Page 77 of Fate Awakened

“Liv’s been texting you. I guess you three always do Thanksgiving together. Keith and his parents already RSVP’d. The problem is she doesn’t know you were taken. She doesn’t even know you're hurt. I didn’t have the heart to give her that news without knowing if you’d be up any minute. I know you wouldn’t want her to worry. The second you open those beautiful flame-kissed eyes, I promise I’ll fill her in so she knows you’re okay.”

“Anyway, I texted her back, as you, of course, letting her know you were bringing me to dinner. I thought maybe if I said we’d be there, something in you’d know you had somewhere to be, and it would bring you back to me. You didn’t tell me Liv was so scary. I already know she’s prepared to give me the third degree about keeping you away from her. It’s okay. I can take it. By the end of the dinner, she’ll know that I’m no threat.”

“I want you to have your friends and your life: every life experience and every memory. I just want to be there with you while you experience them. I want my life to be about making your dreams come true, but to do that, I need you to wake up. I need you to come back to me. If I could come to you in your head, I would. There is no darkness that can keep me from your light,” I pause as a tear falls, my voice becoming choked up, as I allow it to fall into my lap. I welcome the pain. As long as I’m feeling it and she isn’t.

“I need your light back, Firefly. The world’s too dark without you. This can’t be the end for us. After everything you’ve endured, now we get our beginning. We get to start our happily ever after. If that means Boston, then we move. If that's Europe, Asia, or Australia, I’ll follow you in circles if it means spending my life by your side.” I squeeze her hand, threading my fingers between hers.

“I might be getting a bit ahead of myself.” I let out a low laugh. “You don’t even know that I love you yet. I mean, I hope you know, but I haven’t gotten to see your face as I say the words. Knowing with every fiber of my being that…” I don’t get to finish the statement because I’m interrupted.

Dante: I know you’re busy, but I need you at the council meeting.

Cain: I’m not leaving her.

Dante: This is about her. I know you’ll want a say in what we do going forward.

Cain: What do you mean ‘a say’? I have the only say in that room regarding my Mate.

Dante: Then you need to be here because it's bigger than your Mate. Conference room twenty minutes. I’ll send Quinn to sit with her so she isn’t alone if she wakes.

Cain: Fine. Have Pres put her camera feed on the screen across from me.

My eyes flash to the monitors, reviewing the details for the tenth time. Using my remaining time, I bring my lips to her knuckles, softly kissing each one in turn, memorizing every crease and wrinkle. Hours wouldn’t be enough time to learn every facet, every feature. Decades won’t be enough time with her.

“You’ll have to entertain yourself for a while, Firefly. Duty calls. Now I don’t want to hear about you terrorizing the doctors or talking Quinn’s ear off. She’s too nice to tell you to stop.” I smile, knowing how ridiculous I must sound to anyone else. She’d sass me, roll her eyes, and give me shit.

Fuck, I miss it when she’s mean to me.

The click of the door pulls my attention as Quinn quietly steps in. Her face is somber, and she’s missing the usual peppiness that radiates from her. I nod, forcing a smile I hope she reads as a thank you before standing from the chair. I release a sigh, forcing out the aches and tension the stress has put on my body. Leaning over the bed, I place a tender kiss at the center of her forehead.

“Keep me in your dreams, Firefly,” I whisper before retreating. As I close the door, I hear Quinn’s sweet voice introduce herself.

“Hi, Brielle. I’m Quinn. Would it be okay if I read to you for a little while? I’m sorry to start a few chapters in, but I just need to know what happens with these two! Quick recap. It’s called Uncaged, by Juliet Thomas, and this story is about Sofie and...” Her animated voice fades as the door closes, and I retreat down the hall. For a moment, I let myself believe that everything will be okay.

***

I’m the last to arrive in the conference room, one minute later than I was supposed to arrive. I avoid the faces of the members around me and throw myself into my regular seat, thankful that Dante followed through with my request for Pres. My attention locks on the screen that shows her lying there, and I fight back the urge to return to her.

“Let’s get to it. I appreciate you coming on short notice to yet another meeting. Lately, I’ve asked quite a lot of you in your various roles, and I apologize for that. I hope we can return to some semblance of normal in the coming weeks. That being said, we have to talk about the ramifications of the botched trade deal,” he says

“It wasn’t botched. We got Brielle, and they got Kole. That was the deal,” Erik interrupts.

“We killed their Second,” Dante snaps, showing his temper, which is usually rather long.

“They killed Hudson and nearly killed Cain’s Mate! You can’t honestly tell me they got the worse end of this.” Erik shouts back, his grief written all over his face. He’s barely hanging on to his control.

“Enough.” The command in Dante’s voice silences him.

I glance from Erik to Dante, noticing how worn out everyone appears, and my stomach clenches.

This is my fault. All of this is because of me.

“Deacon has notified the LLC regulations committee of his side of the events from Monday night. Several complaints are being filed,” Dante finished, his eyes flying to me with concern.

“I’ll stand before the counsel for Antonio’s death,” I state, allowing no emotion into my voice. “All of this falls on me. It was my Mate. I have the right to protect her from harm.”

“Absolutely not. We will send the appropriate counterclaim. No one will be going to a hearing. It won’t get that far once they’ve heard our account. Besides, they’ll want Jess and Wyatt should it come to that,” Dante says, brushing off my statement.

My eyes land back on the screen, noting Quinn flipping the pages in her book as she reads aloud.

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