There’s no incessant beeping when I next wake up, and warmth surrounds me, letting me know that I’m safe, that the twins are still here. My muscles relax, my body sinking into the comfort that theirs give me.
Opening my eyes, I find the room dark, though the light around the blackout curtains tells me it’s daylight.
“Hello, sleeping beauty,” Oct murmurs in a deep, husky voice that sends goosebumps cascading over my skin.
“W–what time is it?” I ask, my voice scratchy and sounding like I smoke forty cigarettes a day. I wince, swallowing to ease the ache.
“Here, Cinders.” A plastic cup of water is being held by Cas as he leans over the side of the bed and Kit, who is also awake.
Shuffling up on the bed and ignoring the twinges of pain that emit from my various wounds, I sit up enough to take the cup and drink it down.
“Thanks,” I croak, my throat still sore even after the refreshing drink.
“Always,” Cas says, leaning down and placing a soft kiss on my forehead. Tears sting my eyes at the tender gesture, and reaching up, I wrap my arms around his neck and pull him closer. The cup hits the floor with a soft thud as his arms encase me, no doubt squashing Oct, but I need to hold Cas right now.
“I’m so sorry, Cas,” I whisper, the lump in my throat having nothing to do with the pain of my injuries. “I couldn’t see another way, but I’m glad you found me.”
Sobs rack my body as the thought that I almost lost them, by my hand, comes crashing down on me. I would never have held Cas again, never seen Oct’s smile or Prince’s scowl, and never felt Kit hold me like he is now. Even if what happened in that attic will haunt me for the rest of my life, for the first time in a long time, I’m not alone, and I almost gave all that up. Almost let Odette win.
“Shhhh, Little Cinders. It’s okay. You’re here now and that’s all that matters,” Cas soothes, though his voice is thick with emotion too as his arms tighten around me. He holds me like he is terrified I’ll slip away, and I can’t blame him.
“We’ll never let you go, Little Sis,” Oct assures me thickly, his arms around me too until all three of them are touching me, comforting me like they have done from the first moment I met them.
My sobs soon subside, and pulling away, my brows dip when I see Prince across the room, anguish written across his features.
“Prince?”
Cas steps back, giving me an unobstructed view of Prince. He looks broken, his shoulders slumped, his hands clawed into fists, and the skin around his eyes bunched.
“It’s me who should be apologizing, not you,” he rasps, the words harsh and cutting. “If I’d done more, this never would have happened. Fuck, Sugar. I’m so fucking sorry.” Tears glisten in his eyes, making the green sparkle and shine like gems even in the low light of the room.
“Oh, Prince,” I breathe out, my throat becoming even tighter as he just stands there. I want to get up and go to him, but my exhausted body can’t move just yet. “Please come here.”
The twins get out of bed, my heart giving a thud at the loss of their warmth, but something in my gaze and the way my body tenses up must convince Prince because he’s striding across the room in seconds, drawing me into his arms and pulling me close.
I breathe him in, his leather and spiced rum scent washing over me like a soothing balm for my soul. My eyes close as the tension leaves my limbs, a huge breath fanning against his skin.
“This is not your fault, Prince,” I tell him, my face buried against his neck as I inhale his scent. “You are not to blame for your mother’s sins.”
His arms tighten around me, pain flaring from my various hurts, but I don’t stop him. I need the anchor he’s providing as much as he needs to give it.
“I will atone for them anyway, darlin’,” he whispers, pulling away so that I’m looking into his eyes. One of his arms releases me, coming up to cup my cheek. “I will make all of this right, I swear it.”
Before I can argue and tell him he doesn’t need to shoulder the burden alone, his lips touch mine in the softest caress. My entire body lights up as it relaxes, like it knows that we are home in his arms, his lips pressed against mine.
My tongue darts out, seeking an entry, which he gives me with a masculine groan, his own coming to dance with mine. His kiss is everything I need; a promise to get revenge and an apology for not stopping that awful night from happening. I forgive him with every swipe of my tongue, telling him with my lips that he is not alone and that I will be by his side from now on. No more trying to take the easy way out.
