Page 48 of Medusa

CHAPTER13

Jaden blinked slowly.Each time his eyelids opened, his pupils were a little smaller. Finally, he felt clear headed enough to sit up. He sniffed the air.

Maddie!

She had actually been there. He was in his own room at home, not the recreated version in his mind. His ribs ached from the awkward sitting position he was in and he sagged back onto the mattress.

Loud footsteps sounded on the stairs—two at a time, must be Finley—and then his doorway was filled by his brother Augustine.

“What areyoudoing here?” Jaden asked, too tired to add the usual bite to his tone.

“Maddie just exited the house in tears,” Augustine snapped. “Pardon me for thinking the worst.”

“I’m not dead yet,” Jaden growled.

“What did you say to her?” Augustine demanded.

“None of your fucking business.” Jaden turned his head away.

“That girl trailed your kidnappers from Valhalla’s Throne, snuck into the house where you were held captive, and froze them like statues, all despite her terror of them. She saved your ass and you sent her away in tears? That made it my business.”

Jaden was surprised to see how earnest Augustine was about this. “She got fucking confused with love,” he said dismissively. “Hardly my fault.”

Augustine snorted. “As if you hadn’t been pining over her these past couple weeks. Wake up, brother, if you are not in love with her, you will be soon.”

“Stop looking at everything through your rose-colored glasses,” Jaden sneered. “I’m not in love with a girl I hooked up with twice.”

Augustine raised an eyebrow.

“Your behavior has been different with this girl than with others in the past. For one, you have not bragged about your conquest even once. Two, you have stopped talking mid-sentence to daydream with a sappy smile on your face. Three, you called out for her multiple times during your sleep.”

Jaden’s jaw dropped. “I didn’t.”

“You did.” Augustine sat in the chair and leaned close to his brother. “And you are going to fix this with that girl as soon as possible. I have her number—”

But Jaden had stopped listening to his brother.

Had he really called out for Maddie in his sleep?

It wouldn’t surprise him.

Jaden thought about how he felt about her. How her energy, for lack of a better word, called to him deep within his soul.

“Holy shit, I love her,” he said, swinging his legs off the side of the bed.

“Where do you think you are going?” Augustine asked.

“I’ve got to tell her.” Jaden pushed back the blankets and struggled to stand up. His ribs pinched and his lungs felt tight.

Augustine put a hand on Jaden’s shoulder, the weight of it nearly causing his knees to buckle.

Jaden’s ears were buzzing. He saw his brother’s lips move, but the sound didn’t register. He shrugged off the hand and took two stumbling steps to the doorway, catching himself on the frame.

More buzzing, and the hands were back, grabbing his wrist, trying to pull him and put him in bed.

He didn’t want to go.

He had to get to Maddie.

---