Page 57 of Echoes of War

Sloan closed the door behind her, the couch groaned under her weight as she took a seat. I rolled over in bed, nestling up under him. Silence followed, but an apology fought its way to my lips.

“I shouldn’t have let you do this,” I said apologetically, “I admit, there is a tinge of regret for being a total dumbass now that I’m facing the consequences.”

He shifted his body, face tilted down toward me with a twinkle in his eye, “An apology and a reflection that your actions do, in fact, have consequences. Must be my lucky day.”

“You don’t believe in luck,” I snarked.

“Never had it my whole life, why would I now?”

Huffing a laugh, I offered a gentle reminder that us being alive was truly a gift. “Because you’re here. We’re here. Alive against the odds.”

He paused thoughtfully, undoubtedly considering how fair my assessment was. “Michael and Logan did fine defying said odds,” Alexiares said at last.

“That’s not what I meant,” I countered, my voice no more than a whisper.

He pulled me closer, tucking me into his side. “I know.”

I was about to tease him about how the only way I could get any closer to him was to be inside his skin, when gentle breaths whistled in my ear. We needed our rest and his body appeared to be having a tougher time adjusting than mine, so I let him take as much time as his body required. The only way to get through this infection was to let our immune systems fight it out, to win the war waged within our bodies.

When sleep evaded me, I crept from the bed, pulling his shirt back over me. Desperate to find something to please my stomach, I ventured into the living room. Sloan peered up from her notebook, her wavy red hair tucked behind her ears. With a warm smile, she dropped her pencil, deciding whatever she was doing was no longer worth it, and made room for me on the couch.

I sat next to her, pouring myself a cup of tea. Opting to not have the coffee further upset my stomach. She watched me as I forced half a roll into my mouth, savoring the taste and overall feeling of something in my stomach.

Sloan watched me warily. “There’s still peanut butter and jam in the cabinet,” she said.

“Honestly, the thought of anything sweet right now might send me back to the bucket.”

That earned me a rare, true laugh. One that I missed hearing. Over the years, I’d learned the only thing I liked more than hearing my best friend, Sammy from The Before, laugh was having her and Sloan’s laughter fill the room together. They had both brought so much joy to my life for different reasons, them getting along had been a pleasant surprise. Sammy was sweet, an old soul, where Sloan was rambunctious, always challenging the status quo. I had been so nervous bringing them around each other, fearing that Sloan would push all the wrong buttons for someone that only knew kind words. Sammy, however, had found Sloan oddly endearing.

Maybe I was a fool for thinking I could have that here again, with the family I’d become embedded in. She was Reina’s cousin, but their relationship was strained. The Sloan I’d spent so much time with was now hidden deep into the mind of an emerging leader. I wasn’t even sure she was fighting to get out. Actually, I was almost certain Sloan kept her tucked away, protected.

“You’ll be leaving soon,” she said, startling me from my thoughts.

I debated how to approach this subject with her; it had been years since we’d had a heart to heart. But it pained me to know she’d be left here on her own, fending for herself, and lost in her own mind. “As will your cousin.”

Sloan nodded in response. “Thebrujasarrived today, that’s where she and the other one went.”

“The other one has a name you know.” I sighed, knowing exactly where this conversation was now headed. More defense mechanisms.

“I know,” she mumbled, “but she doesn’t like me much. She’s a bitter woman, that’s for sure. Not sure how you tolerate her, or him.”

In every friendship there are times when you have to know when to shut the fuck up. This was one of those times. I didn’t offer a retort in their defense because the pain behind Sloan’s eyes was telling enough. Being disliked had never sat well with her. She pretended like it didn’t matter, that she couldn’t care less. But I knew the truth: Sloan had always been a people pleaser, much like Reina. So this, being in charge and Moe’s reaction to her, had surely offered a lot of pain.

“You’re a spitting image of him,” I said carefully.

“Who?”

A curl fell in front of my face as I gave her a hard stare, making it clear she knew exactly who I was speaking of.

“They were in love,” I explained. “I’d be a fool to think that she didn’t still love him, and he left her like all that time spent together meant nothing. She saw forever with him, and that means a hell of a lot when your magic grants you the access to see forever.”

Sloan sat there, her body stiff on the couch taking in my words. We hadn’t had an actual conversation about Seth since his departure, only what his departure had meant. Speaking of his character, of the cousin she grew up with, what he meant to everyone else, this was new territory for us both. Part of me felt silly never having put two and two together for years. It wasn’t as though Seth and Reina spoke of her or the family they left behind. Now I knew why, because Reina had carefully avoided the topic. But Sloan had spoken of them both many times in college, of the other brothers too.

This world is big, and names are fleeting. Still, I should have known.

“He killed Jax.” The words were painful leaving my lips, the first time I’d said them aloud. “And that might have been a worse sin for her than had he simply up and left.”

“Your boyfriend?” She shifted her weight uncomfortably at the topic. I hadn’t spoken to her of Jax either, not what he had meant to me. Sloan knewofhim, that was all.

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