He ends the kiss with small pecks on my lips, shivers rolling across my skin at the light touch. I’m not ready for anything more yet, but a small amount of relief flows through me knowing that their touch doesn’t send me into a panic. It gives me hope that the attic has not ruined me completely.
“I love you, Ember Everly,” he whispers against my lips.
“I love you back, Prince,” I reply, placing one last kiss on his plush lips.
“But if you ever hurt yourself like that again, I will spank you so hard, Sugar, you’ll not be able to sit down for months.” I blink at his harsh tone, then my mouth tilts up into a small smile.
“Not a deterrent, Prince,” I say, and heat flares in his emerald eyes, making them shine for a different reason. “Now, can you help me to the bathroom? I need a wee.”
He chuckles, and the sound is like walking outside in the sunshine after the harshest winter.
“Anything for you, my love.”
After Prince helps me to the bathroom and refuses to leave even when I sit down on the toilet—domineering bastard—I tell him he can make himself useful by helping me in the shower. I need to wash the last few days from my skin, and even though it looks like someone has taken the worst of the blood off, I still feel unclean.
I feel so much better once I’m dried and in a new hospital gown, although the way Prince’s jaw clenched as he catalogued every bruise with fire in his eyes made it difficult to live in the denial my mind wants to at the moment. I know that I’ll need to face what happened head-on at some point, just not right now.
Prince has just finished helping me back into bed when the door opens and a female doctor walks in, Odette at her side. The tension in the room ratchets until I can barely breathe, or that could be because of seeing her for the first time since my attack, an attack she not only orchestrated but profited from.
“Get the fuck out,” Prince growls, matching sounds of displeasure coming from the other boys as Odette stands there wide-eyed.
“I just want to check—”
“I don’t want her in here,” I tell the doctor, tearing my gaze away from Odette and pretending like she doesn’t exist. “That’s my right as the patient, isn’t it?”
“Of course, Ember,” the doctor agrees, turning to Odette. “Can you wait outside please, Mrs Everly?”
Odette’s left eye twitches, but that’s the only sign that she’s pissed. “I’ll be just outside.”
We all watch as she leaves, and a small fissure of satisfaction lifts my lips in a smile at the power I just had over her. Take that, bitch.
“Now, how are you feeling, Ember?” the doctor asks, taking my notes from the bottom of the bed and looking over them.
“Still quite sore, especially…” I trail off, and a deep sigh leaves her lips as she pats my leg in comfort.
“I think all being well, you should be able to go home in the next day or two after talking to one of our councillors about what happened with a referral for some counselling sessions that I strongly advise you to take.” Her tone is gentle, yet firm, and I nod, knowing that actually speaking to someone about what happened might be the best road to recovery. “Normally, we’d advise a stay in one of our mental health support units, but given the…circumstances, I think we can let you home for your recovery. I’ll get the nurse to bring you some medication for the pain.”
With a last squeeze of my leg, she leaves, and Odette peers in before the door closes again.
“Well, at least she didn’t outright deny what happened like that other asshole,” Oct states with a huff, and my forehead wrinkles.
“What do you mean?” I ask him, an uneasiness crawling along my spine.
Prince heaves a sigh before taking my hand. “When you first woke up, you were out of it and the doctor, a male doctor, came in here to check on you,” he tells me, his hand holding mine, his thumb tracing circles across my skin. Nausea tingles in the corners of my mouth, the idea of an unknown man in here whilst I was so vulnerable making my breaths pant. The only reason for me not having a full-blown panic attack right now is because I know the guys haven’t left me alone, that they were here to keep me safe. “We asked about the cops and when they were going to get here.”
“Okay,” I say, unsure where he’s going with this but knowing that it won’t be good by the way his shoulders cave in a little. A chill settles over me, my stomach quivering as I wait to hear what he says next.
“He told us there was no need for the law to get involved because it was an attempted suicide and nothing else.” His green eyes bore into mine, his brows deeply furrowed as he waits for me to absorb the information.
“What?” My skin prickles as a coldness hits my centre. How can they deny what happened to me? It’s written all over my body in shades of purple and red, in the pain that throbs from the most intimate of places.
“He denied they had raped you, Cinders,” Cas says, coming up to my other side and taking my frozen hand in his warm one, pressing it to his lips.
