Page 13 of Shadow

She pulled away from me and got to her feet. My heart jumped into my throat as I sat forward and watched her wring her hands as she paced between the couch and the coffee table.

“Sirena?” I called out.

She stopped pacing, twisted her fingers into her long, black hair, and let out a soft sob. I jumped to my feet and caught her before she went to her ass. Carefully, I pulled her into my arms and held her as she cried.

“Baby, it’s OK,” I whispered on repeat as I held her tightly. “It’s OK.” I pressed a fierce kiss to the top of her forehead and rocked her against my body.

“I wish I could kill him again,” she choked out softly, her voice muffled in my neck as she cried. “I’m going to kill all of them.”

I swallowed hard at her words and continued to hold her. “I’ll help you,” I said, my voice soft and filled with dark promises. “All of them, heaven.”

“Swear it?”

“Yes.”

“I love you, Asher. So much.”

My heart filled at her words. She went silent after that and didn’t speak again. Instead, she finally fell asleep in my arms. And I stayed right there on that floor, holding her through the bad dreams and wishing I could get inside her head and fight the monsters for her. Because I would. Without a doubt, I would.

* * *

“How was she today?”Church asked as he flopped onto his chair in the living room and rubbed his eyes.

“Honestly? She’s different,” I said with a sigh.

“She’s changing.” Church fixed his green eyes on me.

I nodded. He was right about that.

“She’s been sleeping all evening. I was going to wake her, but I think she needs it.”

“She does,” he agreed, reaching into the drawer on the table next to his chair. He brought out a joint and lit it before taking a deep drag and blowing out the smoke.

“Are you going to relieve Stitches at the med facility?” I asked.

Church groaned but nodded. I knew he was exhausted.

“I’ll go,” I said, getting to my feet. “You stay with Sirena.”

“You don’t have to. I can do it?—”

“Stay,” I said firmly. “You spend a lot of time with Sin. Take tonight with her.”

He gave me a grateful look and nodded, settling back in his chair. I knew a lot of the reason he spent time with Sin was because he harbored guilt over all the shit that had happened. And if it wasn’t guilt, it was confusion because he didn’t know how to deal with the feelings he had.

I got to my feet, went to the door, and grabbed my jacket. “Sleep well, brother. Take care of our girl.”

“I will. And Ashes?”

“Yeah?” I adjusted my jacket and looked at him.

“Thanks.”

I smiled. “Anytime, brother.”

With those words, I walked out the door and headed in the direction of the medical facility, my mind on every little trouble in our world with the hope I could fix it all.

STITCHES

---