Page 105 of Vengeful Guard

Lara watches Kael carry my things upstairs, his biceps bulging.

She hums, looking at me. “Now that I notice, he is kind of hot.”

I elbow her. She giggles, and I roll my eyes. I am starting to regret telling her. She’s going to tease me relentlessly.

But really, it was worth it. I feel like a weight has been lifted off my shoulders, feel freer in a way. And with how heavy our lives are right now, that’s a good thing.

Gray and Declan are both at the hospital, so I don’t have to worry about them, at least not yet. I need to focus on my family, stop thinking about Kael, but it’s difficult. When you try not to think about something, it seems to be the only thing you can think about.

I take a couple of bags upstairs and nearly bump into Kael in the hall.

He takes hold of my shoulders, physically picking me up and putting me on the other side of him. His face is blank while heat rushes through me at his touch.

I clear my throat, and he turns around.

“Need something, Paige?”

I frown. Normally, he’d call me “princess” or something, but I guess now it’s back to my name.

“No,” I say finally, and he heads back down the stairs to get the rest of my things.

Kael will be staying in the guest room next to mine, and he doesn’t have much to move in, just his two duffel bags and his backpack.

He makes short work of getting us both moved in, and I sit down on my childhood bed, sighing heavily.

I guess this is just how we deal with each other now—blank expressions and a word here and there. It’s not what I’d expected after everything that happened between us lately, but it’s the way things are. I just have to deal with it.

Declan arrives home while I’m down in the living room, watching television with Lara while Kael stands nearby.

He smiles tiredly at me. “It’s good to see you home, a’stor.”

“I’m sorry I hesitated.” I get up to hug him. “You’re right. We all need to be together for this.”

I pause. “How’s he doing? Any change?”

Declan shakes his head. “Not yet. The doctor says the next few days are still touch and go. We’ll just have to see how it goes.”

I nod, tears springing to the backs of my eyes.

“You’ll stay with him tomorrow night, and Lara will take Tuesday.”

Lara nods from the couch.

“Will Kael come with me to the hospital?”

Declan nods. “Nothing changed just because you are here now. He’s to go wherever you go. I can’t trust anyone else as much as I trust him.”

I nod, thinking how wrong he is. Things have changed. And it’ll be a little awkward if Kael keeps being so quiet.

I sleep fitfully that night, even though I don’t remember my dreams. In the morning, I get ready to go to the hospital, wearing comfy clothes, sweatpants and a T-shirt. When I get downstairs, Kael waits by the door.

“Ready?”

“As I’ll ever be.” I sigh heavily and walk to the door, biting my lip.

“It’s going to be okay,” Kael says in a low voice, but I’m not sure I believe him. It does make me feel a bit better that he cares enough to say it, though.

At the hospital, it seems to take no time at all to get to Da’s room. Kael can’t come in because Da’s only allowed one visitor, so he stays in the waiting room.

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