The events of the last twenty four hours swirl through my head in pieces.
Celeste’s warnings. Daniel’s quiet recruitment. Hazel and Violet circling. Devin talking to the wrong people.
It feels like standing in the centre of a slow forming storm, watching clouds roll in from every direction.
I hear the bathroom door open.
I know it is Axel before I turn, the bond giving him away as clearly as footsteps ever could, and when I glance over my shoulder he is already stripping off his shirt, his expression careful, his movements unhurried.
“Company,” I say lightly.
“Only if you want it,” he replies, just as lightly, and the fact that he says it like that matters more than I will ever admit out loud.
I turn fully then, water sliding down my skin, meeting his gaze without hesitation.
“I wa
