that was lovely.” Aidan wiped the spittle away and stepped back. “I think I need a shower.”

“If we’d kept her handcuffed, you wouldn’t have that problem,” Gabby muttered loud enough for everyone to hear.

Ada backed against the wall. “Just let it go.”

“It’s easy for you to say.” Gabby narrowed her eyes. “You don’t know anything about the outside world.”

“What the f**k do you mean?” Honor flexed her fingers and popped her neck.

“You guys lived in the sticks.” Gabby placed her hands on her hips. “And didn’t get out much.”

“Okay, that’s enough.” It was time for me to take control of the situation before it got worse. “It’s late, and everyone’s emotions are short.”

“She’s right.” Amethyst rubbed her forehead like she had a headache. “We’re all tired and overwhelmed.”

Footsteps in the hallway alerted us to Logan right before he reentered the room. He had the mattress under an arm while Ivory trailed after him, carrying the pillows and covers.

He tossed the bed on the ground and scanned the room. “I guess the room is as secure as possible.” He covered his mouth as he yawned. “Let’s go back to bed.”

“That’s what we were just talking about.” Gabby looped her arm through his, and as the two passed me, I snatched the keys from Gabby’s hands. “I’ll keep these for now.”

“Fine. I guess it’s back to an air mattress in the den” They continued to the room.

“I’m sorry about those two.” Maybe Endora deserved how Logan and Gabby were treating her, but Logan was scary as hell with his silver hair, almost white eyes, and scar. His presence alone made people nervous, never mind if he was chaining you to a bed.

“Why are you being nice to me?” Endora stared at me like she was trying to solve a puzzle. “I tried to kill you.”

“Because you didn’t know any better.” I didn’t feel like pouring my heart and soul out to her. Exhaustion had finally hit me. “Do you need anything? If not, I’m going to get some rest too.”

“No.” The word sounded more like a question.

“Okay, let’s go.” Aidan intertwined his fingers with mine, and we walked out of the room together.

Honor followed behind us. “I’ll push the mattress in front of the window and door when everyone gets out.” She brushed her hand along my arm. “We’ll link with you if we need anything.”

Amethyst followed us out. “Goodnight, you two.”

“Night.” We walked down the hallway and headed straight back to our bedroom. My legs grew heavy with each step.

Aidan lay on the bed and opened his arms to me. Are you okay?

I’m fine . I cuddled against him, enjoying the warmth of his embrace. I’m so tired. I’ve been struggling to sleep.

Well then, let’s try again.

I laid my head on his chest and let my eyelids shut.

A loud knock sounded on the door, stirring me from my rest. It took a second for my brain to catch up with my ears.

It’s Endora. Aidan’s arm tightened around my waist. We can tell her to come back later.

We can’t do that. Especially since it was her. We needed to make her feel important and valued. “Is everything okay?”

“No.” Endora’s voice cracked. “It’s not.”

I jumped to my feet and opened the door. “What’s wrong?”

“It’s a good thing I have pants on,” Aidan grumbled as he grabbed his shirt from the side of the bed and slipped it on.

Endora blinked and cleared her throat. “Your cousin might need your assistance.”

“Cousin?” It took a few seconds before it clicked. “Finn?”