Page 52 of Devoted

“No,” Noah said quietly. “You’re not in your right mind, and I’m not going to let you do something you’ll regret later.”

Everything I’d been feeling was boiling at the surface now. All the frustration. Heartache. It broke free in the only emotion I readily accepted.Anger.

I glared at Rami over his shoulder. “I won’t regret it.”

Rami huffed and rolled his eyes. “I said I’m sorry. What more do you want from me?”

Growling, I stepped to the side to launch myself at him. “You didn’t say you’re sorry.”

I barely made it a step before I went flying backwards. I went straight over the sofa, not stopping until my back collided with the wall.

The force of it had reason slamming back into me. What the fuck was I doing? Rami had just been trying to help and there I was trying to attack him.

As quickly as it had arrived, the monster retreated, leaving shame in its place.

I sighed, looking up at Rami from my sprawled position on the floor. “Guess I deserved that.”

Rami shook his head. “Wasn’t me. And no, you didn’t. I deserved a kicking for not watching my words.”

Noah sniffed, crossing the room to extend a hand to me. “You all need to learn to communicate with words, not fists and powers.”

“Says he who just slammed me into a wall,” I muttered, accepting his hand begrudgingly and getting to my feet.

“I was speaking the only language you seem to understand,” Noah said. “Now, both of you shake hands and apologise.”

I extended a hand to Rami. “Sorry, brother.”

He ignored my hand, instead pulling me in for a bone-crushing hug. “No apology needed. I’m sorry for being insensitive. If Sam is your mate, I’m going to need to educate myself on some stuff.”

“Speak to Benji,” Noah advised. “If it’s mental health related…” He looked at me questioningly. I nodded to confirm and he continued. “Benji is the one to ask. If he knows about this, I imagine he’s already doing a deep-dive.”

“He is,” I said, pulling out of Rami’s embrace. “I really am sorry. This whole situation is fucking with my head. I hate that he’s having a bad day and I can’t be there for him.”

Selfishly, I also hated that the question of whether or not he was my mate was going to need to wait for another day.

There’s no rush,I reminded myself.You’ve got time.

Sensing my emotions were still as fragile as spun sugar, Noah persuaded me to visit a nearby art gallery with him. My collision with the wall had ruined yet another painting, and Noah had decided it was time to get some new pieces.

I didn’t see the point, in all honesty. It wasn’t like any of them lasted more than a couple of years with how we all carried on. But after Sam had confirmed he didn’t need anything other than sleep, I was at a loose end. As much as I wanted to call him, that wasn’t what he wanted right now.

I had to respect that.

What was bothering me more than anything was that I didn’t know why he was having a bad day. He’d said it wasn’t because of last night, but was he telling the truth? Was it because of me? Or had something else triggered it?

The questions wouldn’t leave my mind. It hadn’t taken much for me to agree to accompany Noah. Anything to get me out of the house and distract me for a bit.

A few hours later, I was trailing around the art gallery after him, bored out of my skull. Art really wasn’t my thing, but it was Noah’s. Given there were only so many times I could check my phone to see if Sam had responded to my last message, it wasn’t like I had anything better to do.

“Just look at the colours,” he said in hushed tones, like speaking too loudly might upset the paintings. “It’s stunning.”

Personally, I thought it looked like someone had dipped their brush in paint and then just flicked it at the canvas, but to eachtheir own. “If you like it that much, you should put it in your personal wing.”

His lips curled in amusement. “I take it it’s not to your taste then?”

I shrugged. “Not really, but none of these are. I’m just saying, if you like it enough to want to keep it, don’t hang it in the main areas. The longest a painting has survived there is three years.”

Noah sighed. “Honestly, I had no idea the Seraphim were so…heated.”

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