“How?” I question, taking a deep breath as the murky memories try to resurface. “I can feel the stitches in my pussy, Cas. How can they say nothing happened?”
His jaw tightens, and he doesn’t need to answer for me to know the truth.
Odette.
She somehow made it so that no record of what happened exists. My skin flushes hot, rage chasing the cold away as my blood flows to my extremities. That. Fucking. Bitch.
“That’s not all, Sugar,” Prince adds quietly, and I swing my gaze back to him. He looks tortured, his jaw a solid line. “She lied about your father’s Will.”
“The fuck?” I hear Kit exclaim, but I can’t look away from Prince as he goes on, my heart racing.
“His business was flourishing, darlin’. There was no debt and you are his sole heir. You’re rich, Ember. Shit, you probably never have to work a day in your life if you don’t want to.” His jaw is tight, his nostrils flared as he speaks.
The breath punches out of me and I’m beyond grateful for being in bed because I would have fallen down if I’d been standing. A cry of anguish has my head snapping to the side to see Oct in Kit’s arms, tears streaming down his face.
“Oct?” I whisper as there’s an ache behind my eyes, and then it hits me. That night wasn’t just awful for me. They had to go through it too, maybe in a less violent way, but it must haunt them just as bad as it does me.
“I’m going to fucking kill her,” Kit seethes while holding his brother, his own eyes glassy and his body bristling and trembling.
I want to get out of bed and go to him, hold them all as we mourn everything that we’ve lost because of this woman, but my body won’t comply, and a noise of pained frustration leaves my lips.
“Kit, Oct, she needs you,” Prince commands, and my body sags, some of the tension draining from my muscles as the twins immediately come to me, climbing back into the bed and pulling me close until all I can feel and smell is them.
“All of that for nothing,” Oct breathes out against the top of my head. I pull back, enough so I can look into his eyes, my palm cradling his damp cheek.
“That which doesn’t kill us,” I say softly, knowing that really, this has brought us closer, strengthened us. That’s the only way I can look at it right now. Anything else and I won’t stop screaming.
“Only makes us stronger,” he replies, bringing his lips down to mine. I taste our sadness, our despair as we press our lips together and take comfort from each other.
“There’s more, Cinders,” Cas whispers, and I turn to face him, noting how ashen his complexion is. “She—” He pauses, swallowing before briefly closing his eyes as I wait for the next axe to fall. “It appears as though she orchestrated the death of your father. Of all our fathers.”
All the breath leaves me, whooshing out of my lungs until I’m empty. Silent tears track down my cheeks, a numbness settling over me at the number of blows I’ve just been dealt with. She took everything; she took my father, my one constant away, and for what? For his money?
A rasping breath in front of me brings me back to the present, and a sob at my back reminds me she may have taken my dad, but she also gave me four new protectors.
I’ve a feeling we’ll need to be strong for what lies ahead. Odette will be punished, she will answer for her crimes, and we have something that she doesn’t. We have each other, and for that, I am beyond grateful.
It’s a thought that brings a small smile to my lips and air into my lungs as Oct pulls away.
“What’s that for, Little Sis?” he asks, his thumb tracing my lips, his face less full of desolation than it was a moment ago.
“She brought about her own destruction. We might never have found each other if not for her scheming, and you guys might never have got free from her clutches. So in a way, I suppose we should be a little grateful, fucked up as it sounds.” My nose wrinkles at that, but it is true. I might still have my father, but I wouldn’t have the four of them in my life, and the idea of them not being here fills me with dread.
“We would have found you, Pretty Thing,” Kit murmurs from behind me. “It may have taken time, but we were always meant to be together.”
“And it won’t earn her any mercy,” Prince states, his voice ice-cold. I look beyond Oct’s shoulder to find Prince still there, standing next to the bed, his face set in hard lines.
“She will pay, Little Cinders. We have enough on her to send her down for a long time, and with your riches, we can finally break her spell,” Cas says from behind me, and I twist to find him on the other side of the bed.
“It’s yours, Cas, however you need it.”
He gives me a smile, one that warms me to my toes, and I know we are no longer powerless. We have everything we need to take her down, to seek revenge for the wrongs she’s done us.
Checkmate, step-motherfucker.
