They’re going to kill Tristan, and I feel no remorse about that. He left me to burn alive in the middle of nowhere. Whatever they do to him, he deserves.
“I feel dizzy.” The words exhale out on a forced breath, and there’s loud beeping from the machine next to me as bright white enters my vision. At first, I think it’s a light, but then I realize it's my body failing me.
As I hear the continual flatline tone, I wonder, will I ever get to love?
CHAPTER6
Severo
She had nightmares. All fucking night. And from the way she was mumbling and begging to let her die, I know it was from the night of the fire. She begged us while we waited for the ambulance, after they lost her on the scene, and then on the ride to the hospital. After that, she was sedated until she was stable and through the worst of it. But I know, I fucking know that if she’d been lucid, she’d have still begged to die.
Aria is the strongest woman I know and yet the most fragile. I hate the amount of shit she's lived through, the things she never knew happened, and the things she’s going to have to face in the future. All because of her name. What she means to so many people. Seven and I included.
We’ve done our best to avoid making personal enemies, but people in this business hold grudges. Fabricate problems. And we’re not fucking perfect. The best we can do is make sure our girl knows how to handle herself.
“Stop!” Seven barks from behind where I’m standing, hands braced on the counter, arms flexing, waiting for her next attack. He doesn’t need to see my face to know what I’m thinking.
“I can’t.” It’d make life easier if I could.
“We can’t control what might happen, only what does happen, brother.” Without looking at him, I know he’s moving to sit at the counter. Usually, I’m the level-headed one and Sev is the one going off the rails.
Not when it comes to Aria, it seems.
“She was between us all night, and we still couldn’t protect her.” The coffeemaker beeps, and I have flashbacks of when she flatlined in the dirt. Like she had been thrown away and meant nothing when, in reality, she means everything.
“She also didn’t wake up screaming and crying and wishing she were dead. At least she remained asleep.” Freezing, I spin to look at him.
“She does that?” How the fuck did I not know this?
“Frequently.” How the fuck doesheknow this?
Slamming a cup in front of him, I debate tossing the coffee on his head. “Why do you know this, and I don’t?”
“I’m not supposed to. I overheard Lilith and King talking about it a couple of months ago. As graduation neared, they felt it was getting worse. I had hoped, with us, it wouldn’t be an issue.” I can see in his eyes that keeping that bit of information to himself has eaten at him.
“What do we do then?” I’m at a loss about it. I’ve never dealt with nightmares before. Let alone with someone I care so deeply about.
“What do you do about what?” We both turn to see Aria walking into the kitchen, wearing an old sweatshirt of mine. She appears far more rested than I would have thought for someone who was tossing and turning all night.
“Your nightmares,” Seven responds to her bluntly.
She grows pale as her steps slow, and I can see the moment the memories come flooding back because she untucks her hair and brings it forward to hide her face while pulling the hem of the shirt down to cover the scars on her thighs. I hate that she resorts to becoming this fearful little girl all over again.
“Did I wake you up last night?” I notice she doesn’t apologize, which she usually would have, so I take that as a good sign.
“On and off,” I say. “But they were not as bad as when you’re at home, apparently.”
“They never stopped. The nightmares. For years, Hadley or my mom would sleep with me almost every night. Sometimes Holden did too, but I’d wake up more terrified because, well, he’s a man.” Her shrug is anything but passive.
“You didn’t wake up last night.” She nods. “Why?”
She looks between us like we’re a couple of idiots. “Don’t you know?”
Seven and I share a look, trying to figure it out. We’ve got nothing.
“No,” we answer as one.
* * *