Page 72 of Shattered Darkness

I don’t really do much, I just do what I normally do and start talking to her in my mind, hoping that she hears me. I ask her to send Cain back or to let him know that we need him. Waiting a moment, it's clear that she’s not going to reply, but I’m hoping that she has at least heard me.

“Anything?” Levi asks.

I shake my head, “She didn’t reply, but that doesn’t mean she didn’t hear me, I guess we’re just going to have to wait and see.”

“At least we’ve tried,” Erin says with a yawn.

“We should all probably get some sleep,” Kyle says, as Erin’s yawn starts off a round of them, and everyone starts yawning.

A pit of unease swirls in my stomach, and I can’t help but say, “Actually, with everything that happened, I’d rather that we stuck together and didn’t split up for any length of time. Does that sound crazy?”

Erin immediately shakes her head, “No, I was just about to ask if we can stay together, especially since the last time something big happened, we ended up split up.”

“I’m with you guys. I’d rather we all stayed together,” Cole agrees.

“Show of hands then,” Levi says with a smile like he knows exactly what the answer is going to be, “who wants to stay here tonight?”

As predicted, everyone raises their hands, and I think we’re all feeling a bit vulnerable with three of our own being taken and the outcomes that could have happened.

“Well, that’s settled it then,” Damon chuckles.

“I don’t know about you guys, but I need my own comforter and pyjamas,” Dash adds.

“Me too,” Cole agrees as he stands, “why don’t we all get changed and grab the things that we need and then meet back here?”

“Good idea,” Levi agrees, “we can put a movie on or something.”

“Sounds good to me, so long as it’s light-hearted and has nothing to do with supernaturals,” Dash says as he gets up, threading his fingers through Erin’s.

“So, an Earth Realm film then?” Kysen smirks.

“Yeah,” Dash agrees.

“Deal, we’ll sort it, you guys, be quick. Sound the alarm if something looks amiss,” Levi orders, and everyone nods their agreement before they all rush out.

Once they’re gone, Maverick suggests, “Why don’t we push the couches back so everyone can set themselves up on the floor? It should be a big enough space.”

“Good idea,” I reply as I reluctantly get up from Kai’s lap.

It doesn’t take us long to set it all up, and by the time I’m coming out of my room after changing into my pyjamas, everyone else is back and settled down.

“Come snuggle,” Kai says, opening up the blankets, and I settle between Kai and Jax. I don’t think he’s willing to let Kai out of his sight either, and I wonder how much longer it will be before they face the feelings they have for each other.

Happily, I settle down, and once Levi is sure that everyone is accounted for and happy, he puts the movie on. It's one that we’ve watched before and is a comfort move for the majority of us. No supernatural’s in sight.

∞∞∞

I don’t know when I fell asleep but I do know that I felt far more relaxed with everyone with us, at least I know for certain that they’re all safe. A quick glance around at everyone fast asleep and the lack of light coming through the windows lets me know that it’s the middle of the night still, and I can’t have been sleeping for that long.

Carefully moving from between Jax and Kai until I’m sitting up, I try to work out why I’m awake when I really should be sleeping. I can’t figure it out, but I decide that while I’m awake, I may as well get a drink. They guys must be exhausted because neither of them wakes up when I wriggle my way free of them both. I carefully step over the others and head to the kitchen, quietly pouring myself a drink.

A sound near the door catches my attention and when I look to see what made the noise, despite thinking that it’s most likely someone moving in the room, I’m shocked to see a thick folded piece of paper being slid under the door. Frowning, I race over to the door quickly, or at least try to. It's not that quick because I’m having to step over all of the others carefully. When I do finally get to the door, I pull it open and look down the corridor. It didn’t take me that long to get here but whoever slid the note under the door has disappeared.

Closing the door, I glance down at the note on the floor. I don’t particularly want to pick it up in case it is poisoned, but I am incredibly curious about what it could say, so I tease a tiny stream of magic away and aim it at the note, allowing it to probe it and tell me if it is safe to touch. When my magic comes back to me, I know that there’s nothing to be worried about.

“What’s that?” Maverick asks, his voice making me jump, he wraps his arms around me and not sounding very apologetic adds, “Sorry, Titch, I didn’t mean to make you jump.”

“Sure you didn’t,” I tease and then continue more seriously, “It got posted under the door when I was getting a drink.”

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