Page 30 of Origins

“Angel, I don’t think I’m going to be able to keep my hands off of you tonight.” He murmured against my ear.

I swallowed hard, trying to prevent the lump in my throat from turning into a sob.

Sulien’s expression softened as he let his hand linger on my stomach. “Callie, are you okay?”

I nodded, still fighting back tears. “Just tired.”

“I know, and I’m sorry.” He whispered, finally moving his hand from my stomach to cupping my chin. “You’ve been working hard on everything, and I don’t want you to worry about a thing tonight, okay? I promise, the second we’re back at the apartment, I’ll take care of you, and you can rest.”

I tried to smile, but as the tears spilled out, I realized I probably looked crazy. That fact made me cry more, so I decided to hide the truth by burying my face in his chest. At first, my action caused Sulien to tense. But, after a beat of hesitation, he softly patted my back.

“Come on, Sunshine, let’s get you home.”

Chapter 10

Sulien

After Callie retreated to her room, her sister slipped me fifty dollars and gave me detailed instructions: stop on the way home and surprise Callie with everything she’d need for a nice bath. While she soaked, I was to get her favorite pizza—banana peppers, mushrooms, spinach, and extra sauce. I also needed to ask for packets of red pepper flakes and parmesan. If I had enough money left over—which I didn’t—I was supposed to get her dessert too.

Luckily, when I told Kane about everything I was doing, he willingly offered up the few extra dollars I needed. His only stipulation was that I get him pizza while I was there too. Well, that and he wanted to cuddle with Callie tonight.

Normally, I would’ve fought that last part. But today, I didn’t have the energy to argue, especially because Aurora’s last instruction still had my mind racing with the worst possibilities.

I was under no circumstances to push Callie to talk. If she brought up the topic, I was allowed to listen, but that was it. When I asked for more information, Aurora refused.

But what the hell could Callie have to talk about? Was she dying? Did someone hurt her? All of that had my mind spiraling in a way I couldn’t stop.

The warmth from the pizza box radiated into my hands as I returned to the apartment. Kane and Jace were in the living room, engrossed in a video game. The rhythmic clicking of buttons and the occasional frustrated gruntfilled the air as I quietly shut the door behind me and set dinner on the coffee table.

“Where’s Callie?” I asked, glancing around.

“In the tub,” Jace mumbled, pausing the game to look at me. His usually laid-back expression had turned serious. “Her blood smells weird.”

“What do you mean, her blood smells weird?” I tried to keep my voice low. Our walls were thin, and I didn’t want Callie to overhear this conversation.

The last time Jace mentioned someone’s blood smelling off was when my dad’s cancer had come back. I couldn’t handle Callie being sick too.

Jace shrugged. “Normally, her blood smells sweet, but this past week, it’s gotten earthier.”

“Does she smell sick?” That was the bottom line.

Jace stared at me, brow furrowed. His hemomancy could sense things in the blood long before any test could, but that didn’t change the fact that he was an idiot. “Nah, sick blood smells bitter, almost burnt. Callie’s is still sweet, just… different. And it’s getting more different.”

His vagueness pissed me off. “Should I be worried?”

“Nah, I’m not.” He unpaused the game. “Just keep an eye on her. If she gets worse, take her to the hospital.”

Wow, thank you, Dr. Dumbass.

Despite knowing that Jace was about as bright as a rock, his cryptic warning caused a knot of anxiety to form in my chest. I took a deep breath, reminding myself to focus on what I could do right now, not on the endless possibilities of what could happen later.

“Has she left the bathroom at all?” I asked, looking at the door adjacent to the kitchen, wishing she could have used my bathroom instead.

My room was the master bedroom, and with it came a private bathroom, but all I had was a standing shower. And while that space was good for bending her over and fucking her while I used the tap water to cool off, it wasn’tgood for anything else.

The buttons on Jace’s controllers rapidly clicked as he refused to look away from the TV. “Nah, she’s been in there a while, though. She might have fallen asleep.”

“If you let my girlfriend fall asleep in the bathtub, I’m singeing off your hair,” I warned.

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