Page 36 of Tangled Hearts

“Shit, I’m so sorry, Maxton,” I said, laying a hand on his shoulder for comfort.

“Thank you,” he said, his words full of melancholy.

He quickly turned around to see a bloody stained Oria come out of the cabin. Her face looked tired, but she still had a remnant glow to her.

“He’s stable, but he’s gonna need a lot of rest.” She sat between us, looping her arm within my own. “He hit an artery and had three stab wounds.”

“How did we miss that?” I turned towards her.

“One on his lower back, one on his side and another on his thigh.” She sighed. “His side and his thigh took the brunt of the attack.”

“We were both covered in blood. I didn’t think anything of all the blood on him.” Maxton sounded disappointed.

“He was being a stubborn asshole,” Oria said, grabbing his hand too. “He needs to learn he endangered us by trying to brush his hurt aside.”

“That's Ryder for you,” I said.

“Are you guys ok?” She looked at each of us, scrutinizing us.

“Peachy, Blondie.” I kissed her cheek.

“Just starving, Sol,” Maxton said.

“I’m hungry too,” she said, leaning her head against my shoulder, yawning loudly.

“Maybe a nap before Gray gets back?”

“I’m too restless,” she said. “I’m too worried about Ryder and what the hell comes next.”

“Before we dive into the hard stuff, good food, a warm shower and some sleep,” I said, holding her delicate hand in mine.

“We are never going to escape her, huh?”

“I don’t think so, Blondie,” I said truthfully.

“She won’t stop till you are in her grasp again, and I don’t think Taylin will stop either,” Max said with an edge to his voice. “We are going to have to make some tough choices.”

“I still can’t believe he is your brother,” Oria said. “I didn’t notice it at first, but the longer I am with you the more I see the similarities.”

Max grunted. “After sitting on his betrayal for two hundred years, I hate to call him my brother.”

“Max?” Oria’s voice was hesitant.

“Yes, Sol?”

“I think I’m ready to hear everything,” she said, as if it pained her to say the words. “Maybe not everything but I need to know about us.”

“What do you want to know?” He moved his body until he was looking at her.

“Were you only my guard? Why do I feel like you were more?”

“No, we grew up together. My father protected your father, so we were together quite often,” he said with a smile. “We were inseparable. Where you went, I followed and the other way around.”

“I think I remember that,” she said, her voice full of happiness. “We used to have tea parties and great battles with wooden swords your father made for us.”

“Yes, we were schooled together and used to sneak out of the castle just so we could drink the wine I stole from the kitchen,” Max laughed. “Once we became teenagers, we didn’t see each other as often but we always managed to sneak away for an hour to lay in the garden and talk about our days.”

“We used to take wine and whatever we could from the kitchen,” Oria chuckled. “How come I don’t remember Taylin?”

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